Changing domain: how to keep your backlinks through a migration
Your backlinks keep pointing at the old domain after a move. Their value reaches the new site only through permanent page-to-page redirects, which Google says to keep for generally at least one year. Search Console's Change of Address tool forwards signals for 180 days.
In short
- Backlinks are not moved by a migration, so every link still points at the old domain and depends on a redirect to count for the new one.
- Google's site move documentation, updated in August 2026, recommends server-side permanent redirects such as 301 and 308 and says to keep them for generally at least one year.
- The same documentation says Googlebot follows up to 10 redirect hops but advises redirecting straight to the final URL, with ideally no more than 3 hops.
- Search Console's Change of Address tool forwards signals from the old site and tells Google to prefer the new one for 180 days, according to Google's help page.
- Google recommends paying for the old domain for at least a year after the move so that nobody else can buy it and misuse it.
Nothing happens to the backlinks themselves when you change domain. Every one of them still points at the old address. Whether they keep working for you depends on what the old address does next. If each old URL permanently redirects to its matching page on the new domain, Google consolidates the link signals onto the new URLs. If old URLs return errors, or all land on the new homepage, much of that value is lost.
So a migration does not move your links. It makes them all depend on a set of redirects, and your job is to make those redirects correct and keep them alive.
What Google’s documentation says
Google covers this in two places, both read for this lesson in October 2026.
The Search Central page on site moves with URL changes, updated in August 2026, sets out the sequence: prepare and test the new site, prepare a URL mapping from current URLs to new ones, start the move by redirecting, then monitor traffic on both. It recommends server-side permanent redirects, “such as 301 and 308”. It warns that “you may experience ranking fluctuations while Google recrawls and reindexes your site”, and says a small to medium site “can take a few weeks for most pages to move”.
The Search Console help page for the Change of Address tool says the tool “forwards various signals from the old site to the new site, and tells Google to prefer the new site over the old when determining canonical pages”. That effect lasts 180 days.
How redirects carry link value in general is covered in redirects, canonicals and link equity. This lesson is about the move.
The numbers to remember
| Item | Google’s guidance | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Redirect type | Server-side permanent, such as 301 or 308 | Site move documentation |
| Redirect chain | Googlebot follows up to 10 hops. Aim for a direct redirect, ideally no more than 3 | Site move documentation |
| How long to keep redirects | As long as possible, generally at least 1 year | Site move documentation |
| Change of Address effect | 180 days | Search Console help |
| Minimum for redirects under the tool | At least 180 days, longer if Google Search still sends traffic to the old URLs | Search Console help |
| Old domain registration | Keep paying for at least a year | Search Console help |
Treat one year as the floor, not the goal. A backlink from 2019 will still point at the old domain in 2030. The day the redirect stops, that link stops counting.
Before the move: find what your links point at
- Export your backlinks by target URL. Use Search Console’s links report and a backlink tool. The backlink tools comparison lists the options. Google’s documentation also tells you to save a list of the sites linking to your current content.
- Rank old URLs by referring domains. These are the pages where a mapping mistake costs most.
- Include dead URLs. Old pages that already return 404 but still have links can be recovered in the same mapping. This is link reclamation done at the cheapest possible moment.
- Check for earlier migrations. If the current domain already receives redirects from a previous one, those old domains must be re-pointed straight at the new domain, or you add a hop to every inherited link.
- Map every old URL to its closest match. Page to page. Where a page has no successor, choose the nearest relevant page, not the homepage.
During the move
- Put the redirects live for every mapped URL, at the server, with a permanent status code.
- Test a sample of your most linked URLs by hand. Each should reach its final page in one hop.
- Verify both domains in Search Console under the same account. The Change of Address tool needs you to be an owner of both.
- Submit the change of address. Google’s help page says the tool runs a check first, confirming ownership and looking for 301s on a few pages.
- Update internal links, canonical tags and sitemaps on the new site so they use the new URLs.
The tool has a narrow purpose. Google says to use it for moves between domains or subdomains. It is not for a switch from HTTP to HTTPS, for moving pages within one domain, for changing between www and non-www, or for a move where URLs do not change.
After the move: update the links you can
A redirected link works. A direct link is better, because it no longer depends on your redirect or on Google’s processing of it. Google’s own documentation advises contacting the sites that link to you and asking them to update.
You will not get every link changed, so work in order:
- Profiles and listings you control: social accounts, directories, partner pages, app stores.
- Partners, suppliers and clients, who will usually update on request. See partner links.
- Your highest-value editorial links, with a short, polite note giving the old and new URL.
- Everything else is left to the redirect.
Then monitor. Watch indexed pages and traffic on both properties, as Google advises, and check your top linked URLs monthly for the first year. How to track backlinks gives a routine. Expect backlink tools to show the old domain’s links arriving “via redirect” on the new domain for a long time. That is normal.
What usually goes wrong
Everything redirected to the homepage. John Mueller of Google is reported to have said that redirects to an irrelevant page can be treated as soft 404s. A soft 404 passes nothing.
The old domain is allowed to expire. The redirects die with it. Worse, the domain goes back on sale with your backlink history attached. Google’s help page recommends keeping it for at least a year “to prevent others from buying and using your abandoned domain for malicious purposes”. The market for expired domains exists because such domains still have links.
Redirects are lost in a later change. A new server, CDN or CMS drops the old rules. Keep the mapping file under version control and re-test after any infrastructure change.
Links are built during the move. A rule from placement briefs is never to point a new link at a page that is about to be migrated. Pause new placements to the old domain a few weeks before the switch, and point new ones at the new URLs once they are live.
The move is combined with a topic change. Redirects pass value when the new page replaces the old one. A rebrand that also changes what the site is about gives Google less reason to carry the old links across.
Mergers and regulated moves
Merging an acquired site into yours follows the same rules, with one addition: move the content, not only the URL. The legitimate version is a real acquisition or rebrand with page-level mapping, the content carried over and a public announcement. Redirecting an unrelated bought domain at a commercial page is a different thing and falls under Google’s expired domain abuse policy.
Some moves are forced. Brazil’s gambling law, in force from January 2025, requires licensed operators to use a .bet.br domain, and Track360 reported mass migrations to it during 2025. When the regulator sets the date, the preparation above is the only part you control. Large organisations with many domains face this routinely, which is one theme of enterprise link building.
Where to go next
If you are still deciding which pages deserve the most care, read which pages need links. Terms such as 301 redirect and soft 404 are defined in the glossary.
Common questions
Will I lose my backlinks if I change domain?
The links stay where they are, pointing at the old domain. You keep their value if each old URL permanently redirects to its matching new URL and the redirects stay in place. You lose it where old URLs return errors or all redirect to the homepage.
How long do I need to keep 301 redirects after a domain change?
Google's site move documentation says as long as possible, generally at least one year. If other sites still link to the old URLs, keep the redirects for as long as you own the domain.
Do I have to use the Change of Address tool?
It is not mandatory, but Google provides it for exactly this case. It works only for moves between domains or subdomains, after the redirects are live, and you must own both properties in Search Console.
Should I ask sites to update their links to the new domain?
Yes, for your most valuable links. Google's documentation advises contacting the sites that link to you and asking them to update. A direct link does not depend on your redirect staying in place.
Will my rankings drop during a domain migration?
Google's documentation says to expect ranking fluctuations while it recrawls and reindexes the site. It says a small to medium site can take a few weeks for most pages to move, and larger sites take longer.
