Do you want to move domains without losing link juice?
Step 1 : Setup 301 redirects in your old domain
We maintained the same site structure and permalinks in our new domain name. Hence every traffic that comes to old.com/somepage had to be transferred to new.com/somepage so that it gives a good user experience. If the permalinks are changed you should ensure to do 301 redirects such pages so the user gets redirected to the corresponding page in the new domain without ending up in a 404 page. It is done to ensure a good user experience during redirects and Google loves it when you do it this way.
Here is the code we entered in .htaccess file to ensure a 301 permanent redirect of our old website old.com to the new website new.com
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^old.com$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^old.com$
RewriteRule (.*)$ http://new.com/$1 [R=301,L]
Make sure all the pages in the old domain are redirecting properly. Any internal links in pages of the new domain should not point to the old domain and tags, etc., have to be corrected so they do not point to the old domain.
Step 2 : Google Analytics and Google Webmasters Tool setup
Add and verify the new domain as a property in your Google analytics account. Paste the tracking code on pages you want to track in the new domain. Add the website in your Google webmaster tools account and verify easily using your Google Analytics account. Add different versions (http, https, www and non-www) of your website in Google Webmaster Tools and set the preferred version to show up in search results. Select target country (if you would want your website to target a particular geographic region). You may also select the language option. Submit a sitemap. Now your domain is setup in webmaster tools.
Step 3 : Submit a request to Google that your domain has been permanently moved.
Use the change of address tool in Google webmaster tools dashboard by clicking on the settings symbol ⚙ of the old site
Pick your new site from the list and click on Submit button after completing the steps mentioned there like Confirm that 301-redirects work properly, Check that verification methods are still present.
Once you have submitted, a mail is sent to the domain owner under Google Webmaster account confirming successful permanent redirect submission request. Site owner can withdraw the request anytime by clicking the withdraw button in the change of address tool.
It may take few days for the new site to get replaced with the old site in the search results. No need to worry about losing link juice as Google is already aware that you have permanently moved your old site to the new site! As simple as that!
