Changed domain from .co.uk to .uk and went down from 3->5 organically. Should I go back?
-
After around 3 days we showed up on Google for our main keyword and we were at 5th and this has not picked up since and on Local listings we went from 2->3. Other keywords are also affected. It's been around 10 days now. I've done all the right things:
- wildcard 301 redirect
- Google Webmaster Change of domain notification
- I've managed to update some of the old backlinks (we don't have that many overall, maybe 10-15) and I've managed to pick up one new moderate quality backlink.
There are no indexing or crawling errors at the moment, and my site is well indexed (only about 12 pages)
Possible issues:
- .co.uk domain is years old and .uk being only days old (although I purchased it for 10 years)
- there are also some slight difference in the WHOIS record
Now I'm not invested in this new domain, it was just part of making us look more authoritative long-term. I'm happy to either ditch and switch back or hold for a bit longer based on your advice.
-
I recently did a similar thing with two of my domains - however, this was a .co.uk to .co.uk move. It took around 3 months for our google results to settle down and return our previous rankings. Pages would bounce around daily between there old positions and new, often worse positions. Eventually it was all good... you need to give it time.
-
Thanks for the question! The answer is a bit complex, so I'll break it down by topic.
First, Moz does recommend here that people use top-level domains (such as .uk) and not second-level domains (such as co.uk). This is what you're now doing.
Second, you've done everything correctly as far as 301 redirects and GWT notification of domain change. (One possible note: If your target audience is primarily people in the UK, then you should also state that designation in GWT in Search Traffic > International Targeting.) If you're not doing this already, I'd also select a web host that will give you an IP address that is located in the UK.
Now, it's been only ten days? I'd humbly suggest that it's too soon to make any judgments. Whenever a major change is done to a website -- such as as moving a website to a new domain -- it takes time for Google to "catch up." Until that time, things will be a little "wonky" (to use UK slang). I'd give it a month -- possibly a little longer.
You're correct that the length of time that a domain has actively existed is a ranking factor. But as long as you've done everything correctly to "tell" Google that the domain has moved to a new domain, then that length of time should "carry over."
Lastly, I'd do whatever you can to get high-quality backlinks to the new domain that are 100% earned -- think of how to get natural publicity on any major, authoritive sites that are read by your target audience.
If you're still having problems after a month or so, I'd post here again -- I'm sure the Moz community will be happy to help again. Good luck!
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
-
Local Pack Ads v. Organic Business Listings
Hey everyone, So I'm noticing lately that Google is showing ads via AdWords for my locations in the local pack. I am fine with that, but unfortunately it is now driving me a little bit insane wondering how much Google really cares about NAP, distance from centroid and or user, links to domain, completed business profile and so on. They will pull an ad into the top of the local pack for my location, yet, my actual organic business listing in some cases will not even show up until I hit the second page of business results. I get that it's Adwords, it's pay-to-play, but from most accounts, the differences in ranking for traditional listings results compared to business results on both desktop and mobile are pretty different. For example, by doing my traditional SEO best practices, I can rank high in traditional listing results even when my business does not show in the local listings. I have done this time and time again. I am able to accept that since we have 100 locations in the US and our lists were an absolute mess before I got here, that some of our NAP across multiple directories and listing sites are not exactly up to snuff which I have been working on. So I guess the thing is, if my location in Google's eyes is not good enough to be shown organically for the user even at the bottom of page of one of business results, why is it good enough to show an ad for my business location for that query as the absolute first result? Again, I know its Ad Words which basically allows you to cut in line like that special pass you can buy at a roller coaster park, but still. Isn't their goal to provide the best possible experience for their user? If they feel something is worth holding back my organic listing from the user, why is it fine with them to show the user that same location with the top possible local pack spot in an ad? I guess this is more of a rant than anything but I wanted to know if anyone else is dealing with this or anyone has any info they have found that could help shed light on this? It kind of just kicked everything I thought about trust, authority, links in order to rank in the local pack organically out the window. Thanks! -Ben
Local Listings | | Davey_Tree0 -
Creating a Wordpress Multi-site - Should I have separate Domains or use Subdirectories?
Hello, I have a company building out a website and wanted to get the community opinion on how we should set-up the domain network (separate domains or subdirectories). Our company has several locations across the country and really act as their own entity in those locations (Austin, Norman, College Station, etc.). Currently, we have all the locations under 1 domain like so... maindomain.com/our-locations/norman. This clearly isn't they way it should be set-up and it was done a long time ago, so we are changing to either: Separate Domains already purchased Subdirectories such as maindomain.com/norman I would like to know what would be the best strategy for our communities in regards to SEO? Thanks!
Local Listings | | TylerAspen1 -
UK aggregators of local business data
Hi Guys, I have signed up for Moz Local and I am looking for UK aggregators of local business data to help build my search. Can anyone recommend a source?
Local Listings | | SEM_at_Lees0 -
How do you go about updating / correcting bad business listings when you cannot contact the website directly?
There is a business listing I wish to correct / update on 411dir.biz There is no way to contact the website online, and in cases like this, I try to do a whois lookup, and reach out via the email / phone number there. This site seems impossible to connect with, has anybody else come up against situations like this in the past, if so what do you tell your client / what other approaches do people have? Thanks!
Local Listings | | ParadigmPCB0 -
Why does Google only display a 3 pack of local business results for some terms?
We have seen a pattern in the Google UK SERPS where only three local listings are triggered for a query although they have a more local results to show but chose to only show three: Anyone else seen this? Anyone know why? Is there a magic number for them to trigger a six pack, does the data set they pull from need to be larger for them to trigger more local listings. "Solicitors Cambridge" = 3 listings https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=solicitors+cambridge&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=_vCwVc2mHMiAUZ-luZAE "solicitors kent" = 3 listings https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=solicitors+cambridge&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=_vCwVc2mHMiAUZ-luZAE#q=solicitors+kent "Solicitors Oxford" = 6 listings https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=solicitors+cambridge&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=_vCwVc2mHMiAUZ-luZAE Any thoughts?
Local Listings | | highwayfive1 -
List of categories for Google Business for the UK
Does anyone have a compete list of the business categories for the UK Google Business listings? I have done a few searches on line and not uncovered anything up to date. Thanks in advance.
Local Listings | | highwayfive0 -
How does one increase a site's Domain Authority?
We see that our Domain Authority is hovering around the same mark for over a year now. I have 2 questions - How important is DA? Does it affect your Google Page Rank? What would ideally be the things that we need to keep in mind if we are to increase our Domain Authority? Thanks
Local Listings | | prsntsnh0 -
Moz Local in the UK and the Rest of the World
So I've just seen that Moz have rolled out their new Moz Local to help businesses in the USA... Has anyone any idea if this will be available in the UK, if so do we know when? Also, would love to know some feedback on anyone who has already started using this new feature
Local Listings | | bricktech0