What to Tell Customers When Your Website Address Changes
Changed your website address? Here's exactly what to say to customers, where to say it, and how to make sure nobody gets a dead link or a lost feeling.
You picked a better name. Good. It's easier to say, easier to spell, and easier to remember. Now comes the part that trips people up: telling your customers so nobody gets confused or lost.
The good news is this doesn't take a big announcement or a marketing plan. A few short, clear messages in the right places do the whole job. Here's how to tell customers your website address changed—without making it a bigger deal than it is.
Say it plain, and say it early
You don't need a story. You need one clear sentence people can act on. Something like:
Our website has a new address. You can now find us at yournewname.com. The old link still works for now, so nothing's broken on your end.
That's it. No apology, no long explanation about why you changed it. Most customers don't care why. They just want to know where to find you and whether their old bookmark still works.
Tell people once, clearly, and then repeat it in a few spots over the next couple of months. Folks don't all read the same channel, and they don't all read it the same week.
Where to put the message
Think about every place a customer might type in, click on, or look up your address. That's where your message goes. Here are the big ones.
Your own website
Put a short line on your homepage for a month or two. "We're now at yournewname.com—update your bookmarks." If someone lands on the old page, this tells them what happened before they wonder if they hit the wrong site.
Add the new address to your email signature. If you send a newsletter or appointment reminders, work one line into the next few. And check whether your own email address is changing too—that's a separate decision worth thinking through. We cover it in should you change your email address when you get a new domain.
Text messages and invoices
If you text customers or send invoices, those go out with your old address printed all over them. Update the templates. A plumber's invoice, a clinic's reminder text—these are seen more often than your homepage.
Social media and directories
Your Facebook page, your Instagram bio, your Yelp listing—all of them have a website field. Fix each one. This is a bigger job than it sounds, so we broke it into steps: see fixing your Yelp, Facebook, and directory links after a new domain.
Your Google Business Profile is what most local customers see first. If it still points to the old address, fix it right away. Here's the walkthrough: how to update your Google Business Profile after a domain change.
Make sure the old link still works
Here's the part people skip. Telling customers is only half the job. The other half is making sure the old address still sends people to the new one, automatically.
This is called a redirect. When it's set up right, anyone who clicks an old link—a bookmark, an old business card, a link on another company's site—lands on your new page without a hiccup. They may not even notice.
If the old link just dies and shows an error, all your announcements won't save you. People will assume you closed. Set up the redirect first, then tell people. We explain what to expect in do old links still work after you move to a new domain.
A simple order to do it in
You don't have to do everything at once. Work through it like this:
- Set up the redirect from the old address to the new one.
- Update your Google Business Profile.
- Fix the website field on Facebook, Yelp, and any directories you're in.
- Change your email signature, invoices, and text templates.
- Put a short note on your homepage for a month or two.
- Mention it once to your regulars—in person, in a text, or in your next email.
If you want one page that walks through every listing to check, use a simple checklist for fixing business listings after you switch domains.
What not to do
Don't overdo the announcement. You're not launching a product. A big "WE'VE MOVED!" banner with three exclamation points makes people nervous—they wonder if you got bought or shut down. Calm and clear beats loud.
Don't take down the old address the day you switch. Keep it pointed at the new one for at least a year, longer if you can. Old business cards, old signs, and links on other people's sites don't disappear overnight.
And don't assume one email did it. People miss messages. Repeat the note a few times over a couple of months, then let it fade.
The whole point
A name change should feel like nothing to your customer. They click, they call, they find you—same as always. Your job is to make the switch invisible: redirect the old link, fix the listings, and tell people plainly where you are now.
Do that, and the better name does what you bought it for. It's easier to say out loud, easier to remember, and easier to find.
Thinking about a stronger name for your trade and city, or wondering if the one you have is worth keeping? Browse names for your area, or ask us about one specific name you have in mind. It takes about a minute.
