To use new domain name or not?
-
I've had a web site since before most people knew what a web site was, aeroconsult.com. It has a page authority of 30, domain authority of 21, and 21 root domains that link to path. The problem is, I am not getting many organic hits, and I am wasting a lot of non-productive money on ad words.
Because this site is over 20 years old, with a few rudimentary modifications, I decided to create a totally new web site that is modern and that has a regular menu, pictures, etc. It also has a domain name that more accurately reflects what I do. I am an engineering consultant working in the area of RF and microwave design and development. I design rf and microwave circuits and systems for clients. Those clients range from individual inventors to start-up companies, to large (and, yes, sometimes) corporations, including some aerospace companies. But, I do not design rockets, space ships, airplanes, or other things that an aerospace company does. I get a lot of organic hits on "aerospace consultant", "aerospace consulting", "aerospace design", etc. But, those are useless to me, since that is not what I do.
So, I designed a new website. It is still under development, but it is out there at rfandmicrowavedesign.com. Clearly, the URL is appropriate to what I do. And, all pages have my company name, Aerospace Consulting LLC. But, even with Google adwords, which I just activated for this site yesterday, I am not getting good results, especially when you look at the cost of the CPC.
I plan to keep my e-mail address, that is tied to aeroconsult.com since it has been out there for over 2 decades and that is what my old clients know. But, I am wondering if I should move the new web site contents to my old domain, aeroconsult.com because of the domain authority, page authority, and links? Or, am I better just leaving the old aeroconsult.com web site out there and concentrate on the new web site with the new domain name?
Both web sites have 1 or 2 organic search results in the top 10, although the only organic search result that really relates to my business is "wireless design consulting" which is #8 for rfandmicrowavedesign.com, although I think it is something like #10 for aeroconsult.com. All other organic search results are less than 50, which is, of course, useless. (Although, #8 for rfandmicrowavedesign.com is pretty impressive since it has only been live for a couple of weeks, vs over 20 years for aeroconsult.com.
Anyway, I am looking for advice. Should I scrap the old aeroconsult.com web site and replace its contents with the contents of rfandmicrowavedesign.com, or should I leave them both active for at least a while? I plan to continue to use the aeroconsult.com domain for e-mail since it has been out there for so long. I guess the real question is whether I would gain lot by putting the clearly better content and structure of rfandmicrowavedesign.com on my old, established, aeroconsult.com, or whether I should concentrate in building up organic and paid search for rfandmicrowavedsign.com.
-
While it might be questionable, throwing away a well-aged domain, it sure sounds like it's causing you some other issues, including bounce rate issues for people who find you simply because of partial domain name match against their queries.
I'd be inclined to take the hit on domain age and move to the new site. 301 redirect the old site's pages to corresponding pages on the new site. You can set up your old email address to forward to your new one, so people using the old will still get to you fine. I wouldn't use the old email address on the new site, as you'll get people ignoring your emails because it's not from a site they recognize.
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
-
Does anyone know if there are any adwords guideline restrictions against naming a product with the term "Clinically Proven?"
If you do a search for something like "protein powder" there are the sponsored ads where you can shop. Does anyone know if there are any guidelines against naming a product with "Clinically Proven." For example, "Clinically Proven Protein Powder." Any guidance, insight, or links helping to answer this question would be appreciated.
Paid Search Marketing | | jbmac0 -
Is there a tool that can use measure and improve the quality score of my PPC landing pages?
Hey guys, I'm trying to improve the quality score for a few of my PPC landing pages. Does any one know a Tool that can help me in the process. Something kind of like the "on page grader" but for quality score. Thanks
Paid Search Marketing | | Felip30 -
Why you should never use Google Adwords To Conduct Key Word Research
Buongiorno from 22 degrees C too damn humid Wetherby UK, The other day a client wanted to know how much a ppc campaign would cost with a specific bank of keywords. So off i went and loaded in the key words and set the ads thinking it was not live.... A week later i get a tap on the shoulder asking why weve been invoiced for £xxxx oh dio mio!! The damn campaign went to live. So ive got two questions: 1. Do Google adwords automatically go to Live once youve loaded up phrases and ads, i really thought it would have made it more obvious, A " Would you like your campaign to go live" prompt would have been appreciated. 2. As a safety measure is configuring a Google Alert in Analytics to ping when paid traffic is picked up not a bad idea just so ive got a warning sytem set up so to speak. Grazie tanto,
Paid Search Marketing | | Nightwing
David1 -
Will PPC elsewhere on my domain help my organic SEO?
I have an e-commerce site with a small product line which an on-going organic SEO campaign. As a side project, I'm planning on doing some PPC testing with a highly converting product squeeze page, which I'll run Google ads to gain traffic. (this is PPC only and for this page I am not concerned with organic SEO traffic - although of course the page itself will be fully optimized). I am wondering whether to run this squeeze page on a sub-domain or sub-directory of the existing site, OR to host it on a completely fresh domain? I would like to know if as side-effect my existing Website benefit 'organically' from some of the PPC traffic, helping with it's domain authority, etc.,? or could this possibly do any harm? p.s. Bear in mind this is not going to be a page visible on the on the main site itself, it's a separate entity for PPC. Would be great to have some expert Moz eyes on this and opinions. Thanks!
Paid Search Marketing | | GregDixson0 -
Best way of handling top level domains (with a local twist)
Hi There, We're about to develop a new website for a small company who operates in both New Zealand and Australia. The company has a foot in the door with major Australian distribution so is keen to build their brand there - almost all of the marketing budget will go into Australia this year. 1. Domains and websites: We're thinking of using separate country domains (.co.nz and .com.au) along with the CMS to create 2 sites that will have: Content common to both countries and sites (about, story, product info) Country specific content (contacts, tastings, competitions and other promo) Headers and footers of each page will contain different content for each site I guess we're worried about creating a duplicate content issue as both sites will have several pages that are identical (although different info will be in the headers and footers on every page). Also, using www.brand.com/aus might not be a great option (perception-wise) when the competition will be using .com.au. And creating and maintaining different content for both sites will drain too much budget away from Adwords and marketing. 2. The effect on SEO and Adwords: If the www.brand.com/aus approach is simply better, are there any implications if all the advertised domains (especially in Adwords) redirect like this?
Paid Search Marketing | | cmscss
www.brand.com.au -> www.brand.com/aus
www.brand.co.nz -> www.brand.com/nz How would everyone recommend approaching this? As you can tell, we're a bit unsure and want to get this right from the start - any pointers in the right direction would be very much appreciated. Cheers Ben0 -
Does having a new website design and code affects the SEO
Dear experts, We are in the process of completely revamping our website code and design to a new version of prestashop. Having mentioned that, please note that we are not changing the URL links. So, the same products links will be the same and intact. Only the content is changing. So, how this is affecting my website SEO or SERP? Regards,
Paid Search Marketing | | kanary0 -
Keyword Domains for PPC
I have a client who wants to buy a lot of long domains with keywords in them, for example, thesandiegopetstore.com (this is fictional) and then set up a PPC landing page for each. They think that when someone types in "san diego pet store" that their domain will be listed high and then they will get a lot of traffic. My concern is that they will own a lot of domains for their company and I thought Google is getting pretty adamant about companies not having a lot of domains, and I thought that keyword domains are not as effective as they used to be -- that branding is more important now. Also, I think the domains they've picked target very competitive keywords and that perhaps they will get a lot unqualified traffic and will still have to pay for the clicks. What do you think? What is the best way to set up PPC landing pages?
Paid Search Marketing | | klkirby0 -
Facebook PPC. Using Google URL Builder - Now What?
Hey There! So I've been trying some FB PPC ads. I recently learned I needed to use Google's URL builder to add the appropriate tracking fields into the URL (source, campaign, etc). The FB ad link now uses a custom URL with all the correct parameters. Now what do I do in analytics? Do I create a filter? A goal? Getting a little dizzy going in circles with google analytic help, and I'm hoping someone here can direct me. Thanks! -Dan
Paid Search Marketing | | evolvingSEO0