Transferring Hosting from BigRock to GoDaddy: SEO Considerations

Understanding SEO and Hosting Changes

When planning to transfer your hosting from BigRock to GoDaddy, especially to a U.S. server, many webmasters wonder if this change will have an impact on their website's organic search rankings. The answer is generally straightforward: Google, and other search engines, do not give any specific advantage or penalty based on changes in hosting providers. What truly matters are the quality of your content and the relevance of your outbound links. However, there are several important factors to consider during the transition to ensure a smooth SEO experience.

The Impact on Organic Rankings

After switching your hosting service, it is most likely that your website will experience a drop in organic search rankings for a few months. This can sometimes persist permanently, depending on how well you manage the necessary SEO tasks during the transition, such as setting up proper redirects and other related SEO requirements. These tasks are crucial to maintaining a positive SEO profile and ensuring that your website continues to perform well in search results.

Ensure a White Listed IP and Smooth Server

The most significant factors for maintaining good SEO performance after the transition are having a white-listed IP and a server with excellent uptime. A white-listed IP means that the IP address is trusted by search engines. This trust is built over time and can help improve your website's visibility and ranking. Additionally, a server with a good uptime ensures that your website is accessible to both users and search engine crawlers, which is essential for effective SEO.

Proper Redirects and SEO Migrations

To ensure a smooth transition, follow these steps: Plan Your Redirects: Set up proper redirects to ensure that the URLs are seamlessly transferred and that users are directed to the correct new pages without any 404 errors. Use 301 Moved Permanently redirects to inform search engines and users that a page or page section has moved permanently. Update Your Robots.txt File: Adjust your robots.txt file to ensure that search engines crawl the new URLs and understand which pages to index. Monitor Your SEO Metrics: Keep an eye on your website's performance over the following months. Pay attention to traffic, keyword rankings, and other relevant metrics. This will help you identify any issues and adjust your SEO strategy if necessary. Check Your XML Sitemaps: Update your XML sitemap to include the new URLs and resubmit it to major search engines.

Conclusion

Transferring hosting from BigRock to GoDaddy is a normal and necessary process that can impact organic rankings temporarily, but with proper planning and execution, you can minimize these effects and maintain good SEO performance. Always prioritize content quality and outbound link relevance, and ensure your server has a white-listed IP and excellent uptime. By following these steps, you can achieve a smooth transition and continue to enjoy positive SEO outcomes.