Martin Splitt of Google and Glenn Gabe of G-Squared Interactive meet to discuss the most common questions SEOs ask about site migrations.
Here’s a quick summary of each point and the corresponding time stamps in the video.
Image redirection during site redesign or migration (0:00)
Setting up 301 redirects for images during site migration is important. This is something that site owners often overlook.
Do Domain Name Changes and Site Migrations Always Cause Traffic Drops? (1:53)
Site moves don’t always result in lost traffic.
Split said:
“Literally moving from one domain to another and just copying the entire URL structure and the entire content doesn’t necessarily mean less traffic.”
Buying a new domain name with history and traffic anomalies (2:40)
There are certain situations where domain history is a factor. Especially if it was previously used for spamming purposes.
If the new site is not an exact 1:1 copy of the old site, you may experience traffic anomalies during the site move.
Making changes as part of a site move is risky, says Splitt. Because Google has to recrawl and reprocess everything.
Site Mergers and Site Moves (6:24)
A site move refers to moving everything from one domain to another. The end result should be an exact copy of the old site.
A site merger refers to combining two sites and is by no means the same as a site move. The final result will be treated as a brand new site.
What happens on Google’s side when a domain name change is triggered? (8:12)
When a site is moved from one domain to another and all redirects occur, Google first checks the similarity between the old and new sites.
Again, a true site move from Google’s point of view is an exact copy of the old site on the new domain.
Once Google becomes aware that an actual site move has occurred, it will begin transferring all signals from the old domain to the new domain.
The speed at which this process completes will vary from site to site.
Why use the Change Address Tool (10:16)
The Change of Address tool is a way for site owners to send additional signals to Google that a site move has taken place.
This is a clearer signal to Google that your site has been permanently moved, not a temporary change.
If my site moves, will Google reassess content quality? (11:15)
We are constantly reassessing the quality of content, whether or not a site moves.
Even if content is currently considered high quality, that may not always be the case.
And vice versa. Low-quality or spammy content could theoretically be considered high-quality once improvements are made.
As mentioned above, if high-quality content is copied from one domain to another during a site move, the signals will follow.
If my site migration resulted in a significant drop in traffic, should I go back? (14:54)
Before hitting reverse on site navigation, first make sure no technical issues are getting in the way.
As a technical issue, Google may not be aware of redirects, or the old site may not be crawled frequently enough for Google to detect redirects.
If you’ve done everything right and your traffic hasn’t improved after a month, start looking for outside help.
A site move should only be undone when completely out of options.
Should I unblock URLs normally blocked by robots.txt during site migration? (17:31)
No, blocked URLs should not be unblocked during a site move.
Most Common Post-Site Move Problems and Step-by-Step Work (18:16)
As mentioned above, the most common problem site owners encounter is making too many changes while moving a site.
Please do not use the site move as an opportunity to make changes to the site. At least until Google crawls and reprocesses new sites.
Check out the full Google SEO demystification video below.
