• seohunters9

        See all notifications

        Skip to content
        Moz logo Menu open Menu close
        • Products
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Pro Home
          • Moz Local
          • Moz Local Home
          • STAT
          • Moz API
          • Moz API Home
          • Compare SEO Products
          • Moz Data
        • Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Analysis
          • Keyword Explorer
          • Link Explorer
          • Competitive Research
          • MozBar
          • More Free SEO Tools
        • Learn SEO
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
          • SEO Learning Center
          • Moz Academy
          • MozCon
          • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
        • Blog
        • Why Moz
          • Digital Marketers
          • Agency Solutions
          • Enterprise Solutions
          • Small Business Solutions
          • The Moz Story
          • New Releases
        • Log in
        • Log out
        • Products
          • Moz Pro

            Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

          • Moz Local

            Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

          • STAT

            SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

          • Moz API

            Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

          • Compare SEO Products

            See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

          • Moz Data

            Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

          Let your business shine with Listings AI
          Moz Local

          Let your business shine with Listings AI

          Learn more
        • Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Analysis

            Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

          • Keyword Explorer

            Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

          • Link Explorer

            Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

          • Competitive Research

            Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

          • MozBar

            See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

          • More Free SEO Tools

            Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

          NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
          Moz Pro

          NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

          Learn more
        • Learn SEO
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO

            The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

          • SEO Learning Center

            Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

          • On-Demand Webinars

            Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

          • How-To Guides

            Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

          • Moz Academy

            Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

          • MozCon

            Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

          Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
          Moz API

          Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

          Find your plan
        • Blog
        • Why Moz
          • Digital Marketers

            Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

          • Small Business Solutions

            Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

          • Agency Solutions

            Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

          • Enterprise Solutions

            Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

          • The Moz Story

            Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

          • New Releases

            Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

          Surface actionable competitive intel
          New Feature

          Surface actionable competitive intel

          Learn More
        • Log in
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Local
          • Moz Local Dashboard
          • Moz API
          • Moz API Dashboard
          • Moz Academy
        • Avatar
          • Moz Home
          • Notifications
          • Account & Billing
          • Manage Users
          • Community Profile
          • My Q&A
          • My Videos
          • Log Out

        The Moz Q&A Forum

        • Forum
        • Questions
        • My Q&A
        • Users
        • Ask the Community

        Welcome to the Q&A Forum

        Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

        1. Home
        2. SEO Tactics
        3. Technical SEO
        4. Switching from a .org to .io (301 domain redirect)

        Moz Q&A is closed.

        After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

        Switching from a .org to .io (301 domain redirect)

        Technical SEO
        4
        12
        2527
        Loading More Posts
        • Watching

          Notify me of new replies.
          Show question in unread.

        • Not Watching

          Do not notify me of new replies.
          Show question in unread if category is not ignored.

        • Ignoring

          Do not notify me of new replies.
          Do not show question in unread.

        • Oldest to Newest
        • Newest to Oldest
        • Most Votes
        Reply
        • Reply as question
        Locked
        This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
        • w0lfiesmithUK
          w0lfiesmithUK last edited by

          I'm considering switching my main site from a .org to .io address; the .org is an exact match domain which helped to kickstart it a few years ago and now has about 50% repeat visitors, but was thrown off the Apple affiliation program for trademark infringement.

          I've found and purchased a nice (non-infringing) .io domain, and I've read the advice here on how to properly 301 the old domain; but my question is - does it matter that it's .io? Is this going to significantly hurt my rankings, even when everything has been 301'd properly?

          Another thought I had is that I may actually come out better off in the long run, what with Google penalties being applied to exact match domains.

          Is this a ranking suicide? If so, I'm tempted to leave it as is; even without the affiliation, it's making a good amount every month in ad fees that I don't want to disrupt.

          Thanks all!

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Adam.Whittles
            Adam.Whittles @w0lfiesmithUK last edited by

            It may well be used mainly by tech start-ups but it is a country specific domain. It is specific to the British Indian Ocean Territory.

            For example, the .tv extension is used mainly by sites with video content but it is in fact a country specific domain for Tuvalu.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • w0lfiesmithUK
              w0lfiesmithUK @NakulGoyal last edited by

              .io isn't country specific though; it's being used by tech start-ups mostly.

              Adam.Whittles 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • w0lfiesmithUK
                w0lfiesmithUK @w0lfiesmithUK last edited by

                That's an excellent idea; I'm in no hurry to move, so this will be a great way to test. Thanks!

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • NakulGoyal
                  NakulGoyal last edited by

                  James, after reading all the responses you have at the time of writing this answer, I strongly suggest trying to find another .com / .org and do the 301 redirect. That way you "might" have a minor short term loss, but you can regain the affiliation and be better off long term. I agree with Crimson and others, I would not go with the .io domain name. If you are targeting global, why not use a global domain. I hope this helps.

                  w0lfiesmithUK 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • CatalystSEM
                    CatalystSEM @w0lfiesmithUK last edited by

                    I haven't seen a .io in the English SERPs as well, why not register a .io and see if you can get it to rank. The test should take less than a month and if it ranks then you can consider redirecting it to your .io domain.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • CatalystSEM
                      CatalystSEM @w0lfiesmithUK last edited by

                      If you focus on brand building, then yes, you'll offset any losses. The EMD will pick out poor quality EMDs without the requisite quality content.

                      Also, the loss from the 301 is not a short term loss, it's a permanent loss.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • Adam.Whittles
                        Adam.Whittles @w0lfiesmithUK last edited by

                        In that case, I would probably just stay with the .org. Is being a part of the Apple affiliation program essential to your business? If so then I would consider trying to find a different domain.

                        You will probably struggle to rank in the main English language territories with a .io domain. I can't recall ever seeing one in the serps and hadn't even heard of it before this question was asked!

                        Don't be mistaken into thinking that 301 redirecting your old domain to the new one will instantly get the new domain to the same rank as the previous. It doesn't quite work like that. Of course, this will depend on many factors.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • w0lfiesmithUK
                          w0lfiesmithUK @CatalystSEM last edited by

                          Thanks; I'm ok with a short term minor loss. I'm quite worried about the long term implications of exact match domains too though; any losses I do could be offset, surely?

                          CatalystSEM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • w0lfiesmithUK
                            w0lfiesmithUK @Adam.Whittles last edited by

                            Purely because I couldnt find a suitable .com - thats partly why I had a .org in the first place. Targeting is not geographic specific; anywhere English speaking.

                            Adam.Whittles CatalystSEM w0lfiesmithUK 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • CatalystSEM
                              CatalystSEM last edited by

                              I would recommend leaving it as it is because despite the general consensus about 301 redirects transferring all link equity and traffic, the truth of the matter is that you will experience a small permanent loss in traffic every time a 301 redirect is utilized.

                              I would simply not take that risk as there are many things that can go wrong.

                              w0lfiesmithUK 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • Adam.Whittles
                                Adam.Whittles last edited by

                                Can I ask, why are you looking at the .io domain extension? Why not a .com? Also what geographic region is your site targeting?

                                Personally, I would be looking at a .com rather than .io, unless you're business/site is targeting the British Indian Ocean Territory 🙂

                                w0lfiesmithUK 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • 1 / 1
                                • First post
                                  Last post

                                Browse Questions

                                Explore more categories

                                • Moz Tools

                                  Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                                • SEO Tactics

                                  Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                                • Community

                                  Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                                • Digital Marketing

                                  Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                                • Research & Trends

                                  Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                                • Support

                                  Connect on product support and feature requests.

                                • See all categories

                                Related Questions

                                • CitimarineMoz

                                  How effective are 301 redirects in passing page rank?

                                  301 redirect page rank

                                  I have a blog which is ranking well for certain terms, and would like to repurpose it to better explain these terms it is ranking for, including updating the url to the new term the blog will be about. The plan being to 301 redirect the old url to new. In the past, I've done this with other pages, and have actually lost much of the rankings that I had earned on the original URL. What is your take on this? Maybe repurpose blog, but maintain original URL just to be on the safe side? Thanks

                                  Technical SEO | | CitimarineMoz
                                  0
                                • wfm-uk

                                  Lost ranking after domain switch

                                  I recently migrated from https://whitefusemedia.com to https://whitefuse.com. The website URL structure and content remained the same and I followed all the best practice guidance regarding checks on the new domain and appropriate 301 redirects. I have seen traffic drop by about 50% and the traffic that is still coming through is mainly coming through links still listed by Google under the old domain (https://whitefusemedia.com). Is this normal? Should I expect to see this bounce back, or is there anything I can do now to regain the rankings?

                                  Technical SEO | | wfm-uk
                                  0
                                • alstam

                                  301 redirect from dynamic url to static page

                                  Hi, i want to redirect from this old link http://www.g-store.gr/product_info.php?products_id=1735/ to this one https://www.g-store.gr/golf-toualetas.html I have done several attempts but with no result. I anyone can help i will appreciate. My website runs in an Apache server with cpanel. Thank you

                                  Technical SEO | | alstam
                                  0
                                • SamKlep

                                  301 redirect syntax for htaccess

                                  I'm working on some htaccess redirects for a few stray pages and have come across a few different varieties of 301s that are confusing me a bit....Most sources suggest: Redirect 301 /pageA.html http://www.site.com/pageB.html or using some combination of: RewriteRule + RewriteCond + RegEx I've also found examples of: RedirectPermanent /pageA.html http://www.site.com/pageB.html I'm confused because our current htaccess file has quite a few (working) redirects that look like this: Redirect permanent /pageA.html http://www.site.com/pageB.html This syntax seems to work, but I'm yet to find another Redirect permanent in the wild, only examples of Redirect 301 or RedirectPermanent Is there any difference between these? Would I benefit at all from replacing Redirect permanent with Redirect 301?

                                  Technical SEO | | SamKlep
                                  1
                                • NaescentAdam

                                  Index.php and 301 redirect with Joomla

                                  Hi, I'm running Joomla 1.7 with SEF on and I'm trying to do a htaccess redirect which fails. I have approximately 100 in effect so far and all working fine, but I have one snag. Index.php is not working as I need it to when it's redirected to www.myurl.com/ If I turn on index.php redirect to root using this code #index.php to root
                                  RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^myurl.com$ [OR]
                                  RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.myurl.com$
                                  RewriteRule ^index.php$ "http://www.myurl.com/" [R=301,L] And then go to www.myurl.com/test.html I'm redirected to the homepage. I think this is because all pages are index.php in joomla. SEOMOZ and Google both think that index.php and root are duplicate pages. Does anyone have any advice for overcoming this? Thanks, Adam

                                  Technical SEO | | NaescentAdam
                                  0
                                • koamit

                                  What should be use 301 or 302 redirection for 404 pages

                                  Please suggest which redirection we should use for 404 pages- 301 or 302. If you can elaborate it with reason then it will be highly appreciated.

                                  Technical SEO | | koamit
                                  0
                                • TrevorMcKendrick

                                  301 Redirect with an Exact Domain name Match

                                  My Client had a site that ranked for a pretty competitive two word phrase, but for a variety of reasons had to transfer the site to a different domain name (with none of the previous keywords). We've 301'd everything just fine to the new site, but our traffic for that two word phrase, as well as related long tail traffic, is beginning to drop. Could the drop be related to something that we didn't do well in the transfer? Or is it due to the new domain name now not being an exact match? Sitenote question: Our Google Analytics is still set up for the former domain name and shows data just fine. Is there any reason to switch GA to the new domain? What are the pros/cons? Much thanks in advance!

                                  Technical SEO | | TrevorMcKendrick
                                  0
                                • Grenadi

                                  How to 301 multiple domain names to a single domain

                                  Hey, I tried to find and answer to this seemingly simple question, but no luck. So, I have one domain name with a website attached to it. I also registered all the other domain names that are similar to it or have different extensions - I want to redirect all the other domain names to my one main domain name without getting penalised by the big G. It looks like this: www.mainsite.com - this is my main domain I also have www.mainsite.com.au, www.mainsite.org, and www.mainsite.org.au which I all want to just redirect to www.mainsite.com I have been told that the best way to do this is a 301 redirect, but to do that you need to make a CNAME for all the other domains that points to www.mainsite.com. My problem is that I cannot seem to create a CNAME record for http://mainsite.com - I have it working for http://www.mainsite.com but not the non www record. What should I be doing differently? Is it just my DNS provider is useless? Thanks, Anthony

                                  Technical SEO | | Grenadi
                                  0

                                Get started with Moz Pro!

                                Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                                Start my free trial
                                Products
                                • Moz Pro
                                • Moz Local
                                • Moz API
                                • Moz Data
                                • STAT
                                • Product Updates
                                Moz Solutions
                                • SMB Solutions
                                • Agency Solutions
                                • Enterprise Solutions
                                • Digital Marketers
                                Free SEO Tools
                                • Domain Authority Checker
                                • Link Explorer
                                • Keyword Explorer
                                • Competitive Research
                                • Brand Authority Checker
                                • Local Citation Checker
                                • MozBar Extension
                                • MozCast
                                Resources
                                • Blog
                                • SEO Learning Center
                                • Help Hub
                                • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                                • How-to Guides
                                • Moz Academy
                                • API Docs
                                About Moz
                                • About
                                • Team
                                • Careers
                                • Contact
                                Why Moz
                                • Case Studies
                                • Testimonials
                                Get Involved
                                • Become an Affiliate
                                • MozCon
                                • Webinars
                                • Practical Marketer Series
                                • MozPod
                                Connect with us

                                Contact the Help team

                                Join our newsletter
                                Moz logo
                                © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                                • Accessibility
                                • Terms of Use
                                • Privacy

                                Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.