There can be a number of reasons why you, as a website owner, would want to move your domain to a new one. But should you do it? How will it affect your SEO? And most importantly, why would you want to do this tedious task?
Most of the website owners do not have sufficient knowledge to perform this transfer of domains. Hiring a developer for the task will cost you money, which can be quite expensive, if you are on a budget.
People move their website majorly if they see a great benefit or motive behind it. Changing domain names simply because you find the name is better will provide no value to your customers. Websites names provide little value to the customers and you should refrain from changing domains for this reason, unless you have a pretty ridiculous domain name.
Why you would really want to move your domain can be one of the following reasons:
- You have acquired a better domain
A better and more authoritative domain means that you have saved yourself from months, and potentially, years of hard work. It will instantly provide your more value, better traffic and better ranking positions.
- You Opted For Rebranding
Many a times, your business venture may not go as successful as you expected it to be. In such scenarios, it is common to see people trying to revamp their brand image. People opt for new name, create new site, new logos etc.
- You Have Been Hit By A Penalty
There can be cases where you have been hit by multiple spam and algorithmic penalties. In such scenarios, it can be a long and hard process to recover. It’s better to start off at a new domain if you feel that you didn’t have enough traffic to begin with.
However, it is important to note that certain penalties may recur even if you move your domain to a new name. For example, if you have been hit by a thin content penalty, you will see your domain get hit by the penalty again and again unless you don’t fix your content.
Before you move on with you transfer, it is important to backup all your files. This means that you have to download all the files being hosted on your host server. This can either be done manually or through a plugin.
This will help you in two scenarios. First, it will help you in moving your website. You will be able to copy all your original posts, pages, comments etc. to your new website by uploading these files at the new hosting servers. Secondly, you will have a backup to rely on. Things might not always happen the way they are supposed to. In case of any mistakes or errors, you will have the original copy of all your files to revert back any mistakes.
If you want to move WordPress site to new domain, it is advised to read about the transfer thoroughly and have the assistance of a developer.