Google revised their website migration instructions to incorporate fresh details on utilizing the Search Console Change of Address tool for transitioning domain names.
The Change of Address Tool in Search Console
Google’s Change Of Address tool assists website owners in transferring their site from one domain to another, enabling Google to move search rankings from the old domain to the new one.
Google advises against using the Change of Address tool in four specific situations.
Migrating from HTTP to HTTPS.
Changing the URLs of categories.
Migrating from WWW to non-WWW and vice versa.
When switching web hosts or updating CDN providers while keeping the URLs unchanged.
Updated Instructions
The new guidelines now suggest adding WWW, non-WWW, and subdomain versions when switching domains, even if they are not in use.
The guidelines now include the following suggestions.
When migrating domains, it is important to submit Change of Address requests for all subdomains and different versions of the old domain name, even if not in use, and have them verified in Search Console.
New Requirements Document Image
In simpler terms:
- When moving a website to a different domain, make sure to request a Change of Address for each verified version of the old domain.
- Include all subdomains, including both the www and non-www versions, even if some are not in active use.
- Submit requests for different versions like en.example.com, www.example.com, and example.com when transitioning to new-example.net.
- Before sending the requests, make sure to check all domain variations in Search Console.
Takeout
Google included a new condition in their instructions without providing a rationale for the request. The omission of this crucial information shows that Google’s documentation can be somewhat careless.
One change made to the documentation was correcting a sentence that lacked the preposition “about” after the term “decisions.”
Activate the redirects based on your choices for your redirect plan.
This is the correct way it should be read:
Implementing or activating redirects is necessary based on your chosen redirect strategy.
The new requirement is based on the information provided in their Changelog on a separate webpage.
This is the explanation excluded from the revised instructions:
Domain migrations are most successful when all versions of a website are migrated correctly.
Site migrations are most effective when all variants are included in the process to prevent potential search performance issues caused by linking patterns.
Image credit: Shutterstock/leolintang
