Traffic drop: site move from .co.uk to .info

[PATIENTUK]

Hi

On 1st June we moved http://www.patient.co.uk to http://patient.info.

We are a trusted health website so the information is relevant to all english speaking countries. (Content on the .co.uk domain has been there for over 15 years).

Prior to the move over 60% of site traffic was international, even with a .co.uk domain.

The intention of the move was to broaden our international reach/traffic whilst maintaining our UK traffic. We would do this as .info is a top level domain.

We followed all of the best practice rules, 301s, new and old sitemaps, change of address in webmaster tools etc. Basically all the advice here: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6033049?hl=en&ref_topic=6033084&rd=1

We specifically chose on the new domain to leave "unlisted" under webmaster tools international targeting as the content is relevant for all countries. This is the only thing that has changed compared to the previous settings. The URL structure etc is all identical, just on a different domain.

After the move we immediately saw a drop in c.60% of traffic.

Over the first 5 weeks after the move we had initial gradual recovery (c.2% increase on traffic week on week)

Since then it has completely flatlined with no traffic increase. So we are sat at c.50% less traffic than we did have before the move.

Worryingly over the past 2 weeks, the indexed results for patient.info have dropped from c.2M to c.500k (https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=site%3Apatient.info)

There were c.6M indexed results for patient.co.uk before the move, this has been gradually shrinking and there are now c.300k indexed results (https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=site:patient.co.uk)

In webmaster tools crawl stats, .co.uk is still being crawled like crazy, much more than .info.

It feels like we have followed the rules but something is missing and that the new site just isn't being fully indexed or as highly ranked as the old site.

Anyone who has any input/advice would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Ben

[DmitriiK]

Hi there.

I would be looking at Google Analytics a lot. Basically, try to figure out which type (geo/channel/etc) of traffic has been affected. If one of those types of traffic (let's say, direct traffic or traffic from Germany) is the most traffic missing, then you'll at least have an idea where to dig.

Otherwise, if the decrease is the same per each channel/location/etc, then, assuming that all moving procedures were correct, I'd say it's the matter of time.

At the same time check how much traffic is actually being redirected from .co.uk domain. Is that share decreasing? Can there be some problems with redirects?

Regardless, let me know. If you want me to look at your GA, you can give me restricted access. - dmitrii@hyperlinksmedia.com

[PATIENTUK]

Hi Dmitri

The percentage decrease is the same across each location, and the biggest hit is in the UK which hasnt recovered much. Redirects are consistent each day.

I'll drop you a line and give you access to my GA, any insight would be appreciated