How To Change Domain Name Without Sacrificing Your SEO Momentum

STATS

5.5K to 252.4K Monthly Visits

INDUSTRY

Retail

NICHE

Shopping Center

In this SEO case study, I will share the strategies behind my clients approach so you, too, can forge your own success story. Let’s dive in.

Historical Performance about the Client

First appeared online at the end of 2015. It used the domain shophawthornmall.com for the majority of its lifetime. On average, the site received 21.2K organic monthly visits.

The chart below demonstrates their all-time traffic and showcases a traffic spike in April 2023. It was a record-breaking month with 52.3K visits.

Unfortunately, it was short-lived. Or was it?

Traffic fell to almost 0 in May, but it didn’t just disappear. No, a domain migration occurred behind the scenes??

A new domain was ready and waiting to pick up this newfound success.

Below, you see how this domain not only picked up this traffic but increased it 5 times over the following months.

In October 2023, the new website surpassed the quarter-million traffic mark. So, how’d they do it? I am revealing those answers next.

Reaching a Quarter-Million Monthly Visits

The organic traffic grew by performing the following:

1. Performing a website migration
2. Building out their eCommerce platform
3. Winning results in Google Images

Let’s look at each point in greater detail to understand how it contributed to this client’s success.

1. Performing a Website Migration

As mentioned, a website migration occured in April/May.

Migrating a website is a delicate endeavor, especially when you’re just hitting your stride with new keywords and traffic. The stakes are high, and a misstep could jeopardize your SEO progress.

A robust 301 redirect strategy is at the heart of the switch, preserving the original domain’s SEO.

A 301 redirect tells search engines you’ve moved one URL to a new URL permanently.

Why this matters:

This comprehensive redirect strategy ensures users and bots land on the correct domain. It also safeguards the SEO from the original URLs, a critical step for preserving established rankings.

Overall, the website migration underscores the importance of careful planning and execution when evolving an online presence. They not only averted a potential loss in traffic but also set the stage for continued growth.

2. Building Out Their eCommerce Platform

As you saw, the client experienced a traffic spike right before the migration.

April almost doubled its organic traffic compared to the month prior.

So, how did they get here? And then grow traffic exponentially on the new domain?

That is the power of the eCommerce platform, “Shop Now!”.

The Client added 51K new pages to its online shopping platform between March and April.

This move tripled its keyword rankings (326K keywords) and set off the jump in traffic.

On these pages, users can shop for products from its retailers. Each page tells you if it’s in stock at the Mall and provides the link to shop on the retailer’s site.

As for the new domain, it followed this model and continued adding product description pages (PDPs) to the site.

In October 2023, the Client had 212.9K PDPs on the Shop Now! platform.

This is more than a numerical feat; it’s a step to unlocking fresh ranking opportunities.

It’s no secret that more content = more keyword rankings = more traffic.

And in October, the Client ranked for an impressive 746.1K keywords. That’s more than double their peak rankings for the former domain.

Following the website migration, branded keywords accounted for 95% of traffic. This percentage dropped to a mere 5% in October.

Note: In this case, branded keywords are branded searches. In a more general sense, branded keywords can mean any search term associated with a brand, its product, or services.

This is a good thing.

They’re still ranking for branded searches, but now they’re also ranking for non-Hawthorn searches too.

Why this matters:

Branded searches are powerful traffic drivers—when you already have a loyal audience. After all, people can’t search for you if they don’t know you exist..

By tapping into unbranded keywords, they extended their reach. This not only boosts their brand awareness in national searches but also brings the traffic that comes with a broader audience.

Plus, considering their use of affiliate shopping links, there’s a strong incentive to drive more traffic to these pages. More eyes on these PDPs means more conversions and affiliate revenue.

For eCommerce owners, an important note:

While relying on traditional naming conventions (i.e., brand + product name) may be tempting, it’s imperative not to overlook the importance of keyword research. This practice helps you tailor your content to your audience and maximize its visibility in search engines.

3. Winning Results in Google Images

Beyond ranking in traditional search, the Client also appears in Google image search results.

In October, they ranked in Google Images for 312.7K keywords.

Here’s what one looks like in search results:

They’re optimizing the alt text, but that’s the extent of their image SEO.

Luckily, their other optimizations are strong enough for search engines to overlook this and still serve image results.

Why this matters:

There are approximately 1 billion Google image searches daily, and each search is an opportunity to drive traffic to your website. By optimizing your images, you increase the chances of ranking in both image and traditional search results.

How to do image SEO on your site:

Keyword placement is critical in image SEO. You’ll want to include your primary keyword in the following areas:

• Alt text
• Title tag
• Image file name

You’ll also want to pay attention to elements like:

• File size
• Image dimensions
• Captions

Image schema markup is another important element for winning image rich results.

Here’s an example of a page using product schema where we see the price attribute as a rich result on the SERP:

Product schema should be an integral part of every eCommerce SEO strategy. It helps you win more real estate on the SERP and is a powerful driver of more clicks and traffic.

Takeaways

In my analysis of my client`s growth story, we’ve seen how they’ve seamlessly transitioned to a new domain and skyrocketed its traffic.

Now, let’s recap which strategies to use on your website and others to reconsider.

Top 3 Strategies to Emulate

1. Include a 301 redirect strategy as you plan for a domain migration. Incorporate a well-planned 301 redirect strategy into your site migration. This ensures a seamless transition for users and preserves your hard-earned SEO rankings.
2. Extend your reach by optimizing for new, relevant keywords. Building out your content allows you to reach a broader audience and drive new traffic to your site. It also helps you build authority within your niche.
3. Use image SEO to win rankings in Google image search results. While many website owners focus on traditional search results, don’t underestimate the power of Google Images. With over 1 billion daily searches, it’s a prime opportunity to boost traffic and brand awareness.

Bottom 3 Strategies to Reconsider

1. Missing canonical tags. Hawthorn is missing canonical tags on some high-level pages, which can lead to issues with duplicate content. Every indexable page should have a canonical URL, even if it’s self-referencing.
2. Exceeding meta description character limits. Many of my client’s meta descriptions surpass character limits. This leads to truncation on the SERP. Run your metadata through a SERP snippet tool before publishing to avoid this issue. You can even use Open AI to generate meta descriptions for you.
3. Over 99% of consumers admit to reading reviews when shopping online. Furthermore, “79% of consumers specifically seek out websites with product reviews,” according to the same study. eCommerce businesses should use review schema to win rich snippets that show your ratings/reviews directly on the SERP. This boosts consumer trust and drives more traffic to your site.

Whether you’re planning for a website migration or looking to boost your existing domain’s traffic, I will be eager to help.

Cheers,

Alexandra