Changing TLD without losing search engine rank and traffic

by frambles

Posted: 12 years ago 19 replies

Hi

I own a website which is a .co.uk domain and is 6 years old and has approx 7,000 unique hits a day. I couldn't originally get the .com domain for the site so had to settle for a .co.uk

I now have managed to get the .com and would like to switch to it because with the .co.uk I am having trouble ranking very high for my keywords internationally.

So does anyone have any experience or ideas about the best way to go about this? I don't want to lose the .co.uk rankings in google as in the uk, I rank very high for my keywords but would like to know if a 303 redirect of the .co.uk domain to the .com would work? other ideas?

Thanks

#changing #engine #losing #rank #search #tld #traffic

LarryHaywood 12 years ago

I thought it was a 301 redirect you would need to use for that...
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- sovereignn 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by LarryHaywood
  
  I thought it was a 301 redirect you would need to use for that...
  
  Correct, you need to do proper 301 redirects for each and every page
  
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  frambles 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by sovereignn
  
  Correct, you need to do proper 301 redirects for each and every page
  
  Thanks to both of you for your replies. Ok, so a 301 redirect I know would be fine but any idea if doing a 301 redirect for every single page would see the .com domain rise to the same position as the .co.uk in the search engines quicky? Do you think I'll see a drop in hits initially? I make a living from affiliate schemes on the site and can't afford for those to take a traffic decrease for more than a week
  
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yukon

Banned 12 years ago

I wouldn't try to abandoned the old domain.

Leave everything like it is & send all the .com traffic to the old domain with a 301 redirect.

That's the easiest less confusing way to do it IMO.

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frambles

12 years ago

Originally Posted by yukon

I wouldn't try to abandoned the old domain.

Leave everything like it is & send all the .com traffic to the old domain with a 301 redirect.

That's the easiest less confusing way to do it IMO.

The probelm with this method (which I am doing) is that the .co.uk is still what the search engines index and being a .co.uk TLD my USA rankings (for example) are poor for my keywords. I am finding it hard to get a UK domain high in American search engines.

Thanks

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FraserC 12 years ago

@Yukon - But doesn't that cause duplicate content between the .com and .co.uk sites?
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- MikeFriedman 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by FraserC
  
  @Yukon - But doesn't that cause duplicate content between the .com and .co.uk sites?
  
  No it does not. The .com has no content. It just redirects to the .co.uk.
  
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  yukon Banned 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by FraserC
  
  @Yukon - But doesn't that cause duplicate content between the .com and .co.uk sites?
  
  Originally Posted by MikeFriedman
  
  No it does not. The .com has no content. It just redirects to the .co.uk.
  
  Just like Mike said, the new .com doesn't need to have anything on it (zero content, zero pages) the server will push all traffic to the old domain, including Google Bots.
  
  My biggest concern would be destroying the old already ranked SERP pages for the .co.uk money site, If that gets messed up (URLs, etc...) the money the SERP traffic is generating will dry up fast, well, as fast as a Google server can update the data.
  
  If OP has been holding out for this .com for a while, I would imagine it has backlinks & traffic that will be beneficial to the old .co.uk domain.
  
  Do a simple 301 on the .com pointing at the .co.uk domain & enjoy the new traffic/backlinks (.com backlinks). This is the easiest way IMO. When you start doing massive amounts of redirects that's not a good thing IMO, it leaves things wide open to future failures. Bad things usually happen at the worst of times, keep everything simple.
  
  Besides, I doubt the traffic cares what the TLD is, all they care about is whatever your content is or whatever it is your selling.
  
  My $0.02
  
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  frambles 12 years ago
  
  [QUOTE=yukon;6135819]Besides, I doubt the traffic cares what the TLD is, all they care about is whatever your content is or whatever it is your selling./QUOTE]
  
  It really does matter as the traffic comes 40% from search engines - so I need the use the .com to get higher in the usa search engines.... they just don't like .co.uk that much! I guess it's the same as I have never seen a .us site here in the uk
  
  Thanks
  
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  frambles 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by MikeFriedman
  
  No it does not. The .com has no content. It just redirects to the .co.uk.
  
  I think that's right.... there is no content associated with the .com, it is hosted with a separate host to the .co.uk domain and the content.
  
  My main concern is losing traffic - just want a seamless way to start using .com and that taking over .co.uk
  
  Thanks
  
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LarryHaywood

12 years ago

Is it not possible to redirect the entire uk domain to the .com with one simple 301 redirect at the root of the uk domains, instead of having to do it page by page? I agree with what Yukon said, but if you want your site on the .com...

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frambles

12 years ago

Originally Posted by LarryHaywood

Ok.... if that will work! I guess the issue is that yes, the traffic coming in will just go to the .com domain but over time, google will see the redirect and drop the .co.uk right?

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ericbryant 12 years ago

I agree with Yukon above...
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jimgk 12 years ago

will he have any .com traffic - i mean if he 301's the .com and the .com has no pages and no seo efforts - what traffic would he be getting - direct type ins??
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LarryHaywood 12 years ago

I think he's wanting to copy his site over to the .com and redirect the uk domain to the .com.
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- frambles 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by LarryHaywood
  
  I think he's wanting to copy his site over to the .com and redirect the uk domain to the .com.
  
  Exactly! This is exactly what I want to do with as little disruption to service and traffic as possible. I can't believe the lack of info online about this. It seems something that must be common but no single simple answer to exists?
  
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yukon Banned 12 years ago

OP, you might want to read this related story.

Overoptimization? ...
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- WareTime 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by yukon
  
  OP, you might want to read this related story.
  
  Overoptimization? ...
  
  Nah, can't fail twice in a row, can it?
  
  Thanks
  
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frambles 12 years ago

Ok, that article changes things I'm sticking with .co.uk. I guess it's just going to be that little bit harder to get higher around the world!
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Changing TLD without losing search engine rank and traffic

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