Change a domain name

It’s normal for your business to grow when you encounter greater opportunities online. However, it is important that your online identity remains consistent with your business activity. Why? To maintain your reputation and keep the trust of your customers. There are several ways you can optimise this:

• Back up your website
• Change your domain name
• Choose a new domain name
• Redirect your old content to your new domain name
• Tell Google and other search engines about your domain name change

Before you start changing your domain name, you will need to make a copy of your website files. Backup methods may vary depending on the hosting plan you are using, but they are all generally similar.

Here are the steps to perform a manual backup of your site:

• Create a folder called “Backup” on your computer.
• Log in to your website via FTP
• Use an FTP client (e.g. FileZilla) to access the root of your website, where you will find all of your website’s elements, such as administrator files, content and configurations.
• Copy these files to your “Backup” folder.

Our advice: if your website is already hosted by OVHcloud, we offer a detailed guide on exporting your website. Content management systems (CMS) like WordPress, PrestaShop, Joomla! and Drupal also offer simplified methods for performing backups via plugins and extensions.

You cannot change your domain name after you have registered it. Once purchased, it is stored in Domain Name System (DNS) databases and can no longer be modified. Existing domain names can only be transferred between different owners.

To change your domain name, you will need to purchase a new one and link it to your website.

At OVHcloud, we have a wide range of domain names available, with more than 800 generic, geographical and innovative extensions to help you customise your name. Unleash your creativity and create your company’s online image the way you want it. Make sure your domain name is readable, and easy for your visitors to spell and memorise. These elements are important for appearing trustworthy in the eyes of your customers, and for the SEO of your website.

Already have an idea? Check the availability of your domain name in our search bar. If it is available, you can then purchase your domain name and it will appear in your Control Panel. You can then link it to your various services (web hosting, servers and infrastructures).

If it isn’t available, there are several options:

• You could try a different extensions that would suit your use.
• You can find information on the current owner of the domain via our Whois service, then try to get in touch if they have provided contact information. If possible, you can then transfer the domain name ownership.
• You can buy this domain on our aftermarket if it is marked as “available for purchase”.

Our advice : high value-added domain names are available on our aftermarket. These short, easy-to-remember names have an excellent reputation and are a real advantage when launching a new brand or business, giving you more visibility and better SEO.

You can also create subdomains. This is a strategy we recommend when you want to expand your business. Let’s take the example of a company with the domain name “mygarden.co.uk”. The owner provides gardening tips on their blog. Following its success, they decide to open an online store and recruit some staff. They can therefore create the following sub-domains: “shop.mygarden.co.uk” and “careers.mygarden.co.uk”.

This decision means that the owner can:

• Manage different websites or activities separately, but on a single hosting plan with a single entry point
• Easily set up multisite management
• Optimise their organic SEO for each subdomain, as they are each considered individual websites by search engines.

Our advice: a multisite strategy with subdomains requires more resources from your server. We recommend taking a look at our various web hosting plans before you start setting up your domain hierarchy.

Once you have reserved your new domain name, you just need to add the redirections to it from your old pages. This procedure involves redirecting all requests made from an old URL to the new domain name. To do this, you will need to use a 301 redirection.

Enter the following lines of code into a .htaccess file. They will then redirect the user if they use a URL linked to the old domain.

Our advice: If your domain is already hosted with OVHcloud, we offer a detailed guide on redirecting domain names. Don’t forget to update your email addresses, too. To help your customers find their way around, be sure to update the contact information on your website.

After a redirection, search engines consider your web site to be brand new. They will therefore give it a low ranking after this stage. In Google’s case, you need to inform it of your domain name change via the Google Search Console.

Do the following:

• Open the ‘Change of address’ tool in the console menu.
• Follow the instructions that appear. Recommendations are provided throughout the verification process.
• Once all of these verifications have been completed, the console will display “Migrating” on the various content.
• Once the migration is complete, you can delete your old pages.

After these steps have been completed, the search engine will gradually take the changes into account.

Your current domain name is no longer suitable

If you made a syntax error in your previous domain name, or simply want to change it, it’s a good idea to find a new one. It is also possible that the top-level domain (TLD) originally chosen is not the most relevant for your customers. If the one you wanted was not available when you bought it, you can take the main component and simply change its extension. For example, you can change your domain name from “mycompany.org” to “mycompany.com”.

Your business has evolved

If your company has changed its name, it makes sense to update your domain name. And if your business has grown, you can optimise your online image. If you are developing new brands, ensure that they receive organic SEO by using unique domain names suited to them. If you would like to set up your business abroad, choosing an appropriate geographical extension will be beneficial for your local SEO ranking. To expand your business in Germany, for example, choose the .de extension.