I changed domain names. What do I do with the old domain?

eric611

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Hello! I recently changed the domain name of one of my websites. I also changed it on Google Search Console.

Does any of you have experience with this? Right now there are both domains connected, and the old one has a message in the top side ("The site is moving to www.&.com")

I'm not concerned with the traffic rn, as it had only around 300 visits per month, but I was curious if I have to manually remove the old website? If not, how long does the moving message stay up there?
 
Why not do a 301 redirect? Everyone would automatically go to the new site.
 
The website is already redirected from old domain to new domain. I used a wordpress plugin for this, but I don't know if I should remove the old domain. i still receive daily clicks to the old domain, even though all pages and blog posts are redirected
 
You're not making sense. If the old domain is redirected to the new domain, then nobody is seeing the old website which has a a message on the top.

Here's how this should work:
  • Every page on the old domain should redirect to the same place on the new domain.
  • You should continue to renew the old domain and keep it live so the redirects work, because...
  • You're doing PHP redirects through a Wordpress plugin. The old domain has to remain in your control and continue to point to this server and Wordpress installation.
Basically, keep paying for the old domain for forever if you want to keep all the clicks and links from before the transition. $10 a year is probably not a lot to ask to keep the credit for the links if there are any.
 
Sorry for the misunderstanding. English is not my native language and sometimes I can't express myself the way I want.

The top message is showing on the Google Search Console, when I choose the old domain property, not on the actual website.

That's why my questions were if I should delete the old domain from GSC (I don't think this could interfere with my rankings) and how long does that message usually stay there
 
Ryuzaki said:
You're not making sense. If the old domain is redirected to the new domain, then nobody is seeing the old website which has a a message on the top.

Here's how this should work:
  • Every page on the old domain should redirect to the same place on the new domain.
  • You should continue to renew the old domain and keep it live so the redirects work, because...
  • You're doing PHP redirects through a Wordpress plugin. The old domain has to remain in your control and continue to point to this server and Wordpress installation.
Basically, keep paying for the old domain for forever if you want to keep all the clicks and links from before the transition. $10 a year is probably not a lot to ask to keep the credit for the links if there are any.
Click to expand...
Just to comment on this too, do everything @Ryuzaki said

**Just editing this: Why not just host the domain you're 301ing on the same server as the new site? Then setup some 301s via htaccess or the serverblock on Nginx?

CCarter said:
No. Don't do that.
Click to expand...
As well as @CCarter

Then do a change of address via GSC/Webmaster tools:
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9370220

For some reason not a lot of people know this tool even exists; If you're doing a 301, the above essentially confirms the 301 with Google.

I also know John Mu said to keep the redirect live for at least a year - Again, $10 is basically nothing.

 
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