What to do when you need to change your domain name??

[Mako]

Hi everyone.

I work for an educational organization in Argentina, Buenos Aires.

We have just renamed our business and we are developing a new website. Our new website will have a new domain name that corresponds to the new business name.

We are now debating what to do regarding search engine positions. Our current website has high ranking in some search engines and we know that if we change the domain name we'll have to start all over from scratch. We also know that most engines do not let new websites go high in positions unless they have been ponline for a couple of years.

Has anyone has come across this same situation? (business name / new website / new domain)

I was wondering if someone could give me some advise on what to do. The options we are considering are:

1) Redirect our current domain name to the new domain name
2) Have both websites running with the same content.

Thank you very much in advance.

M.

[Marcia]

2) is not an option, it'll hurt both. Out of the two, 1) is the viable option, but there is liable to be delay.

3) is to adapt and change the first site to reflect the change so that old traffic will continue to flow, leave it live, and put totally unique content on the new domain and refer visitors over - plus contact parties linking to the first and ask them instead to link to the second.