subject: How Can I Minimize The Loss Of Traffic After A Domain Change? [print this page] Getting traffic to your website on the internet is key to your success. It does not matter how nice your webpage is or how big it is if you cannot draw any visitors. This is the reason that hours are spent working with economical search engine optimization. You must find what draws the visitors to your website. Unfortunately there are times when the traffic flow you worked so hard to get is compromised. One thing that can compromise that traffic flow is the change of your domain name. If you are faced with this eventuality you are going to want to try to find ways to keep the loss down to a minimum.
Sometimes the temporary loss is worth it. You may find a domain where it is more brand identity friendly. This will help people to remember the name and it will stay planted in their minds. This marketing tool is excellent. Another reason to change domain names is to find one that is more keyword friendly. Keywords and SEOs are essential to a successful website. This is a good place to use economical search engine optimization practices. Tying keywords to your new domain name means more traffic. You could grow your new domain bigger than it ever was before the change. You should weigh all these facts before making any changes.
If you spent a great deal of time growing the traffic at your old domain name, you are not going to want to lose that hard fought for traffic. By putting a permanent 301 redirect where your old domain was will help to lead the traffic to your new domain name. A 301 redirect will let the search engines know your site has moved. Eventually the rankings you have in the search engine will point to your new domain. Using a temporary 302 redirect is often times bad for your search rankings. Do not use the 302 redirect.
Remember it takes time for search engine rankings to find their way to your new site. Leave the permanent redirect up for several months to make sure the search engines can find you. Be patient with your new domain name. The traffic will come in due time. You may have to work a little bit to get your traffic built back up, but if you had a successful website before, it will be successful again. Give visitors the chance to discover your new domain.
