Website Migration SEO That Keeps Your Rankings

A migration changes URLs, templates or servers all at once. When old URLs return 404 errors instead of 301 redirects, the backlinks and ranking history attached to them are lost. Add a staging site left on noindex, a missing XML sitemap or broken internal links, and a site can lose much of its organic traffic overnight. Almost all of it is preventable with planning.

• Domain change or rebrand, including country domains.
• CMS or platform change, such as WordPress to Shopify or a custom build to WordPress.
• HTTP to HTTPS and server or hosting moves.
• Redesigns that change URL structure, templates or navigation.
• Merging sites or moving a subdomain into a subfolder.

1. Benchmark rankings, traffic, top pages and backlinks in Search Console, GA4 and Ahrefs.
2. Crawl every old URL with Screaming Frog and build a one-to-one redirect map.
3. Carry over titles, meta descriptions, headings, canonicals, hreflang and schema.
4. Keep staging blocked from Google, then check robots.txt and noindex tags before launch.
5. Prepare new XML sitemaps and update internal links to point straight at new URLs.

1. Switch on 301 redirects and test them in bulk, catching chains and loops.
2. Submit sitemaps, and use the Change of Address tool in Search Console for domain changes.
3. Crawl the live site for 404s, broken internal links and accidental noindex tags.
4. Monitor rankings, index coverage and traffic daily, separating normal short-term swings from real problems.
5. Fix issues as they surface during the 30 days of included monitoring.

WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, Next.js and custom builds, on any host or CDN. The work runs alongside your developer or hosting team, with a clear redirect map and checklist they can follow.

A migration that has already caused a drop can usually be repaired. The fix starts by comparing old URLs from backups, analytics and backlink tools against the live site, then restoring missing redirects and content. The sooner it starts, the more ranking history can be recovered.

1. A benchmark of rankings, traffic, top pages and backlinks before anything changes.
2. A complete one-to-one redirect map in a spreadsheet your developer can implement.
3. A pre-launch checklist covering metadata, canonicals, hreflang, schema, robots.txt and sitemaps.
4. Launch-day verification of redirects, indexing and internal links.
5. 30 days of monitoring with a short weekly update and fixes as issues appear.

Screaming Frog for full crawls and redirect testing, Google Search Console for index coverage and the Change of Address tool, GA4 for traffic benchmarking, and Ahrefs or Semrush for backlinks and rank tracking. Server logs are used where available to confirm how Googlebot handles the new structure.

• Businesses rebranding or moving to a new domain.
• E-commerce stores replatforming, for example WooCommerce to Shopify.
• Sites redesigning with new URL structures or merging several sites.
• Anyone whose developer is excellent at building sites but has not handled SEO for a migration before.