Change IP and DNS

[karn]

I moved my sites from on server to another, that includes ip and nameserver changes of cause, but a few days after that I see my rankings fall on many google servers as if we where in a update, also lower page count when I do a site:domain search.
Now It has been 2 weeks, everyday the visits gets a little less and rankings are not good on all google servers.
:?: Anyone please advice?????:confused:

[JohnW]

There is a search-engine-safe strategy for migrating a site that includes setting up a new name server that points back to the old site, then changing the name server record at the registrar, a TTL adjustment, then some waiting and eventually changing the new name server to point to the new site, etc. Some of the timing is important. I didn't go into much detail because at this point you can't un-ring that bell. It may take a while to sort itself out.

You might want to double check everything else to be sure that DNS issues are the only problem, and next time plan ahead.

[AussieWebmaster]

leave the site at the old hosting for a month ... the centers may have spidered where it was not changed and found an empty site

[mcanerin]

Changing your IP and DNS won't hurt you, but Google visiting what it thinks is your site (due to DNS caching) and finding nothing will cause it to trust your site less, as a general rule. Why send visitors to a site that doesn't exist?

It will come back up, eventually. You might try speeding the process up by filing a re-inclusion request. This is not what they are for, but it may help. Also, if you are not using Googles Webmaster tools and XML sitemap, this would be an *excellent* time to do that.

As the other mods mentioned, the best way to switch is to have an overlap period where both hosts respond for about a month or so.

This isn't always possible (sometimes yhou are moving because the host really sucks, etc), but if you can, it saves headaches (and rankings in the short term).

Ian

[TimuM]

There is a search-engine-safe strategy for migrating a site that includes setting up a new name server that points back to the old site, then changing the name server record at the registrar, a TTL adjustment, then some waiting and eventually changing the new name server to point to the new site, etc. Some of the timing is important. I didn't go into much detail because at this point you can't un-ring that bell. It may take a while to sort itself out.

You might want to double check everything else to be sure that DNS issues are the only problem, and next time plan ahead.

John,

Where can I finf more info about this. I was not aware of this issue...


Thanks
Timu

[JohnW]

I’m not sure where to point you. It’s basically common sense stuff. The idea is to get the new nameserver pointed to the old site as a first move. Then switch the records at the registrar to point to the new nameserver, this way during initial propagation the old site will resolve regardless of where the records are pointed at any of the root servers. Let this sit for a couple days. Then after the new site is ready you adjust the TTL on the new name server to a low number like 5 minutes and let this propagate for a couple days. Then make the DNS switch to the new site and restore the TTL to normal. I wrote this in a hurry so anyone with more info please add.

[TimuM]

I’m not sure where to point you. It’s basically common sense stuff. The idea is to get the new nameserver pointed to the old site as a first move. Then switch the records at the registrar to point to the new nameserver, this way during initial propagation the old site will resolve regardless of where the records are pointed at any of the root servers. Let this sit for a couple days. Then after the new site is ready you adjust the TTL on the new name server to a low number like 5 minutes and let this propagate for a couple days. Then make the DNS switch to the new site and restore the TTL to normal. I wrote this in a hurry so anyone with more info please add.

That is what we always do..We also let our clients to pull their emails from the old server by using an IP number.

"Some of the timing is important. I didn't go into much detail because at this point you can't un-ring that bell. "
I though you have some special info for SEO...

Thanks