Google is introducing new Search Console features to assist users with domain changing.
Notifying Google of a domain change is an essential part of a good SEO strategy.
For one, it tells the search engine to prioritize crawling and indexing the new domain over the old one. Also, by submitting a change of address request, you’re notifying Google to forward signals from the old domain to the new one.
Expectedly, Google Search Console comes equipped with a change of address tool.
So, site owners can notify Gooogle when they move their website from one domain to another. The tool is also useful for when you’re moving a site from a subdomain to another.
To make the tool even more useful, the search engine company recently added new features. In a tweet, Google announced improvements to the change of address tool.
Heres’ the breakdown.
New Search Console Tools For Domain Changing
Redirect Validation
One essential part of domain changing is to set up 301 redirects from your old URLs to the new one.
Now, the change of address tool on the Search Console can validate redirects. Google can confirm whether a redirect from your old URL to the new URL is valid right from the Search Console.
On-Screen Reminders
Google Search Console now has an on-screen reminder of domain changing.
After submitting a change of address request, a reminder pops up whenever you log into the moving or destination domain dashboard. It reads: “This site is currently moving to www.newdomain.com.”
According to Google, a change of address request could take as much as 180 days. Presumably, the reminder would remain on the dashboard’s screen throughout the period.
With that said, the change of address tool in Search is only a part of the website moving process. Site owners still have to implement 301 redirects for the homepage as well as canonical pages before even using the tool.
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