Changing your domain name can have both positive and negative implications, depending on various factors. Here are some things to consider:
1. Brand Identity
If your current domain name aligns well with your brand identity and is easily recognisable by your target audience, changing it might confuse your customers and affect your brand recognition.
2. SEO Impact
Changing your domain name can affect your search engine rankings. If your current domain has good SEO value and changing it would mean starting from scratch, you might lose some visibility in search engine results. After experiencing a decline in SEO performance due to a switch to woo.com, WooCommerce is now reverting to its original domain, WooCommerce.com.
The company stated:
“Moving to Woo.com created challenges for our users to find WooCommerce in Google searches, which were made worse following Google’s March update. To address those challenges, we assembled a group of SEO experts and consultants to evaluate the best way to build on the strength of the WooCommerce brand. We collectively believe that reverting back to WooCommerce.com will deliver the best outcomes for WooCommerce and the wider Woo community.”
3. Legal Considerations
Ensure that the new domain name doesn’t infringe on any trademarks or copyrights. You should also check if the desired domain name is available to register.
4. Rebranding & Long-term Goals
If you’re planning a rebranding effort, changing your domain name could be part of that process. If so, changing the domain might make sense.
Consider your long-term goals and whether the current domain name aligns with them. If you foresee expanding your business or changing its focus, a new domain name that reflects those future plans might be beneficial.
Ultimately, whether to change your domain name depends on weighing these factors against each other and determining what’s best for your business in the long run.
If you do decide to change your domain name, here are some handy tips from Shopify:
1. Keep your domain name short, brandable, and memorable and keep it to under 15 characters.
2. Try not to use hyphens and numbers to avoid people misspelling and to keep your domain name mobile-friendly.
3. Where possible include SEO keywords in your domain name.
4. If you get stuck use a domain name generator.
5. It’s crucial to handle the transition carefully by following Google’s “change of address” procedure. Additionally, we recommend reviewing your backlinks to determine if any can be updated to direct to your new domain.
At Zonkey, we specialise in enhancing your domain’s performance in Google searches. Speak to us to learn more about our SEO services.
These include:
- Website optimisation
- Site audits and keyphrase ranking reports
- Content creation
For our e-commerce clients, we can also offer assistance in establishing a Google Shopping account to generate even more reach.