Hello,

I am working on a current client who wants her website re-designed. So far, so good. In terms of SEO we have some pretty good results with Google, MSN and Yahoo. The client asked me if they could change the domain name.

I have spent too many hours on SEO to lose everything just for a change of name. How can I go with it to make sure I reduce all risk of losing our positions? .htaccess? re-direct?

Thank you in advance

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Huntersville web design
Huntersville Real Estate Agent

Changing a domain name can be risky business! It can lose alot of what you've already worked to be in the rankings. It really depends how old the site is. There are those that say any name will work. I tend to disagree. The more memorable and the more localized a name is for a typical local real estate agent website the better.

If the site is older than 2 years then you'll give up some real ground. If it's a new site then the pain might be worth it in the short run for the long time success. How long is your client willing to wait for natural organic results to get back to where they are? Or is your client going wholly for ppc?

Let us know how it works out. Good luck!

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Mike
http://www.HousingPredictor.com
http://www.DestinFloridaRE.com
http://www.RealEstateDomain.com

In terms of SEO we have some pretty good results with Google, MSN and Yahoo.

then you're asking the question rhetorically?

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Educate the client. Once they understand, they will stop asking.

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Tampa Bay Homes ~ Trinity Real Estate ~ Westchase MLS

rms7;

Many times folks want the domain name changed to simply make it "easier to find". i such a case, simply get the new domain and 301 redirect it to the old domain. Then they can type in the new domain and you can continue to SEO for the old one.

You do not want to "switch" domains. Bad idea...hence PC Doc's comment.

Good news about the above approach, you get differentiation in your analytics between visitors that you get with SEO vs other marketing efforts.

Best;

Eric

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Eric Blackwell
Technologist, SEO Specialist and Consultant

Louisville Real Estate My Home Real Estate Site

Search Engine Marketing, Coaching & Custom WP Blogs Learn how to get the MOST out of your already awesome REW site.

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Hello,

Thanks for the answers. I will certainly go for the 301. site is older than 2 years and it took some time to get good rankings (organic). We also do PPC.

We are going to reduce the number of pages from 100 to 75. Should I use .htaccess to inform of where the missing pages went?

I see a lot of webmasters (including here) using cms for their clients. I am thinking about doing the same as I am re-doing the website (everything is manually done so far). But I am not sure of the real advantage of using a CMS. Liberty of design is refrained. if I want different keywords for every page, it is difficult to do so. to maintain is not too difficult as I use full css.

what is your take?

ps. the client does not want to manage the website.

have a good one

Richard

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Huntersville web design
Huntersville Real Estate Agent

For what it's worth - when I get ask to help with this type situation - I encourage agents to keep the old domain and start with a new domain and website.

They can start migrating their marketing efforts to the new site and keep the traffic they have from the old site until they reach the point that the new domain has aged. At that point, I still question them if they would not be better off keeping the old domain and just adding the new site from a lead generation perspective?

This delayed approach makes the changes in business cards, signage, brochures, links strategies, blogging and the like a much smoother transition.

Best of luck in your efforts.

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Dave Abernathy
Waterfront Properties & Club Communities
Technology Advisory Council for Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate

See the finest luxury communities in Palm Beach County. Visit our website pages for Palm Beach County Real Estate and Florida Real Estate . For local information about Palm Beach County real estate & Jupiter Florida real estate contact us at 561-628-0128

I never advise clients to abandon domain names that have achieved high search engine rankings. Typically they want to change domain names for better branding (Branding is always a good thing) - but you are right, it takes way to long to achieve those rankings again, I would start a "NEW" site on the new domain and keep the old one.

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Want to save up to 50% off Real estate webmasters product websites & common upgrades? Check out my latest blog post regarding our end of the year sale.

1. Yes, use a 301 to redirect the old to the new.
2. The primary benefit of cms is that the client can make changes themselves without paying for edits (there is no seo benefit as a page is a page... is a page). On the sites that I manage myself I use a home grown system that combines both with the busier sections run through a db.