Changing Your Domain Name on Showit Without Breaking It

Changing your website’s domain name can feel risky. One wrong step and your carefully built online presence could disappear from search results, broken links could frustrate visitors, and email addresses might stop working. The good news is that Showit makes domain changes relatively straightforward when you follow the proper sequence and take necessary precautions.

Why You Might Need to Change Your Domain

Business rebrands, marriage name changes, partnerships, or simply finding a better domain name all create situations where changing your domain becomes necessary. Perhaps you started with a complicated domain and found a simpler, more memorable option. Maybe your business evolved and your original domain no longer reflects what you offer.

Whatever your reason, the technical process remains the same. Understanding how domains work with Showit helps you execute the change confidently without losing traffic, rankings, or functionality.

Pre-Change Checklist

Before initiating any domain change, document your current setup completely. Take screenshots of your Showit domain settings, note your DNS records at your domain registrar, and save copies of your email settings if email is hosted through your domain.

Back up any custom code snippets or integrations that reference your current domain name. Some embed codes or tracking pixels include domain-specific URLs that might need updating after the change.

Purchase your new domain before beginning the migration process. Have both domains active simultaneously during the transition period to prevent downtime. Most registrars allow you to buy domains months or years in advance, giving you time to plan the perfect transition moment.

Inform stakeholders about the upcoming change. If clients, customers, or partners have bookmarked your site or saved your URL, give them advance notice about the domain switch and when it will occur.

Step-by-Step Domain Change Process in Showit

Login to your Showit account and navigate to the Sites section. Select the website where you want to change the domain.

Click on Settings, then Domain Settings. This opens the interface where you manage which domain points to your Showit site.

If you purchased your new domain through Showit, it will appear in your available domains list. Select it as your primary domain. If you purchased the domain elsewhere, click “Use a domain I already own” and follow the prompts to connect it.

Showit will provide DNS settings you need to add at your domain registrar. These include A records and CNAME records that tell the internet where to find your website files. Copy these settings exactly as Showit displays them.

Login to your domain registrar (where you purchased the domain) and navigate to DNS management. Add the A record and CNAME record that Showit provided. Different registrars have slightly different interfaces, but all offer DNS management under domain settings.

After adding DNS records, verify they’re correct by reviewing your entries. Even small typos in DNS records will prevent your domain from connecting properly to your Showit site.

DNS changes take time to propagate across the internet. This process typically completes within 24 to 48 hours, though sometimes changes appear within minutes. During propagation, some visitors might see your site at the new domain while others still access the old one.

For comprehensive assistance with Showit migrations, professional services can handle domain changes alongside moving your entire site to ensure everything transfers smoothly without complications.

Setting Up Proper Redirects

The most critical step in domain changes involves redirecting your old domain to your new one. Without redirects, anyone visiting your old domain sees error messages instead of your website. Search engines treat the old domain as dead, and you lose all accumulated SEO value.

In Showit, navigate to Settings > Domain Settings for your site. Under your old domain, look for redirect options. Enable 301 permanent redirects from your old domain to your new domain.

A 301 redirect tells browsers and search engines that your content permanently moved to the new location. This preserves your search rankings by passing SEO authority from old URLs to new ones.

Verify redirects work correctly by testing. Type your old domain into a browser and confirm it automatically redirects to your new domain. Test multiple old page URLs, not just your homepage, to ensure redirects work site-wide.

Some domain registrars also offer redirect services. While Showit handles redirects at the application level, having redundant redirects configured at your registrar can provide additional backup during the transition period.

Updating Email Addresses

If you use email addresses at your old domain, plan how to handle email during and after the domain change. Email setup varies depending on whether you use Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or another email provider.

For Google Workspace, add your new domain as an alias initially. This allows you to receive email at both old and new addresses during the transition. Gradually migrate to using the new domain for all outgoing email while still accepting messages sent to old addresses.

Update your email signatures, contact forms, and any places where your email address appears to reflect the new domain. This includes social media profiles, email marketing platforms, and business directories.

Consider keeping your old domain active and forwarding email from old addresses to new ones indefinitely. This prevents losing messages from contacts who have your old email saved and haven’t updated their records.

Updating External Services and Integrations

Your domain name likely appears in dozens of places beyond your website. Systematic updates across all platforms prevent broken integrations and maintain consistent branding.

Social media profiles should be updated to list your new domain. Facebook business pages, Instagram bios, LinkedIn company pages, and Pinterest profiles all display website URLs that need changing.

Google Business Profile requires updating your website URL to maintain accurate business information. Login to your Google Business dashboard and edit your website field to reflect the new domain.

Email marketing platforms like Flodesk, ConvertKit, or Mailchimp often reference your domain in email footer links, welcome emails, and automation workflows. Update these references to prevent sending subscribers to dead links.

Google Analytics needs configuration updates to track your new domain properly. If you’re moving to a completely new property, set up fresh tracking. If maintaining the same analytics property, update the property settings to recognize the new domain.

For detailed guidance on setting up Google Analytics with Showit, our tutorial covers tracking setup for domain changes and new installations.

Google Search Console should be configured for your new domain. Add the new domain as a property and submit your sitemap. Keep monitoring both old and new domains during the transition to track how search traffic shifts.

Advertising platforms including Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Pinterest Ads store your domain in ad campaigns, conversion tracking, and verification settings. Update domain references to ensure tracking continues functioning correctly.

Third-party plugins and widgets embedded on your site might include domain-specific code. Review countdown timers, pop-ups, scheduling tools, and other embedded elements to ensure they continue working after the domain change.

SEO Considerations During Domain Migration

Domain changes affect search engine rankings, sometimes significantly. Proper planning and execution minimize negative SEO impact while preserving the authority you’ve built.

301 redirects represent your most important SEO protection. As mentioned earlier, redirect every old URL to its corresponding new URL. Showit handles this automatically at the domain level, but verify redirects work for deep pages, not just your homepage.

Google Search Console updates should happen immediately after completing the domain change. Submit your new sitemap and use the Change of Address tool if moving from one exact domain to another. This tool specifically notifies Google about permanent domain changes.

Monitor traffic and rankings closely during the weeks following your domain change. Expect temporary fluctuations as search engines reindex your site under the new domain. Most sites recover fully within two to four weeks if redirects are properly configured.

Update backlinks where possible. If you have relationships with sites linking to you, contact them to request updating links to your new domain. While 301 redirects pass most SEO value, direct links to your new domain are always preferable.

Maintain your old domain for at least one year after changing. Keep redirects active by continuing to pay for domain registration and hosting. Prematurely dropping your old domain breaks redirects and loses any SEO benefit they provide.

Common Domain Change Mistakes to Avoid

Learning from others’ mistakes prevents costly errors during your domain migration.

Not setting up redirects represents the single biggest domain change mistake. Some website owners change domains without configuring redirects, immediately losing all search traffic and confusing visitors who have old links saved.

Changing domains during busy seasons amplifies risk and stress. If you run a wedding photography business, don’t change domains during wedding season when bookings and inquiries peak. Choose slower periods when you can afford temporary traffic disruption.

Failing to test thoroughly before announcing the change leads to embarrassing broken functionality. Spend days testing your new domain across devices, browsers, and features before directing traffic away from your old domain.

Forgetting about email causes communication breakdowns. Clients sending inquiries to your old email address might not receive responses if email forwarding isn’t properly configured.

Not updating printed materials creates confusion between online and offline branding. Business cards, brochures, and signage displaying your old domain should be updated or replaced as budget allows.

Timeline and Expectations

Domain changes don’t happen instantly. Understanding realistic timelines helps you plan appropriately and set correct expectations for your audience.

DNS propagation takes 24 to 48 hours typically, though changes sometimes appear much faster. During this period, different visitors might see different versions of your site depending on their location and internet service provider.

Search engine reindexing requires several weeks for complete transition. Google and other search engines must discover your redirects, crawl your new domain, and shift ranking authority from old URLs to new ones.

Traffic recovery varies but typically stabilizes within four to eight weeks. Expect temporary traffic dips immediately after the change, followed by gradual recovery as search engines complete reindexing.

Email transition can occur more quickly if you maintain both addresses simultaneously. Plan a transition period where you monitor both old and new email addresses, gradually phasing out the old as contacts update their records.

Post-Change Verification

After completing your domain change, systematic verification ensures everything works correctly and nothing was overlooked.

Test your new domain in multiple browsers and devices. Verify your homepage loads, navigation works, contact forms submit successfully, and images display properly. Check both desktop and mobile views.

Monitor broken link reports through Google Search Console. Address any 404 errors that appear, as these indicate pages that didn’t redirect properly or features that broke during migration.

Verify tracking continues functioning. Check Google Analytics to confirm data collection from your new domain. Test conversion tracking if you run paid advertising campaigns.

Review automated emails triggered by your website. Test contact form submissions, newsletter signups, and any other automated messages to ensure they reference the correct domain and links work properly.

For businesses requiring absolutely zero downtime during domain transitions, our VIP Design Day service can execute migrations in controlled environments with extensive testing before making changes live.

Conclusion

Changing your domain name on Showit is manageable when you understand the process and take appropriate precautions. The key steps include purchasing your new domain, updating DNS settings, configuring 301 redirects, and systematically updating all external references to your domain.

Start with thorough preparation, follow the technical steps carefully, and give the process adequate time to complete fully. Rushing domain changes or skipping critical steps like redirect setup can cause significant problems that take months to fix.

Remember that some temporary disruption is normal. Search traffic may fluctuate, and you might need to troubleshoot unexpected issues. Patience and systematic verification help you navigate challenges and ensure your domain change succeeds without permanent damage to your online presence.