Changing Domains - How much link juice is lost with 301 redirect?

[DemiGR]

My company is thinking about rebranding and moving over to a new domain.  While we dont have a lot of backlinks, we do have some very valuable ones that we hate to lose.  That being said, I think we are in such an infancy that the backlinks we have shouldnt prevent us from rebranding if thats what we choose to do.

I am just trying to get an idea of how moving to a new domain will effect the domain authority if we redirect all the pages?  Is the best thing to do simply re-direct, or should we reach out to our most valuable links and let them know the domain/link has changed and hopefully they change their link to us?

How much is lost by simply 301 every page? We are getting around 70 organic clicks per day and would rather not start from zero again

[jorgen_juel]

Hi,

Doing a 301 permanent redirect sends 90 - 99% of the link juice to the new domain. This is by far the most recommended approach when changing domain name.

Below is a URL to a MOZ article regarding redirection.
http://moz.com/learn/seo/redirection

I hope this helps

--
Jørgen Juel

[RobertFisher]

Demi,

You will not start from even close to zero if you do the 301's correctly. You need to do a couple of things: The redirects are url to url from old domain to new. Since you are changing the domain name, I recommend also putting in a change of address with GWMT. This will last for 180 days and will insure you have been indexed a few times prior to it going off.

From a lot of experience with 301's, if you do it correctly you should not lose more than a percent or so of link juice, especially given the current age of your site. I suggest running a link profile in something like ahrefs and then after you do the change, running regular ones for the new site so you can watch the progress. That way you will learn what happens with redirects first hand.

Hope this helps,

Robert

[DemiGR]

Great so there really isnt much to be lost as long as the redirects are all done properly, thanks!

[Modi]

See, if you going to change domain name and aptly make correct 301 redirect to corresponding pages (following the same url pattern) of new site with same **content, title and description - **then you are home.

Adding to what Mr. Robert said - you can also check on url hierarchy through Xenu Link Sleuth or Screaming frog seo spider of your old domain and new site (post migration). Compare the link structure. If everything goes on well - you may experience 301 redirect working upto 99% and can almost see your similar rankings with new domain