For Baidu, it is not recommended to change the domain name or modify the original page URLs during website revision. Once you do this, the website’s rankings and indexing will definitely be affected. The extent of the impact mainly depends on how you operate. Below is a brief introduction to several key considerations for website revision:
First, we emphasize again: unless absolutely necessary, never change the domain name—including modifying the original page URLs. Try to ensure each page corresponds to a unique URL, just like each person has a unique name. In real life, if you change your name, people can still recognize you by your face. However, for web pages, changing the URL will make search engines treat it as a new page. Even if you implement 301 redirects and submit revision rules, there will still be an authority transfer process, during which there will be some loss of traffic.
What’s more, some websites do not perfectly handle 301 redirects, revision rule submissions, or broken link processing after revision, leading to the failure of timely and full transfer of authority from old pages to new ones.
If you really need to make changes—whether changing the domain name or modifying the original URL structure—the new and old page URLs must follow a consistent rule. This is beneficial for subsequent 301 redirects and submitting revision rules via webmaster tools. For example, if your old URL is www.a.com/2016/123.html, the new URL should try to keep the ID unchanged, such as www.b.com/2016/123.html.
Whether changing the domain name or modifying the original URL structure, after completion, you must set up 301 redirects from each old page to the corresponding new page. Do not forcibly redirect all pages of the old domain name to the homepage of the new domain name. The main content of the two pages before and after the 301 redirect must remain consistent—301 redirects only involve URL redirection, not content modification. For example, if you dial 110 but get forwarded to 10086, it would be very frustrating. The same logic applies to 301 redirects.
After the website revision, many links in new pages—especially those within article content—may still point to the old domain name (old URLs). Use programs or manual work to replace these links with those pointing to new pages. Additionally, try to modify the friendship links exchanged with other websites to point to the new domain name.
If the new and old pages follow a consistent rule, you can submit the revision rules in Baidu Webmaster Tools. If there is no consistent rule, you can only submit individual old and new URL pairs—but this method has slow recognition and is difficult to operate. Submitting revision rules helps Baidu better implement the replacement relationship and quickly transfer authority to new pages.
Changes to the domain name or URL structure will result in many broken links, which are often hard for webmasters to detect. It is recommended to use third-party software to crawl all links across the entire website to find and collect broken links. Place these broken links in a text document, upload it to the server, and add the file address to the broken link submission tool in Baidu Webmaster Tools. A large number of broken links on a website will affect Baidu’s overall evaluation of the site.
After completing the above steps, Baidu will gradually release the rankings of new pages in search results within a few days. However, it is impossible to replace all old pages at once—old pages may even appear in search results a year later. There is no need to panic as long as the website’s overall traffic recovers to the level before the revision. In addition, it is recommended to keep the 301 redirects from the old domain name (old URLs) to new pages for as long as possible, preferably no less than six months.
