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
-
Changing Domains - Will a 301 redirect be looked unfavourably for my Ads?
Hey All, So over the next few weeks we are switching over a clients domain to a new one. Each of the old pages on the old domain will have a 301 redirect to it's new contextual page (with the same content). My question is this, we currently have multiple PPC campaigns running for this client and the ads are pointed towards the old domain so the ads will redirect over to the new domain. My question is this, will Adwords look at this redirection unfavourably? If so, then I will have to duplicate each ad (100's of ads) with a new destination URL (since if I edit the current ads they will lose all past performance history). Obviously for branding I'm going to have to probably change the display URL eventually but for now I'm looking at the BIG issues that could occur. I would normally call Google and ask this question but I don't want them to flag anything in my account just in case this is looked unfavourably. Thanks! Jon
Paid Search Marketing | | EvansHunt0 -
Using + in Adwords URL
Hi. I am using keywords in my Destination URL in Adwords. So http://example.com/?football+boots+supplier This was done by someone else and I am trying to understand the full meaning behind this. If I go to the page it links to, it is just the homepage of the website but obviously shows up in Analytics as a landing page that stills out from the general landing page of homepage / Is that the reason so its easier to track the data? I would have though using the Paid referral in Analytics does this better? Any help be great. Thanks
Paid Search Marketing | | YNWA0 -
Google URL Builder / Campaign Tracking on two Different Domain using the Same Analytics Code
Hey Everyone, I think I know the answer to this but I'd like to get some confirmation. I currently have a landing page at "www.xyz.com", it's a separate domain in which only the landing page exists and not a vanity URL which redirects. However, the navigation and all the links on "www.xyz.com" actually link out to "www.abc.com". The domain / landing page "xyz" has the same analytics tracking code as domain "www.abc.com". My question is this, if I use Google URL builder to create custom URL's to track for each ad that I'm running in Adwords, will this data show up in the analytics of "abc" even though it's a separate domain because it has the same analytics code? In other words, does campaign data show only if the domain and the google analytics code line up, or does the domain not matter and as long as you have the same analytics code (despite two separate domains) that campaign data (built through Google URL builder) will show? My hunch and best guess it that as long as the analytics code is the same (regardless of a separate domain) that the data in campaign will show with the custom URL's I build. I'm aware that I can test this and I will but I'd like to get an idea from the community first to make things easier. Anybody have experience with this? Answers greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Paid Search Marketing | | EvansHunt0 -
3 domains, Same keywords targeting - Best way of managing this?
Hi, I manage 3 domains and am just about to start doing some Branded PPC (to start with) to promote these the problem is that that 2 of the domains sell the exactly same products under the same brand names. What is the most efficient way of setting this up. Obviously by setting up separate accounts and using the MCC I can manage the accounts accordingly, but i am going to be increasing my competition for my own brand terms. As far as i am aware google is not happy with you mixing 2 domains in one account? We also sell our products via a wholesale channel so there is competition with other competitors as well. The 3 sites is slightly different so has less overlap and its not until we hit generic terms that there is some form of competition, between site but i am not worried about this. Can you help? Regards Ben
Paid Search Marketing | | benjmoz0 -
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 -
Which of my products should I advertise for first using Adwords?
Serious Adwords noob here. I have been reading a great deal in preparation for my first Adwords campaign. Strangely enough, I have not been able to find information that might help me determine which of my 180+ products I should begin with and use in my first campaign. I imagine that there is some sort of general criterion like the highest selling item, lowest, one meeting certain criterion in the popularity of it's keywords/difficulty, one with least competition or, most likely, something that I haven't even thought of. Does anyone have any suggestions or a link to something I might be able to read to solve this? Thanks for your help!
Paid Search Marketing | | machineuser0 -
A heads-up about problems with the new Google Adwords Keyword Planner tool
I noticed that when I was using this tool, the data in the tables would change, often by a lot (up to 50%) when I sorted the columns. (Did nothing else, just sorted.) Since I was starting a new campaign and really needed data, I contacted Google about this and was told: "I understand that the estimates are changing in the Keyword Planner tool when you sort the data. I reproduced this on my end as well and was able to confirm that this is a known technical issue on our end." "Unfortunately the information in the Keyword Planner Tool is currently not the best source of data for your analysis." They then went on to suggest I just test things blindly. So, what do you do to get information about keyword traffic and ppc estimates?
Paid Search Marketing | | Linda-Vassily0 -
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