Domain Name Change - Best Practices?

[Michael-Goode]

Good day guys,

We got a restaurant that is changing its name and domain.

However they are keeping the same server location, same content and same pages (we are just changing the logo on the website).

It just has to go a new domain. We don't want to lose the value of the current site, and we want to avoid any duplicate penalties.

Could you please advise of the best practices of doing a domain name change?

Thank you.

[petrakraft]

I would recommend following the step by step guidance of Google in the Webmaster Tools -> Configuration -> Change of Address:

1. Set up your content on your new domain.

2. Redirect content from your old site using 301 redirects.

3. Add and verify your new site to Webmaster Tools.

They offer further guidelines here: https://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=83105

[KeriMorgret]

This YouMoz post may also help some too. http://www.seomoz.org/blog/web-site-migration-guide-tips-for-seos