When we get asked the question “is it better to create a new site or just change the content of our existing site”, the answer usually takes a bit of thought.
There are typically a few reasons people want to do a “Do-Over” of their website:
- The website is a failure as far as the niche they targeted.
- The business has changed.
- New products or services do not fit in the current website’s focus.
Depending on the age of the existing domain, how many links there are to it, and how well it has been indexed, keeping the domain usually wins out.
Here’s how we decide:
A) Failure. Deciding whether to keep the domain or not comes down to the question of is it relevant to the new focus. If it is, keep it, if it isn’t get a new one. Long-term, walking away from a domain that has no relevancy is a good thing. The other question we ask is if the domain name carries any negative baggage due to the failure.
B) Branding and re-branding are big these days.
One of the things that some organizations do to re-brand is to change their name.
Most people who were around to see the first name are not going to forget it, but over time their perception of an organization may change if that organization puts effort into going in a new direction and doesn’t just make a cosmetic name change.
Most of us still remember Phillip Morris, so it will take time before we can really grab a hold of the company’s new name, Altria. Philip Morris has been around for so long that it is hard to see it as anything else. Depending on who you ask, some would say the company changed its name to encompass all that it does, since they do more than sell cigarettes and tobacco-related products. The more cynical among us would say that the name change was done to distance the company from its tobacco-selling past, even though it still sells tobacco.
It is one thing to change your company name because you feel as if the current name is somehow tainted or really does not represent all that you do.
It is another thing entirely to change your company’s domain name solely on the premise that the name change will increase web traffic, as some people attempt to do.
One very strong argument against such a name change is that of the many things that Google considers when ranking sites, one is the longevity of your domain name. So changing your domain name is not a quick fix to bring in more traffic.
Rather than change your domain name, change the actual content of the site. Having a site that has relevant, timely content and is rich in keywords can make all the difference. Look at your press release section–is that last press release from last year? Do you even have a press release section?
Getting your website up to date will make a big difference in the kind of traffic that you see.
Another reason to keep your domain and change your content is that you will index fast for new content, and you’ll leverage off of the content that is already there.
C) New products
Sometime a new product launch has the potential of either impacting existing sales, or cannibalizing the current market. If this isn’t the case, and you want to “retire” you old products, you can refocus you home page with success.
If you don’t want to cannibalize your existing market, a new domain is a good idea.
Each specific case is different.
Call us, or have us do an evaluation to see what is right for you.
If you are keeping your existing domain and want to increase your website traffic, Increase Visibility can also help. Starting with a no-cost website analysis, we can tell you the areas of your website that need updating and help you implement a comprehensive web marketing plan.
