Overview
If your website is moving to a new domain — for example, from one domain extension to another — your OTTO project may be able to follow the migration without losing your Knowledge Graph or settings. This article explains what is typically preserved, what requires attention, and the recommended approach during a domain cutover.
Key Constraints to Understand First
Before you begin, review these important limitations:
- One domain per OTTO project: Each OTTO project is tied to a single root domain. You cannot run one project across two domains simultaneously.
- Resolved optimizations are domain-scoped: OTTO tracks resolved items against specific URLs. When the domain changes, those URLs change, which means resolved statuses may not automatically transfer to the new domain's URL set.
- Knowledge Graph is project-level: Your Knowledge Graph (entity data, business information, topical authority settings) lives at the project level and is preserved as long as you do not delete the project.
- Domain cannot be changed in place: The website is set when an OTTO project is created and cannot be edited in the project settings. To move OTTO to a different domain (including www vs non-www), create a new OTTO project for the new domain and install its pixel.
- A full re-crawl is required: After cutover, OTTO must crawl the new domain to surface its pages, errors, and opportunities before it can apply or verify optimizations.
What Is Preserved vs. What Needs Attention
- Preserved automatically: Knowledge Graph data, OTTO configuration settings, custom rules, and your connected integrations.
- Requires re-verification: Previously resolved optimizations — OTTO will re-audit the new domain's URLs and previously resolved items may appear as open until OTTO confirms they are still applied on the new domain.
- Requires a new project: The domain of an existing OTTO project cannot be changed. You must create a new OTTO project for the new domain and install its pixel before OTTO can crawl and index the new site.
Recommended Approach
Because the domain of an existing OTTO project cannot be changed in place, migrating to a new domain requires creating a new OTTO project for the new domain and installing its pixel. If you'd like guidance through this process, contact our support team before making any changes — a teammate can walk you through the correct steps for your account and help you avoid losing resolved optimization progress.
When you reach out, please have the following ready:
- The name of your OTTO project
- Your current (old) domain and the new domain you are migrating to
- The status of your DNS/server-side migration (whether 301 redirects are already in place)
- Any relevant Google Search Console property changes you have made
- A note of how many resolved optimizations you currently have, so progress can be cross-checked after migration
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.