Things To Lookout For When Switching A Blog From .Net to .Com

Planning to switch your blog from .Net to .Com? Learn about the crucial things to lookout for during the migration process in this guide. 

by Kimberly Pangaro

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It’s been a little over three years since I started my little blog, two years since it became a business, and about year since its domain authority jumped to over 30. Even with all of my successes having a .Net domain, I still struggled with the idea that my company would grow faster and bigger if it were a .Com domain. But this simply wasn’t the case when I made the switch. 

Yeah, I finally had the chance to buy the .com version of my site and I seized the moment. I bought it! I can’t believe I even had the chance and didn’t flounder it. Super excited to make the change, I didn’t bother to research all the bad things that would happen when I did. Instead, I relied on my tech support from WordPress (part the of the business plan I paid extra for) to make the switch. I also had this headstrong notion that their guidance would be best, but I was somewhat worried that it wouldn’t be based on previous experiences. 

And concerned I was, because over the last few years, WordPress has crashed my site more times than I can count. Whether it was from one of their mandatory plugins that auto-updated or from their hosting servers slowing my site down to a halt. Needless to say, I was still shocked when my site broke after their help.

After a hefty chat with their support, they reassured me the transition would be smooth and no other issues would occur. Of course, as the non-coder I am, I trusted their guidance. But I was duped! Many, many issues ensued after the switch. 

What Happened?

Google AdSense stopped working because my tag was for my .net site, not for the .com site. My Google Analytics stopped working because my .com domain wasn’t a property I owned. I thought I fixed it when I added the .com to my properties. I was sorely wrong and for all the guides that Google offered me, I could not figure out what was wrong. 

And then of course, came the revenue interruptions. My ad partner stopped serving ads because the .com didn’t combine with their tag, even though the tag was still on my site, and WordPress kept giving me error messages whenever I tried to upload the tag. 

Sponsor partners refused to send me anymore posting requests because my new .com site had a domain authority of zero. Apple Pay stopped working. Stripe stopped working. WPRocket, Cloudflare, and a whole host of other plugins, partnerships, and affiliates stopped functioning properly. These facts could and should have been outlined to me during the chats with the WordPress staff as I did specifically request them to review my site’s plugins and verify that they would continue functioning without issue or pause. 

Unfortunately, WordPress did not do this for me and after a month of constant attempts to put out fires, and considering I’m not a coder, I was forced to stop the transition to a .com. 

The new domain broke my beautiful and already working perfectly site. So, I decided to go back to my .net domain and was able to miraculously put my site’s functioning capabilities back into perfection. But I learned a few things along the way, and in an effort to help other bloggers not go through what I went through, I’m going to share the tips below. 

#1 Don’t Fix What’s Not Broken

You already put a ton of hours into making your blog work exactly how you want it to. Don’t start adding new bells and whistles because it looks great on other sites. If you don’t have a dedicated tech team to help you make the full transition, it’s best to hold off until you do. 

#2 Stop Comparing 

There are so many amazing and well-designed websites out there. Naturally, it makes us question the value of our own. But look on the bright side of what you built and stop comparing your site to anyone else’s. People visit your site not because of the fancy setup but because they want to read what you have to say. 

#3 Keep Pushing Yourself Beyond Failure

We all get bogged down by things that don’t work, especially when we think our ideas are top notch. But sometimes, it’s those very ideas that break what’s been successful. I’m not saying it’s not worth it to take risks, it certainly is, but don’t let yourself get weighed down if a risk you took doesn’t pan out. Instead, push passed the failure and keep climbing towards the end goal. 

In Conclusion

My little blunder didn’t necessarily deter me from wanting to make the .com version my main domain. Instead, the issues simply delayed me for a time. I still own the .com domain for my site and it’s my secondary site. So anytime someone puts in their browser www.atomicmommy.com, they’ll be directed to the .net version. 

For now, that’s perfectly okay. When I build my tech team, I’ll have them do what I couldn’t, and that’s the day when the sweetness of not giving up will really feel good!

Good luck to all you bloggers out there!

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