Firstly
Throughout the age, the term SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has become the cornerstone of the world of the Internet. For website owners, SEO has always been a big deal. It all depends on it. Great SEO rankings has always been something that every website owner strives upon. The rankings of your website, which are an important factor for the success of your business. Every website owner has in its interest to run a successful website. You want to stay at the top of your industry of your area of interest. Whether you are a blogger, writer or an entrepreneur, you want to be acknowledged for your work. You want that when people type the name of your website on their search engine, the site you are running to be the first item that comes up on the search engine. For laymen, SEO may be a confusing term even though they might know what the acronym stands for, but they do not really understand the purpose of it or the work that website owner do in order to keep the SEO rankings of their website high. For those who are well informed about it, might wonder does changing domain name affect SEO?
4 reasons you need to change your domain name
1. You've come up with a catchy new domain
Well done, you've come up with a clever, memorable domain name that will impress your customers, both old and new! Check your domain name availability with Namecheap and register it before someone beats you to it.
2. Your domain name is vague, and you want to build a brand
Imagine you sell potatoes in New York, and you registered the domain name thebestpotatostore.nyc. Although it does give visitors a big hint that you sell potatoes, it isn't very exciting. If you have big dreams of building a brand like Apple and becoming the first company people think of when they think of potatoes, it's time to change your domain name.
3. You've started selling more than one product
Using thebestpotatostore.nyc as an example again, let's imagine that one day you decide to start selling carrots as well as potatoes. Your current domain name will no longer serve you, and it's time to change to one that fits all of the products you sell, and any you may sell in the future.
4. You've changed your geographical location
Another reason to swap domain names is if you physically move your business. There's no point in keeping thebestpotatostore.nyc if your potato store has moved to Canada. You should choose a .ca domain! Or, if your potato brand has gone country-wide, pick up a .us instead.
What is the purpose of SEO?
Search engine optimization is optimizing your website that would get traffic from the organic search engine results page. Let us and explain that better. The purpose of SEO is to increase the quantity of traffic to your website by making your website more visible to the users of a certain web search engine. Different types of search are targets for SEO, some of them being video or image search, then new search or search specific to a certain type of industry. SEO in a way involves changes you make to your website design and the content of your website and that would make your website more attractive to a search engine. There are a couple of tools that can help you in positioning your website properly. You are doing so with the hope that the search engine will display your website address as one of the top results on the search engine results page. But if you want to know does changing domain name affect SEO, keep on reading.
Search engines have always provided the best services for us, their users. Think about all those times Google has saved you in a conversation or proved you were right when someone had you questioning your answer. We have turned to Google in numerous occasions and we would only type some random words connected to some area of interest that we have. Whatever we need, we ask Google and the delivered results are not the ones of the high quality but are the ones we are looking for. If a website is ranking has on a search engine page, let us say that it is even on the first page, it logical to think that a website owner wants to keep it that way.
When there comes a time for a change
However, there always comes a time when you need to change something about your website. It might be time for a new design because you need to keep up with the current trends. Or you might want to change your web hosting provider. The question remains, does changing domain name affect SEO?
Web hosting provider change is trickier when you already have an existing and perhaps, you might say popular website. But you are not satisfied with your current hosting provider or your current hosting plan. Keep in mind that there are several things you need to look after. Whether that is a data move or change of a domain name. Does changing domain name affect SEO? It does.
When you are choosing a new hosting provider, you might want to try free web hosting. That might be a temporary solution and a good one. There are several reasons for it. Free web hosting will provide you all the services that a regular hosting company will provide with the annual price. If you want to find more about it check this link. With more information in your hand, you can make a good decision about the future of your website and see does changing domain name affect SEO.
SEO is important for your website. However, there is such a thing as negative SEO. If you wonder what that is, feel free to see it here. Undoubtedly there are a lot of benefits of SEO for your business. With SEO you can expand your visibility on every search engine. That is one of the ways to reach more potential clients. Because people do not usually click on those websites that are lower on the search engine page. Nobody has the time for it. That is why one of your biggest concerns stays, the question does changing domain name affect SEO. You want to make sure your website stays at the top.
Does changing domain name affect SEO?
Granted, if you are to change your web hosting provider and with that your domain name, your SEO will suffer certain consequences which will affect its rankings. So the answer to the question does changing domain name affect SEO is still yes. That is why many of the website owners are very hesitant when the time for a change comes. They would rather stay at a hosting company that does not fulfill the needs of the creative and business aspects of their website, which is not a good path to a continuous success. The website owners would not even consider changing the domain name out of fear of affecting the SEO rankings. The bad thing about SEO is that even a small change could affect its rankings. If your domain is changed any links on your website under the old domain will no longer work. Not a single one of the search engines has the capacity of categorizing those links that are no longer working, which means that the content cannot be ranked. It is true that low page ranking could have a negative ranking on the traffic of your site. The good thing is that by taking the right steps you can manage all of the negativity.
When you are about to change your hosting provider and your domain name, keep in mind that it is important for you to back up your files. All of it. Then you are supposed to transfer your site to its new domain and last but not least you need to inform Google about the changes you are about to take. Using Google Webmaster Tools, you will find a link to 'Change of Address.' With this tool, you will have successfully informed Google that you have changed the domain name. Afterward, Google will update the domain in its system so your listing will be up to date. Social networks are one of the ways through which you can manage the detrimental effect of the domain name change for your website. Use your Facebook or your Instagram page to inform everyone about the change, about the new domain name. Have your friends spread the news so that everyone could be informed about the domain name change. There is always a possibility of paid ads so that all the fans of your work and with them present and future visitors of your website would get the memo.
Finally
Will changing your domain name affect SEO? The truth is that the change of a domain name and hosting service will affect your SEO rankings, but the right steps you could minimize the damage. If you feel that the time for a change of your website has come you need to stay true to yourself no matter what. The creative part of your website running is as important as the technical is. If you have a new and fresh idea, you need to use it, you need to stay ahead of the ever-changing world. You should never ignore your intuition and your imagination. Stop wondering does changing your domain name affect SEO? Although you know the answer to it, do not forget that your website is your intellectual property and you need to protect it and preserve it. If you want to find out more about that check this link. Hosting and SEO is indeed very important for your website. You could always boost your rankings backup, with commitment and work success won't pass you by.
