To change or not to change a domain - that is the question?

byMartineB

458 followers

Updated 4 years ago

Hello, my name is.......

So, I have a website (my first) and I love it so far.

I began building in mid October 2019.

I have had positive comments regarding the content, look and feel of my site and I made my first sales 3 months in (mid January 2020). I'm waiting patiently (and not so patiently sometimes) for the next sales whilst I keep plugging away.

This is all very positive and I can see that my traffic is increasing.

However, I want to branch out somewhat and start to blog in relation to a 'complementary' niche. I am contemplating integrating the two rather than having separate websites.

This would requite a domain name change however as my current site name is very niche specific. Great on the one hand, somewhat limiting on the other now that I want to extend the subject matter.

To keep the current name but add this additional content feels a little incongruent and this is not acceptable. Relevance is key.

The pros of making a change

My thinking and please correct me if I'm wrong:

The two niches are not discordant and in fact I think are complemetary;
Rather than manage two sites, I will be managing one;
Double the content on one site that I may otherwise not be able to do. I can alternate with subject matter for the one site rather than trying to write a minimum of 2-3 articles per niche a week for 2 sites, double the potential traffic and double the bang! Right or too simplistic?
When I feel writer's block on one subject matter I may be flowing with the other, so my site will not be stagnant as it might be if I went for two websites.
More content regularly on one site and therefore potential to be recognised by google as an 'expert' and thus an increase in ranking.

I think these are 5 good reasons to amalgamate.

I don't think this is about cutting corners either but rather I am looking at a smart way of working.

I believe that with too many sites we can spread ourselves thin and none will be done as well as they could be to our own financial detriment and general wellbeing. I only see myself managing a maximum of two sites unless I start to employ staff.

A slight hiccup in proceedings

But what are the consequences of amalgamating or the potential cons?

I don't necessarily know what all of the cons may be and so your input is invaluable to me whilst I contemplate this decision.

But here's a start and again I may be correct or incorrect in my assumptions.

Losing whatever ground I have made with my current site as it is.
Weakened perception of expertise in one niche.
Varying customer type given that a different cohort will be driven to my site due to the different subject matter. Though whether this is a con is debateable as long as I am giving them what they came for.
Have to add a new website (due to name change) to all affiliate networks.
Having to change all of your affiliate links within current blogs because they will be related to the old website. I assume this is the case. Can anyone confirm?
Change all social media to reflect new site
Change all social media codes within your site back end.
Add a property to google analytics, google search console and bing webmaster
Time for google to recognise, index and rank and therefore an interruption to momentum. How long is this though and would it make a huge difference anyway and is all momentum really lost.

Have I missed anything? Have I made this more of a big deal than it is?

Have I in fact made a mountain out of a molehill.

I feel to make the move earlier rather than later would be the better way to go.

But the thought of not doing the things I have to do (because my tech knowledge is not comprehensive) in order to ensure the transition is undertaken correctly and adequately is concerning.