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
-
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's on a 301 Redirect...Why?
So we launched a site about a month ago. Our old site had an extensive library of health content that went away with the relaunch. We redirected this entire section of the site to the new education materials, but we've yet to see this reflected in the index or in GWT. In fact, we're getting close to 500 soft 404's in GWT. Our development team confirmed for me that the 301 redirect is configured correctly. Is it just a waiting game at this point or is there something I might be missing? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
Technical SEO | | MJTrevens0 -
Could using our homepage Google +1's site wide harm our website?
Hello Moz! We currently have the number of Google +1's for our homepage displaying on all pages of our website. Could this be viewed as black hat/manipulative by Google, and result in harming our website? Thanks in advance!
Technical SEO | | TheDude0 -
What's the best canonicalization method?
Hi there - is there a canonicalization method that is better than others? Our developers have used the
Technical SEO | | GBC0 -
Https-pages still in the SERP's
Hi all, my problem is the following: our CMS (self-developed) produces https-versions of our "normal" web pages, which means duplicate content. Our it-department put the <noindex,nofollow>on the https pages, that was like 6 weeks ago.</noindex,nofollow> I check the number of indexed pages once a week and still see a lot of these https pages in the Google index. I know that I may hit different data center and that these numbers aren't 100% valid, but still... sometimes the number of indexed https even moves up. Any ideas/suggestions? Wait for a longer time? Or take the time and go to Webmaster Tools to kick them out of the index? Another question: for a nice query, one https page ranks No. 1. If I kick the page out of the index, do you think that the http page replaces the No. 1 position? Or will the ranking be lost? (sends some nice traffic :-))... thanx in advance 😉
Technical SEO | | accessKellyOCG0 -
How to tell google about the changes
Hello All this is my first question here. we have recently changed our website design and backend. so the problem now is in google it is showing the old url's and when ever a client come from google he is prasented with a 404 error page if this happenes many times. will google penalise our site ? if yes. how to prevent this from happen. waiting for some replies.. thanks
Technical SEO | | idreams1 -
How do i Organize an XML Sitemap for Google Webmaster Tools?
OK, so i used am xlm sitemap generator tool, xml-sitemaps.com, for Google Webmaster Tools submission. The problem is that the priorities are all out of wack. How on earth do i organize it with 1000's of pages?? Should i be spending hours organizing it?
Technical SEO | | schmeetz0 -
Access To Client's Google Webmaster Tools
Hi, What's the best/easiest way for a client to grant access to his Google Webmaster Tools to me? Thanks! Best...Michael
Technical SEO | | 945010