How to use Google search console's 'Name change' tool?
-
Hi There,
I'm having trouble performing a 'Name change' for a new website (rebrand and domain change) in Google Search console.
Because the 301 redirects are in place (a requirement of the name change tool), Google can no longer verify the site, which means I can't complete the name change?
To me, step two (301 redirect) conflicts with step there (site verification) - or is there a way to perform a 301 redirect and have the tool verify the old site?
Any pointers in the right direction would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Ben
-
Your answer is confusing sorry.
If you're not supposed to add the old site's verification to your new site, how does anyone complete the Name Change Tool?
- Step 2 of the tool requires 301 redirects be in place before you can move on
- Step 3 of the tool requires you verify the old site
Obviously, if step 2 is working, then step 3 will always fail.
How do you complete the name change tool?
-
Don't try to edit old one. Let read old version to Google. You need to add new property. You don't need to worry about old property. Due to 301, Google auto ignore your old version.
-
Got this working.
What's not immediately obvious, is that you're allowed to use one site's verification on another.
So you have to copy the old site's verification over to the new site so that your new site is running both verifications.
Then when you run the tool, verification of the old site works.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Unsolved Google Search Console Still Reporting Errors After Fixes
Hello, I'm working on a website that was too bloated with content. We deleted many pages and set up redirects to newer pages. We also resolved an unreasonable amount of 400 errors on the site. I also removed several ancient sitemaps that listed content deleted years ago that Google was crawling. According to Moz and Screaming Frog, these errors have been resolved. We've submitted the fixes for validation in GSC, but the validation repeatedly fails. What could be going on here? How can we resolve these error in GSC.
Technical SEO | | tif-swedensky0 -
Moving from http to https - what do I need to do in Google Search Console?
Hi all, I have moved my site from http to https. I current have two profiles in Google Search Console: http://mysite.com
Technical SEO | | Bee159
http://www.mysite.com Do I need to set up the same but with https and if so, what do I then do with the http profiles? Do I delete them? Or just remove the sitemaps? Confused.0 -
Does Google still use Meta descriptions?
I've noticed that Google is not using my Meta description in the SERP results but rather text from my page, it seems to be a similar situation with a couple of the other sites in the same search results. Does anyone know why this would be?
Technical SEO | | OUTsurance0 -
Soft 404 in Search Console
Search console is showing quite a lot of soft 404 pages on my site, but when I click on the links, the pages are all there. Is there a reason for this? It's a pretty big site - I'm getting 141 soft 404s from about 20,000 pages
Technical SEO | | abisti20 -
How should I close my forum in a way that's best for SEO?
Hi Guys, I have a forum on a subdomain and it is no longer used. (like forum.mywebsite.com) It kind of feels like a dead limb and I don't know what's best to do for SEO. Should I just leave it as it is and let it stagnate? There is a link in the nav menu to the main domain so users have a chance to find the main domain. Or should I remove it and just redirect the whole subdomain to the main domain? I don't know if redirects would work as I doubt most of the threads would match our articles, plus there are 700 of them. The main domain is PR3 and so is the forum subdomain. Please help!
Technical SEO | | HCHQ0 -
Google Places Page Changes
We had a client(dentist) hire another marketing firm(without our knowledge) and due to some Google page changes they made, their website lost a #1 ranking, was disassociated with the places page and was placed at result #10 below all the local results. We quickly made some changes and were able to bring them up to #2 within a few days and restore their Google page after about a week, but the tracking/forwarding phone number the marketing company was using shows up on the page despite attempts to contact Google through updating the business in places management as well as submit the phone number as incorrect while providing the correct phone number. And because the client fired that marketing company, the phone number will no longer be active in a few days. Of course this is very important for a dental office. Has anyone else had problems with the speed and updating Google Places/Plus pages for businesses? What's the most efficient way to make changes like this?
Technical SEO | | tvinson0 -
Why Can't I Get on Google?
I've employed many of the suggestions of SEOMoz and getting a Grade "A" on a particular keyword. I'm now #4 on Yahoo and Bing. However, my site hasn't cracked the top 50 in Google. Why? I see a similar pattern with other keywords, many on yahoo and bing but only a few of my subpages get #45-48 on Google. Any ideas? http://www.gospelebooks.net
Technical SEO | | mrjgardiner0 -
Google search result going to a page that I did not put on my site
Hi, I am seeing a very strange result in google for my site. When doing a search for the term "london reflexology" my site comes up 18th in the results. But when I click the link or check the URL it shows up as: http://www.reflexologyonline.co.uk/reflexologyonline.php?Action=Webring This is not right at all. It looks like some sort of cloaking but I am not sure. I am new to SEO and I do not know why goole is showing this URL that does not exist on my site and of witch the content is totally wrong. Can anyone please help with this? See the 2 linked images for more details. It seems to me the site might be hacked or something to that effect. Please help.... jyJdP.png 71Mf4.png
Technical SEO | | RupDog0