Can You Change Your Domain Name?

Are you unsatisfied with your current domain name?

Do you want to change your domain name?

But the real question is can you change your domain name?

 “Yes, you can.” But you should not do it just because you are starting to like a new word or phrase that can be a domain.

For example, suppose your current domain is abcd.com, but you now think that efgh.com sounds better. You should never change it only because of that.

It’s because there are a lot of potential risks involved in that. That’s why we’ll discuss everything related to changing domain name in this article:

Reasons Why You Might Need to Change Your Domain Name

We have already told you that you should never change your domain due to small reasons. But there are a few things that are unbearable.

Due to these reasons, you can change your domain name:

1.   The current Domain Name is Too Long

If you didn’t know that longer domain names don’t perform as good as shorter ones, now you realize that you should go for changing domain names.

Want to know more about the ideal length for a domain name? Click here How Long Should Your Domain Name Be? Here’s the Answer.

2.   Industry Shift

For example, suppose you used to sell bike tires, and your domain was bike.com, but now you want to sell car tires, so you can’t continue without changing it.

3.   Expand the Business

For example, suppose you used to sell only keyboards and had a domain name related to the keyboard. But now, expand the business and bring other devices like mice and LCDs into it. You must change the domain name.

4.   Copyright Issue

Don’t worry if you get into any legal issues that are because of copyright infringement. You can solve it by switching to a different domain name.

5.   Expand or Change the Region

Let’s suppose your website is a marketplace and only offers stuff for the people of the US, which is why you went for ccTLD like abc.us.

Now, when you want to sell products in Canada as well, you have to change your domain name; otherwise, Canadians will think that your website is not for them.

Note: If the reason you’re thinking isn’t up there, reconsider sticking to the same domain.

Potential Risks You Might Face While Changing Your Domain Name

If you have a valid reason for changing a domain name, you should first know about potential risks you might face in the future.

Change your domain name only if you can bear these risks:

1. The downfall of Brand Awareness: If your previous domain was already an established brand, you would need to regain that respect and popularity from scratch.
2. Damaged SEO Game: It’s probably the biggest issue you can potentially face in the future. Google’s algorithm will think that your website is not posting stuff, but actually, you are posting stuff with the new domain name. Due to this thing, Google will not take you to the first page.
3. Take Time and Money: If you only want to change your domain name because you want some change, you are actually wasting your time, money, and, eventually, a well-built site.
4. Backlinks Will be Gone: Your previous backlinks are related to your old domain name.

Steps to Change Your Domain Name Without Losing Site Traffic and SEO

This procedure will help you reduce the risk of the downfall of your website, but we can’t guarantee anything:

1.   Choose the New Domain Name

Your previous domain wasn’t perfect. Right?

So, this time you need to spend some more time choosing the right domain name. You should also have a look at our tips and tricks to choose the right domain name for YOU How to Choose the Perfect Domain Name? — 8 Tips and Tricks.

2.   Before Changing the Domain Name

Now, when you have got a domain name in your mind, you still have to do a task before going towards changing process.

Create an audit of all your places where your old domain has ever appeared in any shape (maybe backlink). It is what we call off-page SEO.

3.   Main Task

Now, let’s start changing the domain name:

Note: Every domain registrar has a different interface and even a different way of changing domain names. We have just compiled those steps that’ll always appear when you start changing your domain name.

• Log in to your account with the domain registrar.
• Find the Domain section (maybe in the main menu or settings).
• In that, you need to find the purchase domain option (if you haven’t purchased it yet).
• After quite a long process of purchasing a domain, your next job is to find the “change domain name” option, which you might find in main Settings.
• After clicking it, choose that new domain.

4.   Redirect 301

Your job is still not done, as you now have to create a 301 redirect. This redirect will take your old audience to your new domain even when they try to access the older domain.

You can do it simply by using a WordPress plugin called Redirection. Just follow their instructions to get the job done.

5.   Update SEO Game

As your SEO is affected, you now need to wrap things up by telling Google that you have moved the site. For this, you have to go to your Google Search Console and verify your new domain name.

You might also need to change the email address. Moreover, if you have been using Google Analytics, you need to change the site’s location.

Finally, It’s done!

Conclusion

Changing the domain name of an active website is not one of the wisest decisions (due for several reasons). That’s why we always recommend spending time on choosing the right domain name.

Anyways, if you have any queries related to the topic, ask us anytime!

How Much Does Web Hosting Really Cost?