Recently, Netflix announced that its streaming content service would be separating from its extremely popular and successful DVD rentals service, and that the company would be rebranding the DVD service under a new name: Qwikster. Although the change in this case has been so well publicized (and criticized) that it’s difficult to imagine the target market not hearing about the new brand, Netflix is still going to have to deal to some extent with what smaller business owners have to take into heavy consideration when rebranding: continuity of SEO.
This is one of the main reasons that rebranding cannot be taken lightly in the age of page ranking and social media. If, like in the case of Qwikster, your rebranding involves a name change, it also almost certainly involves a domain change, as well. This brings up issues of previous domain name use and protecting brand integrity. If you are lucky enough to be purchasing a domain that hasn’t been used before, you will also need to purchase variations of the name in order to set up a safety net of forwarders to catch potential customers who simply type in what they think your domain name might be.
If you are buying a domain name that was previously used by another business, you have the additional problem of the previous business’ SEO strategy, cleaning up any loose ends they may have left behind, or fixing problems with penalties that search engines may have levied against the previous owners. There’s also the issue of your Facebook page, Twitter profile, and other social media accounts. If you’ve started a new twitter account within the past year or two, you already know how difficult it is to find a username that both reflects your brand and isn’t already taken.
You also have to make sure that anyone using a name similar to yours doesn’t get confused with you and your business. This is a problem that Qwikster is going to have to deal with right away – they failed to secure the Twitter handle @Qwikster, which is the account of a young man named Jason Castillo. Castillo enjoys tweeting about things like smoking marijuana, often using very strong language. In terms of SEO strategy, this is not something Netflix wants to be associated with, and it’s going to take a lot of work for them to separate themselves from it.
Rebranding is a major decision, and if you have come to that junction in the evolution of your business, it’s important to take the appropriate precautions to ensure the best switchover possible. Your SEO strategy is an integral part of your business’ success – make the necessary preparations and do your research ahead of time, and you’ll give yourself the best chance of a smooth transition.
