I need to move my dental website onto a new domain name – how?

The correct way to change a practice domain name

Whilst changing the domain name for your dental website is far from a regular occurrence, there are occasions when it becomes necessary. For example, where a domain name is not portable e.g. based on a specific location and the practice moves address, a change would be likely. Another scenario might be where a website is in the name of a practitioner and then the business (and website) is sold on.

Because an established and successful dental website is a very valuable asset and source of new patient referrals, it is sensible to preserve it even where a change of domain name is unavoidable due to the circumstances noted above.

Not just a case of publishing the same details on a new www address

On initial inspection many might think that moving a website would simply be a case of re-publishing the information on the new name. This is actually a large part of it but there are other elements which are absolutely critical – for example, preserving your Google ranking and also ensuring that anyone who clicks on existing web results, gets through to the new site.

The role of the ‘301’ re-direct

A 301 re-direct is a piece of web code which effectively acts as a sign-post from an old URL (www address) to a new one. It is a search engine friendly technique which tells Google and other search engines that a web address has moved permanently from one location to another. When implemented correctly, the rankings and entries in the search results should be preserved other than for a short period whilst the search engine re-calibrates. This technique is recommended by Google and we have used it to good effect on a number of occasions when moving websites for dentists.

Is it easy to do? Can I do it myself?

The technique itself is quite straightforward although it does help if you have experience with some web coding and in using a technique called htaccess – a ‘container’ file which houses the re-direction code. You also need to make sure that you have a comprehensive list of the old website urls and the corresponding new ones so that all can be mapped correctly (and not just the home page).

How long before Google recognises the website move and re-ranks it accordingly?

This can vary from a few days to a couple of weeks; however if all is done diligently, the new domain should appear quite quickly and without any significant fall in rankings.

My website was hit by a Google penalty – can I use this technique to recover?

In short – no. If your site has been subject to bad SEO and to the point that clean-up and recovery would take too long, it may be wise to switch to a new domain. However, simply re-directing the old, penalised version is likely to just pass the penalty forward. In this case, it’s more sensible to start afresh with a new www address, potentially new content and fully dissociated from the old version.

Summary

There are occasional circumstance where moving your dental website from one domain to another is necessary. The ‘301’ re-direct technique is the correct way to do this, is recommended by Google and should preserve your search engine rankings.

If you would like to discuss this in more detail or any other aspect of managing your website, please get in touch with the Dental Media team on 01332 672548.