When your site moves to a new domain entirely, Search Console’s change of address tool tells Google explicitly that this is a deliberate site move, not two separate, competing sites, which supports a smoother, faster transfer of your existing ranking signal to the new domain.
Change of address property migration
Search Console's change of address process handled correctly for a full domain move.
- Full backup taken before we start
- If we can’t fix it, you get your money back
- We never ask for your own password
What we need from you
- Confirmation of both your old and new domains, both verified in Search Console
- Confirmation that a complete redirect map from old to new URLs is already in place
- Your preferred timing relative to the actual domain cutover
This or something else?
| You’re moving to a new domain and want Search Console’s change of address process handled correctly | This fix covers it |
| You haven’t set up the redirects between old and new domains yet | That needs to happen first — worth pairing this with the appropriate redirect implementation fix |
| You’re changing your permalink structure, not your domain | Permalink structure change with redirect safety |
| You’re moving hosts but keeping the same domain | Host-to-host migration – single site, in the Backups, Staging & Migration Ops category |
What we do
- Confirm both domains are correctly verified in Search Console
- Verify the complete redirect map from old to new URLs is functioning correctly
- Submit the change of address request through Search Console
- Monitor the migration’s progress in Search Console’s reporting
- Verify the new domain begins appearing correctly in search results
- Advise on when it’s safe to consider the old property’s monitoring role complete
What is included
- A correctly submitted Search Console change of address request
- Verified redirect coverage supporting the migration
- Monitoring of the migration’s progress
- Guidance on completing the transition
Not included
- Implementing the actual domain-to-domain redirects, a separate, prerequisite fix if not already done
- Guaranteeing an exact preservation of every ranking position, since some fluctuation during any domain move is normal
- DNS or hosting-level domain migration itself, a separate, related fix
- Ongoing monitoring beyond confirming the transition is progressing correctly
Questions about this fix
Do I need to do this if I've already set up redirects from old to new?
Yes, the change of address tool is a distinct, additional signal to Google beyond just the redirects themselves — it explicitly tells Google's systems this is a deliberate site move, which supports a smoother transition.
Will this guarantee no drop in my search visibility during the move?
No single tool can guarantee that — a domain move is a significant change, and some temporary fluctuation is normal even when handled correctly, though this process meaningfully supports a smoother, faster recovery.
What happens to my old domain's Search Console property after this?
It's worth keeping it verified and monitored for a period after the move, since it can continue to show relevant data and errors during the transition, even as traffic and rankings shift to the new domain.
How long does this migration process typically take to complete in Google's systems?
This varies and isn't governed by a fixed public timeline — the change of address tool prioritises the transition, but the underlying re-crawling and re-ranking process still takes real time to fully complete.
Can this be used for a subdomain to root domain move, not just an entirely different domain?
Change of address is specifically for genuinely different domains — a subdomain to root domain move is handled through a related but distinct process, worth confirming which situation actually applies to you.
Related fixes
If this is the second time this year
A bad update breaking the site is a symptom of updates not being tested first. Care plans run every update on a staging clone before it reaches your live site, which is the actual fix for this happening again.
Your access, your rules
Create a separate admin account for us and delete it when we are done. For anything else, we get in touch and agree a method — never a form field on this site, never by reply to an email.
We back up first, always
Before anything is touched we take a full backup and keep it for 30 days. If a fix goes wrong, we put the site back exactly as it was.
If it is not what you bought
If the problem turns out smaller than what you ordered, we refund the difference. If it is bigger, we stop and send a quote before doing any extra work.
If we cannot fix it
You get back what we received. Diagnosis is on us — you only pay when the problem is actually solved. The payment processor takes its fee before the money reaches us, so we never hold it and it is not ours to return. That is true here as everywhere else.
If it comes back
Reply within seven days of delivery and we put it back on the bench at no cost. The fix is not finished until it holds.
What we are responsible for
If something goes wrong with a fix, our responsibility is limited to what you paid for it. We take a full backup first so mistakes can be undone, and we tell you before doing anything outside what you bought.