There's a lot to think about when rebranding to a new business name. Here's a checklist of things you might want to consider as they relate to your website and domain name.
Domain Name
If Precedence is your domain name provider, we will be able to assist with all of the following.
- Are you changing the legal entity, i.e. a new ABN? If so, you'll need to do a Change of Registrant process for any Australian domain names you currently own.
- Register a new domain name that matches the new business name. At a minimum, secure the .com.au version of the domain. Consider if you also should secure the .au and the .com equivalents, and any shorter or initialism versions of a long business name.
- Change your web hosting account to use the new domain as the primary domain name, then re-add the previous domain name as a parked domain name. The web hosting provider will need to do this carefully to avoid disrupting existing services and configuration.
- Continue to keep your old business name renewed and resolving to your email and website. You'd be surprised how many websites will be linking to your old name, and how many people will have your email address saved in their contacts.
DNS
The DNS records for your domain name may be provided by your hosting provider, your domain provider, or an IT company.
If Precedence is your domain name provider and hosting provider, then we most likely look after your DNS service.
- Ensure the DNS records for the new domain name match the old domain name. This is especially important for records that pertain to email authentication such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Email Addresses
If Precedence is your email service provider, we will be able to assist with all of the following. Otherwise, reach out to the company that manages your email service.
- Configure the new domain name with your email service provider and change the primary email addresses associated with your email accounts to use the new domain name
- Configure the old domain name to be an alias or forwarder for any emails sent to the old domain name so they are directed to the equivalent email account on the new domain name
- You will need to update your email clients across all devices to use the new email address as the login username and as the "From" address
- Test sending and receiving emails using the new domain
Also,
- Consider any third-party platforms that send email on your behalf (such as your website, email marketing, invoicing platforms, etc.); these will need to be updated with the new email address, and they may require additional steps for authentication with your new domain name (such as DKIM)
- Update email signatures across your email clients such as Outlook and mobile devices
- Don't forget to update places that display your email address to use the new domain name
Website
If Precedence manages your website, we will be able to assist with the following. Otherwise, reach out to your web developer. They will most likely have a checklist similar to the below.
- Configure the new domain name to resolve to the website hosting account, if not already done so
- Configure the website to use the new domain name as its URL instead of the old one
- If your website uses WordPress, it's imperative to do a search-replace across the entire database for all references to the old URL. A web developer will know how to do this.
- Ensure that accessing the website via the old domain name does a 301 Permanent redirect to the equivalent new URL
- If your website uses WordPress, this will happen automatically for any domain that resolves to the hosting account
- Change the website's name in the settings to the new business name
- Change the email address in the settings, any forms, and in the footer and contact page
- A search-replace is an effective way to do this
- Change all references to the old business name in page content, page titles, etc.
- A search-replace is an effective way to do this, but consider you may have various ways of referring to the business name
- Check the footer and contact page for references to the business name, and anywhere else that a search-replace might not have caught
- Change the logo and colour scheme
- Consider adding an announcement on the home page explaining the name change
In addition to the website itself, the website will be connected to certain third-party services that will also need to be updated. Examples of these are:
- Google Analytics: Although it won't affect reporting, it's a good idea to rename the account and/or property name to reflect the new domain name or business name
- Google Search Console: Add the new domain name to your Google Search Console account as a new property. Then, submit a Change of Address through Google Search Console — this will encourage Google to more quickly re-index the website and update the URLs in search results.
- Payment Gateways, Email Marketing Providers, Live Chat, etc.: Coordinate with your web developer to determine what changes need to be made, and who should make them, concerning any third-party integrations
Online Services
Consider what online services are associated with your domain name or promote your business that need to be updated. Here are some common ones:
- Google Business Profile: Login to your Google Business Profile and update your business name, website address and email address in the Business Profile section. You will likely need to re-do the business verification process.
- Online advertising such as Google Ads
- Social media such as Facebook
- Review websites such as TripAdvisor
- Major industry directories or professional associations where you have a business profile or link
In most cases, you will need to update these yourself, unless you are engaging a company for assistance with any specific service.
Other Considerations
- Consider sending a bulk email to your customers, suppliers and partners explaining the change. For maximum trust, we recommend sending this from your current email address, introducing the new brand; otherwise, recipients would question its authenticity.
- Use a monitoring service such as Google Alerts to notify you when mentions are made on websites of your old business name, as this can be an opportunity to reach out and provide updated information
