Changing a domain affects more than search rankings. Customers, advertisements, supplier records and saved links may still point to the old address. Treat the move as a business handover, not just a DNS change.
Make the reason clear
Choose a name customers can recognise and that the business can control. Check registration eligibility, ownership, renewal and access before committing to it. Do not buy a domain extension on a promise that it will automatically improve rankings.
Map what must survive
Inventory the old URLs, including important landing pages and downloads. Map moved pages to their equivalents on the new domain. Keep the old domain under your control so those redirects can continue working. Use relevant permanent redirects, not a blanket homepage redirect.
Update the links you control: navigation, ads, business profiles, email signatures and supplier listings. Coordinate customer communications so the new address is recognisable rather than a surprise.
Test before the announcement
Review structured data too: business details and page identities must describe the new site accurately.
Verify certificates, redirects, canonical URLs, the sitemap and the purchase or enquiry journey. Check both old and new domains in Search Console. For a domain move, use the Change of Address tool where applicable. A simple HTTP-to-HTTPS switch does not require that tool.
Monitor important landing pages, conversions and indexing after launch. Temporary search fluctuations can occur. An audience size or traffic threshold does not guarantee a smooth move.
See the redesign checklist, HTTPS checklist and hosting ownership checks.
This article has been updated from its 2018 version to focus on current domain-migration checks. See Google’s site-move guidance, checked 10 September 2026.