Google’s John Mueller shared insights into the varying outcomes observed during domain name migrations across multiple language versions of a website. Despite following the same process for each of the three websites, the results differed significantly.
The migration involved switching to different domain names within their respective country code top-level domains (ccTLDs): .fr (France), .be (Belgium), and .de (Germany). For instance, example-1.fr was migrated to example-2.fr, maintaining the same content but in different languages corresponding to the targeted countries.
Despite the equal integration of the migration process, the expectation of identical outcomes was not met. While one site experienced a seamless transition, two others encountered failures and a loss of traffic.
The individual seeking information about the issue tweeted:
“Hi @JohnMu,
AlicesGarden (.fr, .be, .de …) migrated to Sweeek (.fr, .be, .de …)
.FR and .BE lost a lot of traffic in Oct. 23
Other TLD performed well.
Redirects, canonical, hreflang, content, offer = OK
Search console migration = OKWhat else could be wrong ?”
Google’s John Mueller explained that each website should be integrated as distinct entities, even if they share similar content assets (albeit in different languages).
Google’s Search Liaison Clarifies That Ads Do Not Influence Search Rankings
Mueller’s tweet stated:
“I don’t know your sites, but even if the content’s the same, they’re essentially different sites (especially with ccTLDs), so it would be normal for a migration to affect them differently (and this seems to be quite a way back in the meantime).”
Is Every Site Migration Equal?
John’s insight highlights a key point. Site migrations can significantly impact how a website integrates with the internet, particularly in terms of user reactions to changes in templates or domain names.
What Could Be Happening?
In the ongoing discussion, someone tweeted to inquire whether AI-generated content was used. The individual who posed the initial question responded with their tweet:
“Yes a bit of AI for short description, mainly in category pages, but nothing which could be deceptive from an end-user perspective.”
Is it possible that two site migrations failed while the third succeeded due to coinciding with an update? Considering the minimal use of AI content, this scenario seems unlikely.
The key point, as highlighted by Mueller, is that each site is unique, leading to naturally varied outcomes.
Would you like to read more about “Google clarifies an unusual outcome in domain migration” related articles? If so, we invite you to take a look at our other tech topics before you leave!
Use our Internet marketing service to help you rank on the first page of SERP.
