Changed domain from .co.uk to .uk and went down from 3->5 organically. Should I go back?
-
After around 3 days we showed up on Google for our main keyword and we were at 5th and this has not picked up since and on Local listings we went from 2->3. Other keywords are also affected. It's been around 10 days now. I've done all the right things:
- wildcard 301 redirect
- Google Webmaster Change of domain notification
- I've managed to update some of the old backlinks (we don't have that many overall, maybe 10-15) and I've managed to pick up one new moderate quality backlink.
There are no indexing or crawling errors at the moment, and my site is well indexed (only about 12 pages)
Possible issues:
- .co.uk domain is years old and .uk being only days old (although I purchased it for 10 years)
- there are also some slight difference in the WHOIS record
Now I'm not invested in this new domain, it was just part of making us look more authoritative long-term. I'm happy to either ditch and switch back or hold for a bit longer based on your advice.
-
I recently did a similar thing with two of my domains - however, this was a .co.uk to .co.uk move. It took around 3 months for our google results to settle down and return our previous rankings. Pages would bounce around daily between there old positions and new, often worse positions. Eventually it was all good... you need to give it time.
-
Thanks for the question! The answer is a bit complex, so I'll break it down by topic.
First, Moz does recommend here that people use top-level domains (such as .uk) and not second-level domains (such as co.uk). This is what you're now doing.
Second, you've done everything correctly as far as 301 redirects and GWT notification of domain change. (One possible note: If your target audience is primarily people in the UK, then you should also state that designation in GWT in Search Traffic > International Targeting.) If you're not doing this already, I'd also select a web host that will give you an IP address that is located in the UK.
Now, it's been only ten days? I'd humbly suggest that it's too soon to make any judgments. Whenever a major change is done to a website -- such as as moving a website to a new domain -- it takes time for Google to "catch up." Until that time, things will be a little "wonky" (to use UK slang). I'd give it a month -- possibly a little longer.
You're correct that the length of time that a domain has actively existed is a ranking factor. But as long as you've done everything correctly to "tell" Google that the domain has moved to a new domain, then that length of time should "carry over."
Lastly, I'd do whatever you can to get high-quality backlinks to the new domain that are 100% earned -- think of how to get natural publicity on any major, authoritive sites that are read by your target audience.
If you're still having problems after a month or so, I'd post here again -- I'm sure the Moz community will be happy to help again. Good luck!
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
-
Verifying Google My Business After An Address Change
Hello,
Local Listings | | Ben-R
We are trying to verify our Google My Business listing, however, the current unverified listing is using an old address we no longer have access to. The only option for verification is through the mail. We tried requesting an edit but it didn’t go through. Would the best option be to create a new one and try to have the old (unverified) listing removed? Any insight would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Best,0 -
Creating a Wordpress Multi-site - Should I have separate Domains or use Subdirectories?
Hello, I have a company building out a website and wanted to get the community opinion on how we should set-up the domain network (separate domains or subdirectories). Our company has several locations across the country and really act as their own entity in those locations (Austin, Norman, College Station, etc.). Currently, we have all the locations under 1 domain like so... maindomain.com/our-locations/norman. This clearly isn't they way it should be set-up and it was done a long time ago, so we are changing to either: Separate Domains already purchased Subdirectories such as maindomain.com/norman I would like to know what would be the best strategy for our communities in regards to SEO? Thanks!
Local Listings | | TylerAspen1 -
How long until an address changes after verification on Google My Business?
Started working with a company recently that had a Google My Business with an old address. I went ahead and claimed it and verified it with the postcard, but it still shows the old address if search. How long will that be?
Local Listings | | EcommerceSite0 -
We lost ranking for our domain what could be reason?
Hello, From last 5 months our domain ranking dropped down a lot, main keywords are also dropped, form 1st page to 6 or 7 .
Local Listings | | Sanjayth
can anyone help to fix this issue ? Any one can help for this query, Then Please reply. Thanx, in Advance, Falguni0 -
List of categories for Google Business for the UK
Does anyone have a compete list of the business categories for the UK Google Business listings? I have done a few searches on line and not uncovered anything up to date. Thanks in advance.
Local Listings | | highwayfive0 -
I have noticed two changes in SEO from Dec 2014 to Now
Why has most of the local pages from google disappeared? There were normally 3-6 local listings on Google but now it has vanished? Has the algorithm or rules changed? Secondly i noticed a massive swing in seo rankings. I have done some testing i i found that google now gives you different rankings depending on the area that you in. So i can safely assume that the algorithms have changed and you now get results based on your area? The top 4-5 rankings stay the same but everything else changes to your current location. Am i wrong, what has changed. Please help.
Local Listings | | Ashwin19780 -
Business from UK Showing up in Canada local search, how can I report it?
Hello Everyone, So we have a problem. There is another business with the same name as ours showing up on Google Local/ Google maps when I type in our business name in Google. Our name is Brighton College, and the other business is Brighton College, however they are from the UK. They are showing up on the right hand side with their wikipedia page and on Google Maps and we aren't, but I'm searching in Canada on Google.ca across the street from our college. Any idea on how to fix this? Thank you!
Local Listings | | jhinchcliffe1 -
How is a competitor franchise ranking all for all 3 Local results with unclaimed G+ pages in a search for the national corporation?
My company is an individual franchise of a national corporation - every franchise is operates as [National Corporate Brand Name] + a chosen descriptor such as "Premiere" or the names of the owners such as "Smith Jones". A logged-out Google search for just the national brand name returns the corporate website first, followed by the website of a competing local franchise and 3 Local listings for their offices. These listings are all unclaimed and unverified on Google+ and have no reviews or posts. The corporate Twitter is next, followed by my franchise's website. The corporate Facebook is the last result on the page. How can this competing franchise rank for all 3 Local listings with unclaimed pages? My company operates several more offices than the competitor in the same area and I regularly post to their G+ pages which I verified several months ago. Is it because the competitor's website just holds significantly more weight in Google than our own? A search for the brand name + the town where our offices are in does usually return our Local listing pages, but that limits our reach to those specific towns. Anyone have any insight on this?
Local Listings | | WGW0