Hello. I am the owner of a website that has been running for a long time. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I recently had to change its domain name to another one. I followed the instructions provided in the Google-guide, but I am still curious about the experiences of others in similar situations.

Can you share your real-life experiences with me? Are there any clever solutions that you have employed in the past?

I am interested in knowing:

- The extent to which the site's traffic was affected by the change in domain name.
- Whether the new domain name was able to achieve the same position as the old one.
- How Google and other search engines reacted to this change.

I recently transferred my website to HTTPS because my hosting now provides a free certificate. It has only been a short time since the change, so I cannot give a thorough assessment yet. However, the traffic seems to be holding steady. I am waiting for Google to index the new address before I can make any definitive conclusions. Nonetheless, I believe that nothing will change or perhaps it might even improve, especially for the site's promotion in Google

Well, I actually asked about moving to another domain, not just about changing the protocol of interaction between the user and the resource.
It used to be: myaltdomain.com, now it is myaltdomain1.com.
Let me repeat: this is a forced measure.

Got it.
It'll go down for a month or a month and a half. Maybe a little more. And don't forget about proper relocation. Redirect 301, settings in webmaster, google in Search Console...

I once had the question of moving, but as practice and theory, as well as feedback from those who still dared, the position sag very much and return to previous positions may take up to six months, perhaps more. Personally, I would not recommend you move to a new domain. But as it happened...

Proper redirect will save. Very important: not only the main page, but all the rest. All without exception, look in the dashboard metrics query frequency.
The task you have, - not to envy.

After the transfer, which I understand you did, a quick reindexing in webmaster panels will help a lot.
Also you will need paid thematic traffic to the site.
Just buy it on the appropriate exchange.

Properly setting up redirects is crucial before changing a website's domain name. These redirects ensure that traffic from the old domain is directed to the new one, helping to maintain search engine rankings. It is important to set up redirects for all old URLs, not just the main page. This means that visitors should automatically be directed to the corresponding new page when they type in an old URL.

When setting up redirects, it is essential to use only 301 redirects, and to consider variations such as with/without www, and for http and https. The method of implementing these redirects will depend on the web server or CMS being used.

To inform search engines about the change, it is recommended to specify a new domain for the site in Google Search Console, as well as other search engines. Initially, the site's search ranking may decrease, but this is normal and temporary. If the redirects are set up correctly, the search database will soon update, and pages from the old resource will be replaced with new ones.

After moving to a new domain, it is advisable not to delete the redirect entries on the previous website for at least 6 months or until the traffic from search engines decreases enough. Additionally, placing the current sitemap in the root of the site can help with indexing and navigation.