Merging several sites into one - best practice
-
I had 2 sites on the web (www.physicseditor.de, www.texutrepacker.com) and decided to move them all under one single domain (www.codeandweb.com)
Both sites were ranking very good for several keywords.
I not redirected the most important pages from the old domains with a 301 redirect to the new subpages (www.texturepacker.com => www.codeandweb.com/texturepacker)
Google still delivers the old domains but the redirect take people directly to the new content.
I've already submitted the new site map to google webmaster tools. Pages are already in the index but do not really show up in the search results.
How long does it take until google accepts the new domain and delivers the new content in the search results?
Was it ok what I did? Or is there some room for improvement?
SeoMoz will of course not find any information about the new page since it is not yet directly linked in google. But I can't get ranking information for the "old" pages since SeoMoz tells me that it can't crawl the old domains....
-
Argh. It's too late for 2) - totally missed that.
Would it help to redirect the sitemap to the new domain's site map instead?
-
Thanks - seems google picked up the new domain
I had one bug - though php would do a 301 redirect but does a 302 by default. This is why it was not updated for some time.
-
Hi Andreas,
Looks like you're doing everything right, but I want to make sure all the bases are covered. Depending on the size, link profile, link structure and domain authority of your site, it can take several weeks for Google and other search engines to complete migrate a domain. Here are some important processes not to overlook.
1. Did you file a change of address within Google webmaster? http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=83106
2. When migrating domains, it's important to leave an old sitemap up, so that Google will try crawling the old URLs and register the 301s. If you neglect this step, it may take much longer for Google to crawl the old URLs to see that they've moved.
3. As Joel pointed out, make sure to update as many internal and external links as possible.
That should cover the basics, but there are a million more details you can explore to make the process go more smoothly. For a detailed approach, here's a couple of excellent guides written my some very smart folks.
- https://seogadget.co.uk/domain-migration/
- http://www.seomoz.org/blog/web-site-migration-guide-tips-for-seos
Hope this helps. Best of luck with the migration!
-
You did the right move by doing the 301 redirect and by submitting a new sitemap. Another thing you should consider doing if possible is identifying the links you previously had for those two sites, contact the site owners or webmasters and politely ask them to change the old link for your new URL. You should also make sure you are promoting your new site on all social media and you might consider a small PPC campaign. Also analyze the keywords you had on both sites and see how they compare to your new site. Keyword density may not be as powerful as before but still relevent. Hope this helps.
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
-
Best Topography for eCommerce Site Product Pages (flat nav/off the root OR in products subfolder) ?
Hi Im SEO'ing a Shopify site (new/not yet live) at the moment and all the products are in a 'Products' subfolder along the lines of: domain.com/products/blue-widgets/ etc I understand that many ecommerce SEO's these days go 'Flat Navigation' with all products 'off the root' rather than in a sub folder. Then they communicate product & categories/departmental relationships via breadcrumbs & other internal linking etc In the case of a platform like Shopfy is this a good idea or is it best to leave 'as is' and the 'Products' subfolder is a perfectly good place for the product pages ? All Best Dan
Technical SEO | | Dan-Lawrence0 -
One page templates
Hi, I have in plan to implement One-page template (http://shapebootstrap.net/wp-content/plugins/shapebootstrap/demo.php?id=380) is someone have experience how this type of page have SEO problems? Best regards
Technical SEO | | komir20040 -
Seo For Forum Sites
I have forum site.I've opened it 2 months ago.But there is a problem.Therefore my content is unique , my site's keyword ranking constantly changing..Sometimes my site's ranking drops from first 500.After came to 70s. I didn't make any off page seo to my site.What is the problem ?
Technical SEO | | tutarmi0 -
Does Google differentiate between a site with spammy link building practices from a victim of a negative SEO attack?
I've be tasked with figuring out how to recover our rankings as we are likely being hurt by an algorithmic penalty. I have no idea if this was the workings of a previously hired SEO or the result of negative SEO, **how does Google differentiate between a site with bad/spammy link building practices from a victim of a negative SEO attack? **
Technical SEO | | Syed_Raza0 -
Mobile site not ranking
Hello, Our main site ranks well for all the keyword terms, and yet, our mobile site is buried. It is a "m." configuration, and I am wondering if it is a question of not using the correct programming language to get it there? Or if the redirects to the main site should relate differently? I have tried to read up on the topic of mobile site SEO and cannot find (or understand) the answer? Could someone please help? Thanks so much in advance!
Technical SEO | | lfrazer0 -
Best Practice on 301 Redirect - Images
We have two sites that sell the same products. We have decided to retire one of the sites as we'd like to focus on one property. I know best practice is to redirect apples to apples, which in our case is easily done since the sites sold the same thing. www.SiteABC.com/ProductA can be redirected to www.SiteXYZ.com/ProductA. My question is how far does that thinking go regarding images? Each product has a main product page, of course, and then up to 6 images in some cases. Is it necessary to redirect www.SiteABC.com/ProductA-Image1.jpg to www.SiteXYZ.com/ProductA-Image1.jpg? Or can they all be redirected to just the product page?
Technical SEO | | Natitude0 -
What should I do with 10 Similar Domains pointing to one site?
Hello,
Technical SEO | | thealika
I was recently put in charge of one website with about 15 extra Domains. I previously asked if Domain Parking hurts your SEO as duplicate content - and i learned that the answer seems to be yes. My next logical question is:
What should I do with all those EMD, keyword friendly domains? As I understand, 301 redirecting the domains to the root domain is a safe bet, but that means the extra domains will point to the original root domain no mater what comes after the forward slash. So www.ExtraDomain.com/AboutUS will point to www.OriginalDomain.com - is there a way to keep the forward slashes relavent to the content on the original root domain, if so How? Your Advice, Links, and Comments are greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Nikita0 -
Site Relaunch
Hello, I recently launched my new site (Nov. 25, 2011) but still have the old site live because I still need old customer data from the old admin for customer service issues and I cannot delete the old front-end without deleting the old back-end!. I am seeing a lot of referrals coming from the old site IP address with many backlinks to the new site but dont know if this is actually hurting the new site due to duplicate content, ect .. Any input would be greatly aaaaaapreciated 😉 Thanks in advance, Byron-
Technical SEO | | k9byron0