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Moving to a new platform, domain, URL structure or design is one of the riskiest moments for your search traffic. I plan and check every step of the migration, so the rankings and traffic you've built carry over to the new site.
Businesses changing platform, domain, URL structure or design, or merging several sites.
A website migration is any change that significantly alters how search engines see a site, such as moving to a new domain, platform or URL structure, switching to HTTPS, or a major redesign. SEO migration planning maps every old URL to its new home, protects content that ranks and monitors the switch until search engines have caught up.
Most traffic losses after a migration come from a handful of avoidable mistakes: pages removed without redirects, everything redirected to the homepage, ranking content quietly cut, a staging site's "block search engines" setting going live with the new site, or tracking forgotten on launch day.
Google's own guidance on site moves recommends permanent server-side redirects from each old URL to its closest new equivalent, keeping those redirects for at least a year, and expecting some temporary ranking movement while Google processes the change. I plan around exactly that.
Good migrations are mostly preparation. By launch day, the URL map, redirects, content and tracking should all have been tested, so the launch itself is uneventful and the weeks after it are about monitoring, not firefighting.
Current rankings, traffic, top pages and backlinks recorded, so you can compare like for like after launch.
Every old URL found from sitemaps, analytics, Search Console and backlinks, then mapped to its closest new page.
Permanent redirects with no chains or loops, written for your platform and tested on the staging site before launch.
Titles, headings, internal links and structured data checked on the new site, so nothing that ranks gets lost in the redesign.
The new site reviewed before launch, with search engines kept out of staging and that block removed when you go live.
Redirects, robots.txt, sitemaps, Search Console, analytics and, for domain moves, the Change of Address tool, all checked on the day.
Indexing, errors, rankings and traffic watched closely for the weeks after launch, with problems fixed quickly.
If a past migration lost traffic, I find the missing redirects and lost pages and plan the way back.
Need the new site built as well? See web design and development. Not sure what state the current site is in? Start with an SEO audit.
The same new website can launch smoothly or lose months of traffic. The difference is almost always the planning.
| Compare | Planned SEO migration | Unplanned relaunch |
|---|---|---|
| Old URLs | Every one mapped to its closest new page | Many left to return errors |
| Redirects | Permanent, direct and tested before launch | Missing, chained or all pointing to the homepage |
| Content | Ranking content kept or improved | Cut or rewritten without checking what ranked |
| Tracking | Analytics and Search Console ready on day one | Gaps in data just when you need it most |
| After launch | Monitored closely and fixed quickly | Problems found weeks later in traffic reports |
We talk about what's changing, your timeline, your platform and who is building the new site.
I benchmark the current site, build the full URL map and agree the redirect plan with your developer.
Redirects and content checked on staging, then a launch-day checklist run on go-live.
Close monitoring after launch, with fixes made quickly and a report comparing before and after.
Can't see your question? Send me a message and I'll answer it.
Some movement in the first few weeks is normal; Google says to expect temporary fluctuation while it processes a move. With complete redirects and the ranking content kept, most well-planned migrations settle back to where they were or better.
Google recommends keeping them for at least a year, and longer is safer, especially for pages with backlinks. Removing them early can undo the work.
A 301 is permanent and tells search engines the page has moved for good. A 302 is temporary. For migrations, permanent redirects are the right choice in almost every case.
For a domain change, yes: use the Change of Address tool in Search Console and submit your new sitemap. For platform or design changes on the same domain, a new sitemap and correct redirects are usually enough.
Google says medium-sized sites can take a few weeks for most pages to move in its index, and larger sites longer. Monitoring during that time catches problems early.
Usually, yes, and the sooner the better. I compare old and new URLs, find missing redirects and lost content, and restore what's needed.
Google suggests changing one thing at a time where you can. A new domain, platform and design all at once makes problems harder to trace, so I'll recommend splitting the changes if it's practical.
It can. New templates can change headings, internal links, speed and structured data, all of which affect rankings. They still need checking before launch.
Yes, that's the usual setup. I provide the URL map, redirect rules and checklists, and review the staging site, while your developer builds the new site.
Yes. Keep the old domain registered and the redirects running, ideally for years. Letting it lapse breaks every old link and someone else could buy it.
With permanent redirects in place, links to your old pages pass through to the new ones. That's why mapping every old URL that has backlinks is one of the first jobs.
A private copy of your new website where changes are built and tested before launch. It should be hidden from search engines, and that block must be removed when the new site goes live.
Yes. It's a smaller migration, but it still needs site-wide redirects, updated internal links and canonicals, and a check that every resource loads securely.
It depends on the size of the site and how much is changing. After a short call I'll give you a clear quote, ideally well before your launch date.
Tell me where things stand and what you'd like to change. I'll reply personally with honest next steps.
