Why Site Address Change is Important for SEO
When you change your website's address, it can have a significant impact on your SEO. If you don't inform Google and other search engines about the change, your website may disappear from search results or experience a drop in rankings. This can lead to a decrease in traffic and potential revenue loss.
Additionally, if you have inbound links pointing to your site, those links may become invalid if the URL structure changes. This can negatively impact your website's authority and domain strength.
Create a Redirect
The first step in telling Google about your site address change is to create a redirect. A redirect is a way to send both users and search engines to a different URL than the one they originally requested.
There are different types of redirects available, but the most commonly used is a 301 redirect. A 301 redirect signals to Google that the content has permanently moved to a new URL. This helps Google understand that your site has changed addresses and it should transfer the ranking value to the new URL.
Verify Ownership of New Domain in Google Search Console
To inform Google about your site address change, you'll need to verify ownership of your new domain in Google Search Console.
First, add your new domain to your Google Search Console account. Then, verify ownership by following the recommended verification method, which may include adding a meta tag to your site's HTML code or uploading a verification file to your server.
Once you've verified ownership of your new domain, you can submit a change of address request in Google Search Console.
Submit a Change of Address Request
A change of address request is a way to inform Google that your site has moved to a new domain or URL.
To submit a change of address request, go to your Google Search Console account and select the new domain you want to move to. From there, go to the settings and select "Change of Address".
You'll need to enter your new domain's URL, verify ownership of the old and new domains, and confirm the move. Once submitted, Google will process your request and update its index accordingly.
Update Internal Links
In addition to creating a redirect and submitting a change of address request, you'll also want to update internal links on your site. This includes updating any links pointing to pages on your old domain to point to pages on your new domain.
This is important to ensure that users and search engines can still access your site's content, and that your internal link structure remains intact.
Notify External Websites
If you have inbound links pointing to your site, you may also want to notify those external websites about your site address change. This can help ensure that those links continue to point to valid pages on your site, and prevent a loss of authority and domain strength.
You can reach out to the owners of those websites and inform them of your site address change, and request that they update any links pointing to your old domain.
Conclusion
In summary, changing your website's address can have a significant impact on your SEO and traffic. To ensure a smooth transition, you'll want to create a redirect, verify ownership of your new domain in Google Search Console, submit a change of address request, update internal links, and notify external websites. By following these steps, you can tell Google about your site address change and maintain your search engine rankings.
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