When it comes to changing a domain name, most people are skeptical as to what kind of change that will bring. Choosing and purchasing the right domain name cannot be overemphasized, a domain name can make or mar an online business.

In this article, you’ll be reading about:

Reasons people change their site’s domain name.
Things To-Do when changing a domain name.
After changing a domain name, what’s the worst that can happen?
Businesses that changed their site’s domain name and came back strong.



Usually when things are done for the first time, they are not done right, especially if there was no proper guidance, so sometimes we still make mistakes when choosing a domain name; some folks even make great efforts in choosing a creative domain, but I have seen creative domain names go south.

In cases like this, one of the options open is to change domain name.

Reasons People Change Their Site’s Domain Name.
People change domain names for various reasons, some of these reasons being:

A Better Domain Name With a Better Extension is Available
Some people change domain names because when they wanted to choose the initial domain, it wasn’t available in a .com extension (which is the most sought after domain extension), but then they discover that it is now available in their preferred extension, or perhaps there is even a better domain name with a .com extension.



Rebranding: Business Name Change
If your business name changes, or the products or services your business offers changes, then it’s only wise that you change the domain name as well. You want to be consistent with your branding cross platforms.



You Want a More User Friendly Domain
Your current domain might be too long or too difficult to remember or pronounce. Either ways, you want a shorter and smarter domain name.



You no Longer Like Your Current Domain Name
Some people just don’t like their domain name anymore, we outgrow certain things you know. So a domain name that you think is really cool today, a couple of years down the line might sound lame. One has to be careful with this though, changing a domain name is something you want to do only once.



You Simply Chose The Wrong Domain Name
I have seen domain names that are very limiting, for example a website that was created for something that happens for only a particular season, say an holiday, Christmasgifts.com, or something. That’s a very limiting domain name.



If any of the above reasons apply to you, then you can change your site’s domain name.

Changing a domain name honestly is quite stressful, but if you have a valid reason for changing it, and you go about changing it the right way, then the change will be worth your while.

Things To Do When Changing a Domain Name
Buy Your New Domain Name in Advance
There are two major reasons for you to buy your domain name ahead of the move. The first is so the new domain is prepared for the move, the other reason is for SEO purposes. The chances of having search engines crawl the new site is higher if the site is up and running earlier than the move happens. So once you purchase the new domain, write a coming soon page to let people and search engines know that a new site is coming here..