What is the benefit of using the change of address tool in Google Webmaster Tools?

What is the benefit of using the Change of Address tool in Google Webmaster Tools, compared to just setting up the required 301 redirections to the new site? And why should I renew the change of address notification every 180 days? Can't I just leave the 301s in place?

Giacomo, Parma, Italy

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• google
• seo
• webmaster tools

[agapitoflores001]

Thanks for the share Matt, I learned new ideas.

[figurethis2]

cheers for the share Matt.. now can we have some new backgrounds please...

[sivaganesh1232000]

Hey, can i say one thing..

You are going handsome day by day.. :)

[LowLevelVideos]

The 180 days limit comes from Google:

"If you've moved your site to a new domain, you can use the Change of address tool to tell Google about your new URL. We'll update our index to reflect your new URL. Changes will stay in effect for 180 days, by which time we'll have crawled and indexed the pages at your new URL."

[dante2428]

There's also the issue of control, which Matt just hinted at. If you're about to lose control of the old site (and its 301s), the change of address form is the fastest way to transfer everything in Google's index.

[johnnyvirus1]

Damn he's just too good with his hands.. :D

[willi19681972]

Hi Matt, interesting video! I am somewhat surprised that you can use the change-of-address tool to transfer the "reputation" of a page. To what extent is it still necessary, links from external webites switch (or ask the webmaster for it)?

[macfilas]

mmm wearing a shirt? is there any correspondence between matts clothes and relevance of the factor is talking about? the more casual, the less weight in ranking?

[figurethis2]

Where did the 180 days come from???

[mhaidarhanif]

Hm, I'm never using that feature tool in GWT actually. But I'll try it and find out. It tell Google when you moving your site, right? What I know is, it's also useful for SEO and SERP.