Changing your domain name is a big move, and done carelessly it can tank the search rankings you’ve spent years building. Done properly, you carry that authority across to the new domain and visitors never miss a beat. Here’s the process that protects your SEO.
Prepare the new domain
First, get the new domain set up on your hosting with its SSL certificate active. If both domains are on your Hostnasi account, you can point the new one at a fresh folder or set it up ready to receive the site. Don’t take the old site down yet — the overlap is your safety net.
Copy the site across
Move the WordPress files and database to the new domain. A migration plugin makes this a two-file job; alternatively, copy the files and import the database manually. At this stage the new domain holds a full copy of your site.
Search and replace the old domain
This is the critical SEO step. Your database is full of references to the old domain — in post content, image URLs, menu links and settings. Use a “better search replace” tool to swap every https://olddomain.com for https://newdomain.com throughout the database. Back up first and do a dry run. Miss this and you’ll have broken links and images everywhere.
Set up 301 redirects — this preserves your rankings
The single most important thing for SEO is redirecting every old URL to its new equivalent with a permanent 301 redirect. A 301 tells search engines the content has moved permanently and passes the old page’s ranking value to the new one. On the old domain, add this to .htaccess:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://newdomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]This redirects every old URL to the matching path on the new domain, so both visitors and Google follow along.
Update Google Search Console
Add the new domain to Search Console and use its Change of Address tool to formally tell Google about the move. Submit a fresh sitemap for the new domain. This speeds up how quickly Google recognises and re-indexes the new address.
Keep the old domain and redirects live
Don’t let the old domain expire. Keep it registered and its redirects active for at least a year — ideally longer — so old links and search results keep sending people to the right place while Google fully transfers your rankings.
Monitor after the move
Watch Search Console for crawl errors and keep an eye on your rankings in the weeks after. A temporary dip is normal; with proper 301s it recovers. If anything looks off, we can help audit the redirects and DNS.
A domain move has a lot of moving parts. We handle these regularly and can do the migration and redirect mapping for you — just ask.
