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Change Domain Name = Lose All Social Proof... Solutions?

by chrisrizzo
7 replies
Hi All,

I want to change a domain name on a blog I run but I've had to hold off doing so because I'll lose all my social media shares (Tweets, Likes and +1s) associated
with the site.

Has anyone had to deal with the same issue, and has anyone come up with good solutions to this problems?

One thought I had was to leave all the old pages on the old domain using an htaccess rewrite (keeping the old social proof), and allow all the newest content be published on the new domain? I'm concerned this is a bad idea though since it will split the site into two properties.

Your thoughts?

Thanks,
Chris
#blogs #change #change domain #domain #lose #proof #social #social proof #solutions
  • Profile picture of the author ClickMonkey
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author rts2271
      301 redirect, keeps link juice intact

      Example, on your old domain create a new index.php file. Be careful to not overwrite or make sure you have backed up the original files. Remember as a rule of thumb that any changes big or small require a complete backup.

      Contents of index.php

      <?php
      Header( "HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently" );
      Header( "Location: http://www.new-url.com" );
      ?>

      Save and test by going to the old URL
      Signature

      Ralph Smith
      Mercenary development and deployment.

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  • Profile picture of the author chrisrizzo
    Thanks ClickMonkey for your comments.

    I like the idea of testing this on one post/page. I think I'll give that a try.

    I am worried about the overall SEO consequences of my idea.

    One correction though. You said: "and it can be all on your new domain name"

    Actually, the old pages and posts would stay on the old domain, and the new pages and posts would go on the new domain, but it's still be the same site. (If that makes sense.)
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  • Profile picture of the author chrisrizzo
    Hi Ralph,

    I appreciate your help. Unfortunately, I think you missed my point. I know how to use a 301 redirect. What I'm trying to do isn't preserve PR, but preserve the social media likes/shares I have associated with my current domain's URLs.

    One of my thoughts as stated above is to keep all the old posts on the old domain, and new posts going forward on new domain. A weird but possible solution to this issue.

    Thanks,
    Chris
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    • Profile picture of the author rts2271
      Hmm I was thinking it did preserve the +1's and likes. I guess it makes sense if it wouldn't too. Looks like a dual domain setup with the old one deprecated sounds like it is probably the best option.
      Signature

      Ralph Smith
      Mercenary development and deployment.

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  • Profile picture of the author lsargent
    Yes, redirect the domain. Now if you have a Google+ page setup (not profile, but page), you can create a connection with the site and the page which displays +1's. I've never tried transitioning to a new domain, "but" it's possible if you recreate the connection between the existing Google+ page and the new domain, the +1's may very well stay intact. But definitely setup the page prior to swtiching domains. It's atleast worth a shot.

    Add the following code to your page header:

    Code:
    <link rel="publisher" href="https://plus.google.com/GOOGLE-PLUS-PAGE-ID-NUMBER">
    Then also add a text link in your footer or someplace linking to the Google+ page:

    Code:
    <a href="https://plus.google.com/GOOGLE-PLUS-PAGE-ID-NUMBER" rel="publisher">Google+</a>
    Add a link to your website from the Google+ page.

    Ping both and submit both to IndexKings.com to get them crawled again.

    Then you can check to see if the publisher relationship has been confirmed and verified via the Rich Snippets Testing Tool:

    Webmaster Tools - Rich Snippets Testing Tool

    If it's a success, you'll see a green text stating:

    Verified: Publisher markup is verified for this page

    Google may not draw the connection in an hour, but it should happen relatively soon.
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  • Profile picture of the author chrisrizzo
    Thanks for the tip about the Google +1. I'll see if I can verify if that works. Unfortunately most social sites don't have a way to redirect like/pluses, etc.

    So right now if I don't want to lose those it looks like a dual domain name may be the best bet.
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  • Profile picture of the author williamk
    Banned
    301 redirect sure does help keep the link juice. I think it would be better that way too.
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