Businesses outgrow their domains — rebrands, mergers, better names finally available, or moving from a subdomain to the root. The domain change itself takes minutes. Doing it without breaking images, losing Google rankings, and leaving half the internet pointing at a dead address — that's the actual job, and it's where do-it-yourself domain changes go wrong.
Quick answer: a safe domain change has four non-negotiable parts — a serialization-safe search-replace across the entire database (naive find-and-replace corrupts WordPress's serialized data), permanent 301 redirects mapping every old URL to its new equivalent, a change-of-address notification in Google Search Console so rankings transfer instead of evaporating, and systematic updates of everything external that references the old name. We do all four, in order, verified. From $150 USD.
Every Kind of Domain Move
- Domain to domain. The full rebrand: olddomain.com becomes newdomain.com, with every internal URL, image path and setting updated and every old URL redirecting permanently to its exact new counterpart.
- Subdomain to root (and back). blog.example.com graduating to example.com, or a section moving out to its own subdomain — including the path restructuring these moves usually involve.
- Multisite domain changes. Network installs store domains in extra tables that single-site procedures miss entirely; we handle network mappings correctly.
- The external cleanup. SSL for the new domain, email/DNS records, payment gateway and API allowlists, license activations, social profiles and Google Business — the constellation of services still pointing at the old name.
- Broken-migration rescue. The domain change someone already attempted: mixed old/new URLs, broken images, plugins demanding reactivation, rankings sliding. We audit what was missed and complete the job properly.
The SEO Part Is the Expensive Part
Your old domain holds years of accumulated ranking signals, and Google transfers them to the new one only if you ask correctly: page-to-page 301 redirects (not everything dumped on the new homepage — that discards page-level authority), a Search Console change-of-address, updated sitemaps, and the old domain's redirects kept alive for the long term, not canceled after a month. Skip these and traffic drops for quarters; do them right and the dip is small and brief. This is the difference between changing a name and losing a business's visibility — and it's precisely the part we're most careful with.
Pricing: From $150
Domain changes and migration repairs start at $150 USD for a standard single site — full URL update, redirect map, Search Console change-of-address and post-switch verification. Rescues of migrations done elsewhere are assessed free first, since the damage varies. Moving hosts at the same time? Our zero-downtime migration service combines both moves into one tested switchover.
Domain Change FAQs
Will I lose my Google rankings when I change domains?
Handled correctly, no — Google explicitly supports domain moves through page-to-page 301 redirects and Search Console's change-of-address tool, transferring your accumulated signals to the new domain. Expect a small temporary fluctuation while Google reprocesses, not a loss. The damage stories you hear come from skipped redirects, not from domain changes as such.
Why can't I just search-replace the old domain in my database?
Because WordPress stores data in serialized form, where string lengths are recorded alongside the strings. A naive replace changes the text but not the recorded lengths, corrupting settings and widget data — often subtly, appearing days later. Serialization-aware tools rewrite both correctly, and they're the only safe way to do it.
How long do I need to keep the old domain?
As long as you can — years, ideally indefinitely. The old domain's job after the move is serving 301 redirects, and inbound links from around the web will point at it for the long haul. Renewing a domain costs little; abandoning it hands your accumulated link value (and potentially your brand's old name) to whoever registers it next.
Someone already changed my domain and now things are broken. Can you repair it?
Yes — migration rescue is routine work here. Typical damage: mixed old/new URLs breaking images and styles, corrupted serialized data from a naive search-replace, missing redirects bleeding SEO, and licensed plugins demanding reactivation. We audit exactly what was missed, repair it in order, and finish the job that was started.
Can I change domain and hosting at the same time?
Yes, and if both are planned anyway, doing them together is one switchover instead of two risk windows. We combine this service with our zero-downtime migration: the site is rebuilt on the new host under the new domain, fully tested there, and switched once — visitors never see an intermediate broken state.
Keep Reading
- Zero-downtime hosting migration & backups
- 404s after migration? Fix WordPress errors
- Fix WordPress HTTP errors: 401, 403, 404 & more
- 1-click backup & disaster recovery
- All WordPressFix services →
New name. Same rankings. Nothing broken.
Open the HELLO FIX chat in the corner or email your current and new domains. Domain changes start at $150 — and broken migrations from elsewhere are a rescue we perform weekly.