Switching Url

[ChadEisenhart]

I started working with a Roofer/Contractor about a year ago.  His website is http://www.lancasterparoofing.com/.  The name of his business is Spicher Home Improvements.  He used to have  spicherhomeimprovements.com, well he still does.

He was focusing on Roofing and Siding but now would like to branch to other areas like Interior remodeling.  So adding interior work under LancasterPaRoofing.com is not applicable.  I do not think starting another domain and having two is the best option.

I think he should go back to using SpicherHomeImprovements.com and I assume he would take a small hit but in time he should be better off.

Plus the url is more applicable to the real name of his business.

Thanks for any feedback I receive.

Chad

[Davinia22]

Hi Chad,

A domain with 'roofing' in it could be confusing if the business offers additional services, however is not the end of the world if your search engine result page snippets clearly outline what services are provided (i.e. title tag and meta description).

In an ideal world you would never change URLs, especially not the root domain as you can lose SEO goodness of that page. But if you need to then be sure to use a permanent 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one and make the links from relative pages (e.g. use a 301 redirect from www.LancasterPaRoofing.com/waterblastering and point to www.spicherhomeimprovements.com/waterblastering). You will also need to inform Google of the new domain via Google Webmaster Tools. And, you should manually go and update URLs on external websites. You will need to keep the old website live for at least 6 months.

Good luck,
Davinia

[FedeEinhorn]

Hey Chad,

He will definitely loose some value, however, if there's still some juice flowing from the old domain, regaining it will get that "loss" that you were having redirecting to the new domain back.

I agree with your idea, it will be much better if he use the old domain instead and cover all the services he provides.

Remember to follow all the necessary steps when changing the domain, 301 the entire domain to the old one, changing it via GWT, etc. The loss should be minimum, it will be noticeable during the first 1 - 3 month, but in the long run it should be a win.

Hope that helps!

[MoosaHemani]

Chad, if I would have been at your place, I would have gone to the same option as you are going.

It’s not search engine only but you have to care about users as well… Although search engine might understand that your domain name is focusing one service but you are offering additional services under the same umbrella but for people you should be clear that you are offering related services as well and not sticking up to roofing only.

My idea is to go with the company names domain and 301 the current website to the new domain page by page so that page level link juice can be transferred. Due to redirection a bit of a link juice will be lost but powerful content marketing and link building can help it regain their positions.

Hope this helps!

[ChadEisenhart]

Thanks to Davinia, Moosa and Federico for taking the time to reply.