New Domain vs Old Domain?

[garrisonagency]

Hi All! I'm new-ish here. I don't post often, but I don't trust anyone else to answer this question. I'm having trouble just thinking this one through and could use another brain. I have a client with a domain that has been indexed since November 2022. It's a random domain that isn't her business name. She's ranking decently with the old domain. I know Google has said that domain names/keywords don't really affect SEO. But with visibility making such a difference these days, she would like to have a domain now that has her business name in it.

So, I'm wondering if we get a new domain and point the old one to it until the new one starts ranking for a bit, will that cause the two to compete? Will it cause duplicate content errors? Should she just keep the old domain forever?

I realize I should know the answer to this. I just can't think it all the way through right now because my brain is fried. I appreciate your help.

 

[fisicx]

Keep the old domain. If she wants a new domain point the new to the old. But it's not really worth the effort.

If she is insistent on a new domain, duplicate the site EXACTLY then 301 from each of the current pages to the same page on the new site.

It does take a lot of planning but once the switch is made you should be OK.

You won't be able to get rid of the old domain because all the inbound links point to the old site.

 

[garrisonagency]

I thought that'd be the answer - less buidling a whole new site. That is certainly not ideal. So basically there's no way to just...buy a new domain without a lot of extra work?

 

[fisicx]

I thought that'd be the answer - less buidling a whole new site. That is certainly not ideal. So basically there's no way to just...buy a new domain without a lot of extra work?

Nope. There is no quick fix. Unless she doesn't care about Google.

Migrating the site to the new domain isn't hard (especially if it's WordPress). It's setting up all the 301s that can take forever.

 

[garrisonagency]

Nope. There is no quick fix. Unless she doesn't care about Google.

Migrating the site to the new domain isn't hard (especially if it's WordPress). It's setting up all the 301s that can take forever.

Yeah. Been there, done that with the 301s. I was just hoping someone would tell me there was a different way I wasn't thinking of. Thanks for helping me think it through.