By Shad Super in Questions —

How Can You Revert a Change of Address if You Decide to Go Back to the Original Domain?

Summary

If you decide to revert a change of address and go back to your original domain, the process involves several steps such as updating domain settings, reversing 301 redirects, notifying search engines, and updating backlinks. Here's a comprehensive guide to successfully revert a domain change.

Update Domain Settings

DNS Settings

Begin by updating the DNS settings of your original domain. Ensure that the A, CNAME, and any other necessary records point back to the correct IP addresses and servers [Cloudflare, 2023]. This step will reconnect your original domain to the appropriate web host.

Website Configuration

Update the configuration settings in your website’s control panel or hosting environment. This may involve editing configuration files (e.g., `wp-config.php` for WordPress sites) to reflect the original domain [WordPress, 2023].

Reverse 301 Redirects

Update .htaccess or Server Rules

If you previously set up 301 redirects to point traffic from your original domain to the new one, you will need to reverse these. Edit your .htaccess file or server configuration (like Nginx configuration files) to remove or rewrite these redirects. For Apache, a simple rule reversal would look like this:


<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
  RewriteEngine On
  # Old redirect from original to new
  # RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://newdomain.com/$1 [R=301,L] 
  # New redirect from new back to original
  RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://originaldomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]
</IfModule>

Refer to the Apache documentation for more details.

Notify Search Engines

Google Search Console

Use Google Search Console to inform Google about the change back to your original domain. This involves setting up the original domain property again and submitting any necessary sitemaps to ensure efficient re-indexing. Google’s documentation provides detailed steps on submitting sitemaps.

Bing Webmaster Tools

Similar to Google, use Bing Webmaster Tools to resubmit your original domain. Update your sitemaps to reflect the reverted URLs. Bing's support documentation offers guidance on this process.

Notify Partners

Contact any websites or partners that have updated their backlinks to your new domain. Ensure they revert these links back to your original domain. This is an important step in preserving SEO value and ensuring traffic is correctly routed.

Social Media and Online Listings

Don't forget to update the domain reference in social media profiles, business directories, and other online listings. This maintains consistency and prevents user confusion.

Technical Considerations

SSL Certificates

If you implemented SSL on the new domain, ensure that SSL certificates for the original domain are still valid and correctly configured. This can involve generating new certificates or updating existing ones. Consult the Let's Encrypt FAQ for guidance if you use Let's Encrypt.

Content Duplication

To avoid penalties for duplicate content, make sure that the new domain does not serve the same content as the original domain without redirection. Utilize tools like Google Search Console to check for and resolve duplicate content issues [Google, 2022].

Conclusion

Reverting a change of address back to the original domain involves meticulous updating of domain settings, reversing redirects, notifying search engines, and updating backlinks. Following these steps will help ensure a smooth transition and preserve your site’s SEO value.

References