The right way to Change Your Area Identify in 8 Easy Steps
The most effective area registrar service for most individuals is GoDaddy. You will get began for as little as $0.01 now.
There are quite a lot of causes you would possibly change your area identify, together with rebranding a enterprise, resolving a copyright criticism, or altering industries. Regardless of the motive, it may be laborious emigrate websites and arrange your new area with out dropping your internet knowledge or buyer base.
On this information, I’ll stroll by way of the steps it’s best to take to make your area identify change as painless as potential and find out how to keep away from dropping your web site within the course of and beginning once more from scratch.
The 7 Finest Area Registrars For Altering a Area Identify
When altering your area identify, you’ll want to make use of a dependable area registrar to seek out and purchase your new area. These are our favorites primarily based on hours of analysis and testing:
- GoDaddy — Finest for area safety and privateness
- Hostinger — Finest for bundling area registration and hosting
- Porkbun — Finest for inventive area extensions
- Area.com — Finest for quick and easy area buying
- Community Options — Finest for long-term area registrations
- Namecheap — Finest for inexpensive area registration
- NameSilo — Finest for purchasing domains in bulk
Learn our information to the seven finest area registrars for a full evaluation of what we beloved about every one.
Change Your Area Identify in 8 Straightforward Steps
Altering your area identify can really feel overwhelming, however with the correct steps and instruments, it’s really so much simpler than most individuals anticipate it to be. Right here’re the eight steps I’ll be breaking down on this information:
- Check The Domain Change Rules For Your Host Provider
- Backup Your Current Site
- Choose A New Domain Name
- Purchase Your New Domain Name
- Set Up Migration
- Set Up Redirects
- Update Google Tools
- Contact Any Customers Or Clients Via Email
Whenever you change your area identify, you’ll in all probability need to use whichever host you’re already working with, however for the needs of this information, we’ll be utilizing GoDaddy. GoDaddy is likely one of the hottest and trusted area registrars, and it’s easy to entry new domains and alter your area identify. You will get began for simply $0.01.
Step 1: Test The Area Change Guidelines For Your Host Supplier
The very first thing you’ll need to do while you’re on the brink of change your area identify is to examine the particular guidelines on your host supplier about domains.
Each host may have completely different laws about altering your area and which processes you have to use, particularly when transferring a site or including a second area.
It’s value mentioning right here that when speaking about “altering” a site, we’re actually speaking about migrating a web site by buying a brand new area and utilizing that to interchange your main area. There’s no actual strategy to “change” a site that’s not expired, so that you’ll have to purchase a brand new area and preserve the previous one till it expires or promote it.
Relying on who your host supplier is and your plan with them, you could possibly add web sites to your account without spending a dime, like in the event you’re utilizing GoDaddy’s deluxe plan. If not, then you definately’ll have to purchase one other area and both improve your account or arrange internet hosting with one other firm.
Step 2: Backup Your Present Website
Earlier than you should purchase a brand new area or migrate your content material, you have to again up your web site. This is essential as a result of many issues can go improper when migrating websites, and having to arrange your web site another time will set you again hours and even weeks.
Once more, whichever internet hosting supplier you utilize may have alternative ways of doing this, however most supply a straightforward obtain choice for backing up your web site and saving it to each the cloud and a tool. For instance, GoDaddy has a built-in instrument to again up your web site on to your account.
You may as well use a backup plugin, like Updraft Plus or All In One WordPress Migration, to make a replica of your web site and obtain it to an exterior supply, like your laptop or dropbox. It is a higher choice if you’re shifting to a brand new host supplier and altering your area identify. When you’re staying with the identical host (for instance, you’re migrating your web site out of your important area to a brand new area in GoDaddy), you don’t have to fret about this as a lot.
I like to recommend backing your web site up in a number of places, like your laptop and a cloud instrument, so that you’ll have the peace of thoughts that your web site is protected. It is going to additionally make the method of adjusting a site identify a lot quicker and simpler as a substitute of feeling such as you’re launching a brand new web site from scratch once more.
Step 3: Select A New Area Identify
Earlier than you’ll be able to change your area identify, you have to select the brand new area you’ll be sending visitors to.
That is the simple half as a result of in the event you’re fascinated by altering your area identify, you in all probability have already got a brand new one in thoughts. When you’re selecting a brand new identify, it’s vital to contemplate the identical belongings you would when buying your first area, like:
- Availability: You should use a instrument like GoDaddy’s area identify search bar to see in case your area is on the market for buy
- Originality: Is it shut sufficient to another person’s enterprise identify, area, or social media that you possibly can danger being accused of copyright infringement?
- Relevance: Is your area related to your online business? Is it recognizable as being associated to your model and memorable for purchasers?
- Accessibility: Is your area straightforward to spell? Is it brief and simple for anybody to kind?
Though that is a straightforward step, I need to stress how vital it’s to get this proper. You don’t need to spend cash on a brand new area and undergo the method of adjusting your model’s identify, solely to need to do all of it once more in a number of months. Take your time with this step and be sure that in the event you’re going to alter your area identify, it’s value it. You may then search for your area utilizing GoDaddy’s area search instrument.
Step 4: Buy Your New Area Identify
When you’ve chosen your area identify, you should purchase it. You are able to do this in three important methods, though the final is a bit more sophisticated than the opposite.
When you’re utilizing GoDaddy and have a plan that helps a number of websites, the best means is to buy your area instantly as you arrange your new web site. To do that, go to your GoDaddy product web page. Click on on Web sites + Advertising and marketing and choose Handle subsequent to your web site. Then, click on Edit Web site to entry your web site builder and choose Settings, and click on Handle subsequent to your area identify. You’ll then see the choice to Get a New Area. From right here, you’ll be capable to buy your new area identify from GoDaddy and join it to your web site instantly.
The second choice is to buy your new area identify by way of your present host supplier as a second area. For instance, with the GoDaddy Deluxe plan, you’ll be able to merely arrange a second web site and purchase a brand new area inside one account.
The third choice is to arrange your area with a brand new internet hosting supplier. That is costlier and can make migrating your web site tougher, nevertheless it would possibly make sense for you if you wish to transfer hosts for monetary or technical causes. Whenever you join a brand new internet hosting plan, you’ll in all probability get a free area included in your plan, so you may make your new area identify your important one.
Step 5: Set Up Migration
When you’ve bought your new area identify and have it arrange as a secondary or important area, you have to migrate your previous web site to the brand new area.
If you’re utilizing a secondary area, that is fairly straightforward. With GoDaddy, you solely must go to your GoDaddy product page. From there, go to Web sites + Advertising and marketing, then click on on Handle subsequent to your web site to entry your web site.
Then select Edit Web site to open your web site builder, and click on Choose Settings. Then, click on on Handle subsequent to your area identify. Choose I Already Personal The Area. Then click on on Select a Area and choose the brand new area you’ve added to your account. When you’ve checked that you simply’ve chosen the proper area, click on save and publish.
If, for any motive, one thing goes improper, or if you’re shifting to a brand new internet hosting supplier solely, you would possibly need to migrate your web site manually utilizing a plugin. For this, you should first examine that your web site DNS (present in your settings underneath your internet hosting account) is up to date to your new web site.
Then, you’ll be able to import your web site backup to your new web site. Ensure you have created a fundamental new web site first (utilizing a template theme, for instance) earlier than importing your web site backup and importing your previous content material utilizing your downloaded recordsdata and the directions out of your plugin.
Each these choices can take a few days to kick in, so be affected person in case your internet hosting supplier takes slightly time to replace these adjustments and replicate them in your new web site. That is why it’s a good suggestion to maintain your previous area energetic for a number of days whilst you full the mandatory adjustments to your new web site.
Step 6: Set Up Redirects
When you’ve arrange your area identify and the accompanying web site, you have to guarantee all of your previous URLs redirect visitors to your new web site. You are able to do this simply out of your area dashboard in your internet hosting web site.
In GoDaddy, you simply must go to Account Settings and go into your domains. From there, select the area that you can be forwarding (your previous area) and click on Handle DNS. When you scroll down this web page, you’ll see a piece that claims Forwarding. From right here, you’ll be able to arrange forwarding for each your area and subdomains.
After selecting Ahead Area subsequent to your previous area, you’ll be able to add your new area identify URL and select a kind of redirect hyperlink. You may select between a 301 or a 302 redirect. Though they each work, I’d suggest utilizing a 301 everlasting redirect because it’s quicker and preserves essentially the most website positioning worth generated by your authentic web site.
By organising redirects, you’ll decrease your probabilities of dropping visitors and make it simpler for each new and previous web site guests to seek out your new area.
As soon as your new area identify is about up, you have to replace Google Console and Google Analytics.
For Google Console, you solely must log in to your account and choose the gear icon. It will take you to your Settings, the place you’ll choose Change of Handle. Then, add your new area, and Google can ship redirects to your new web site.
With Google Analytics, you simply must go to Admin, select the property you need to edit (on this case, your previous area), after which edit the default URL to your new one.
The final step for altering your area identify is to let your customers, prospects, or viewers know that you simply’ve modified your area identify.
That is optionally available, however when you have a weblog or a web based retailer, it’s a good suggestion to cut back the quantity of visitors you’ll lose out of your area change and be sure that folks realize it’s taking place.
All you have to do is ship out a brief announcement by way of social media or e mail, letting your viewers know that you simply’ve modified the area identify and rebranded your web site. A sensible transfer right here is to ask them to go to or bookmark the brand new web site to enhance your website positioning and get your visitors numbers up from the beginning.
Last Ideas About Altering Your Area Identify
Altering your area identify is a vital however daunting course of. Getting it improper can waste quite a lot of your time, however by following this easy step-by-step information, you’ll be able to see how straightforward it’s to alter your area identify with out dropping visitors or prospects alongside the way in which.
