Change Your Primary Domain For Google Workspace
If you get a new domain or rebrand your company, you might want to change the domain for your Google Workspace account. Then you can use the new domain for your email addresses, Drive sharing, Meet, and other services.
Switching your primary domain is an involved process and you might consider adding another domain to your account instead. Learn about alternatives to switching your domain.
Add Redirects From The Old Domain To The New One
Redirect are essential for driving traffic from the old domain over to the new one. Its the critical step that helps you maintain your search engine rankings in a significant URL change like this. Redirects help Google understand that your website content has moved to a different home and to update its index accordingly.
And the important thing here is that you dont just want to redirect the homepage of the old site to the homepage of the new site. Maybe other websites are already linking directly to an internal page or blog post on your site, you want to make sure that those links eventually take users to the right place on the new domain.
So instead, you need a wild card redirect which makes each page/post/file point to its new location.
This type of redirect is ideally added at the hosting account level youd have to Google wildcard redirect to find the right instructions for your specific hosting provider.
You can also do this directly at the WordPress level using a plugin like Simple 301 redirects
Then use a tool like and test things out. You should end up seeing the right redirect chain:
Example of a 2-step redirect chain. The 301 status codes mean permanent redirect. The 200 status code means OK, website loaded fine. This scenario can be further improved by redirecting straight to the HTTPS version of the new domain, making it a single redirect step.
Those redirects will probably stay in place indefinitely .
Can I Change A Domain Name Once It Has Been Registered
No, once a domain name has been registered with the registrar, it cannot be changed. Should another domain name be required, the previously registered domain name will have to be canceled and the new required domain name will be registered.
We offer a grace period on new orders. Should you change your mind about your purchase within 7 days, you will be given a full refund on the hosting fee. A R5 administration fee will be charged on all co.za domain registrations and a R10 administration fee on all other domain registrations.
You May Like: What Is A .io Domain
The Difference Between A Domain Change And A Domain Transfer
A domain change refers to replacing a websites internet address, which primarily just affects the domain name. A domain change thus differs substantially from a domain transfer.
When a domain transfer occurs, users change the internet provider, which means the entire website is transferred to a new server. Here, changing or registering a new domain is simply an additional option . However, domain changes are simply about altering the website address, meaning the provider generally remains the same as before. Here is a short summary of the differences:
- Domain transfer: the internet provider is changed a domain transfer is therefore frequently regarded as a change in providers. The web presence and the domain consequently move to a new web server. Find out how this works in more detail here.
- Domain change: this is where the web address changes. With a domain change, an existing website is linked to a new domain.
How Do I Minimise The Risks
- Redirect your old domain to the new one. This means visitors clicking old links will still end up on a live page. And those redirects will also pass over some authority. Youll need to keep paying for the old domain as long as you want these redirects in place.
- Shout about it. You wouldnt dream of not telling customers youve moved shop or office. The same goes for a change of domain name. You can lessen confusion by informing users via a banner on your current sites homepage, posting on social media, or adding a section to your newsletter.
- Get in there early. Before the move actually happens, you can build a landing page on the new domain and start earning links. This could be as simple as a coming soon holding page. Any improvement to authority before the move will help.
- Inform Google. Set up a Search Console account for your new domain and submit the sitemap as soon as the change has taken place. That means Google will start exploring the new site straight away. Remember to update your email addresses, Google Analytics settings, Google Ads and any other tools you use as well!
Recommended Reading: How To Transfer Squarespace Domain To Godaddy
Crucial Things To Do When Changing Your Domain Name
Insight | by Hover on September 1, 2015
There are many reasons why you may need to change your websites domain name, whether its because youre rebranding or switching to something entirely new. This can be an exciting time for your personal or professional site, but it can also be one of the scariest. After all, youve spent a lot of time and effort sending people to one location, only to compromise all that hard work by sending them somewhere else.
As crazy of an idea as this might sometimes feel, heres the good news: it can be done. Many popular websites have gone through this exact same situation and not only survived, but come back even stronger. SEOmoz.com became Moz.com, BufferApp.com became Buffer.com, and Twttr.com became , just to name a few.
Though it certainly is possible, that doesnt mean there isnt some work involved in fact, changing your domain name incorrectly can have disastrous results for your website. But not to worry its not as difficult as you might expect! Here are 10 important steps to make sure you change your domain the right way and transfer all of the credibility that your old domain earned to your new one.
Redirect Old WordPress Domain Permanently
The final step to changing WordPress domain requires you to create a 301 redirect a URL redirection from your old domain to the new one. Additionally, the redirect will carry over Googles PageRank, making sure that all of your efforts put into SEO dont go to waste when moving to a new domain.
We recommend keeping your old domain active for a while. This both allows users to find you if theyre not aware of the domain change and lets the search engines recognize the redirection.
Lets dive into the hPanel to edit the .htaccess file and create a 301 redirect:
#Options +FollowSymLinksRewriteEngine onRewriteRule ^$ http://yoursitename.com/$1
Same as with the modifying wp-config.php, this step can be completed with an FTP client.
You May Like: What Is Io Domain Used For
Update Google Analytics And Google Search Console
The next step is to update your Google Analytics profile. If you arent using on your site, you should be as this is by far the best free way to analyze traffic, patterns, and conversions on your site! The easiest way to do this is to click into Admin, go to your Property Settings and update the default URL. The reason we recommend simply changing your existing property rather than creating a new one is that it makes it much easier to compare history and traffic down the line .
Update Google Analytics profile
Reconnect Google Search Console
Below on that same page, youll also want to reconnect your Google Search Console profile to Google Analytics. Simply click on Adjust Search Console and follow the steps. This allows for extra data to flow through into the Acquisition > Search Console section in Analytics, such as Landing pages, Countries, Devices, and Queries .
Reconnect Google Search Console and Analytics
How To Change Google Domains Nameservers
Step 1: Click here to open the Google Domains page. In the top right corner of the webpage, click the Sign In button.
You will be prompted to login to your Google Account:
Step 2: After signing into your Google Account, your Google Domains page will load and you will see a list of all domains registered in your Google Domains account.
Find the domain for which you wish to manage the Nameservers and click Manage to the right of the domain listing.
Step 3: The Domain Management page will load. Look on the left side of the page and you will see a list of options.
Step 4: Once the DNS Management page loads, look at the top of the page and you will see two options. Click Custom Name Servers.
Step 5: The Custom name servers page will load. Here you will have the option to enter ChemiCloud name server records.
As ChemiCloud has three name servers, be sure to click the add another name server button beneath the 2 nameserver fields.
The three fields should look similar to the ones below:
Once you have done this, proceed to enter the three ChemiCloud nameservers and click the Save button.
Your changes will now propagate.
Nameserver changes are not instant. They require up to 24 hours to propagate globally. There are a lot of DNS servers to update with this new information, so definitely allow time for this information to propagate successfully.
Recommended Reading: How To Get A Business Domain Email
Buy Your New Domain Early
This one is fairly obvious because how would you change your domain name without having a new one to change it to? Besides this necessary reason, there is another reason why you will want to get your new domain well in advance: SEO.
The longer you have your new domain up and running, the more of a chance you will be giving search engines to crawl your new site. Once youve acquired your new domain, give it a coming soon page telling search engines that a new site will be there shortly. This will give search engines something more substantial to crawl, and will also tell them that it is not a parked domain so they should pay closer attention to it.
Rebrand Your Websites Design
Depending on your choice of domain, youll likely need to update aspects of your sites design to reflect it. For example, your logo will likely need an update, but the same goes for any other element that alludes to your former domain name. For example:
- Your About page if your site has one.
- Your websites footer, which often includes copyright information.
- The tagline of your site, which is the text that appears on a browsers tab when you open it.
- Any miscellaneous references within your content.
Fortunately, making these changes is relatively straightforward, although youll need to make sure youve removed all references to your previous domain on your site before pressing ahead.
Youll also need to let visitors know about these changes so they arent left scratching their heads. Well talk about that shortly, but before that, lets talk about redirects.
You May Like: How To Transfer Squarespace Domain To Godaddy
Choose A New Domain Name And Assign It To Your Website
Choosing a new domain name is a highly personal decision, but there are a few aspects to keep in mind to ensure you make a smart one. Weve previously devoted an entire article to walk you through that process, so check it out before settling on a new domain.
When youre ready, you can register your new domain through our platform. If youre an A2 Hosting customer, you can simply assign that name to your existing website. However, for other hosts youll need to dig into their knowledge bases to find the correct process.
Submit New Sitemap Files
Now that you have new verified web properties and youve notified them about your domain change, its recommended to submit your new sitemap file. A sitemap is basically just a list of URLs that you want to be publicly available. This isnt required, but will most likely help speed up the crawling and re-indexing process.
If youre using the Yoast SEO plugin you can find a link to your XML sitemap file under SEO General. Click into the Features tab and then on the question mark tooltip next to the XML sitemaps header. The URL should look something like this: https://newdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml
WordPress sitemap file
Submit Sitemap in Google Search Console
In Google Search Console you can submit your new sitemap under Index Sitemaps. Input the URL you grabbed from Yoast SEO and click on Submit.
Submit sitemap file in Google Search Console
Submit Sitemap in Bing Webmaster Tools
In Bing Webmaster Tools you can submit your new sitemap under Crawl > Sitemaps. Click on Add/Test Sitemap and input the URL you grabbed from Yoast SEO.
Submit sitemap file in Bing Webmaster Tools
You May Like: How To Transfer Squarespace Domain To Godaddy
Update All Internal And Hardcoded Links
Now that you have your WordPress site address and URL changed to the new domain, its time to update all of your internal and hardcoded links. Generally, it is not recommended to hard-code URLs but most likely over time you probably have, we all do it. This includes interlinks between your own content, media, links to JavaScript and CSS on your site, etc. Below are a couple of options you have for updating your links.
Option 1 Kinsta Search and Replace Tool
If youre a Kinsta client, we have an easy to use search and replace tool in our MyKinsta dashboard.
Kinsta search and replace tool
Here are simple steps to update your old domain to your new domain:
Search and replace in WordPress database
Check out our search and replace tutorial for additional details. You can always reach out to our support team if you need assistance with this.
Option 2 Update Links With WordPress Plugin
Update your CDN
Update All The Things
Doing a full rebrand requires updates of:
- Google My Business Profile, social media profiles, and other significant sources of traffic
- internal documents
- product packaging
- signage
You wont get everything overnight. Thats ok. This takes time. Think of it more as a treasure hunt – see how many of your employees can find places that have your old domain!
There you have it. Good luck with your domain name makeover!
Read Also: What Is The Io Domain Used For