Website Migration Planning: Moving to a New Site

Moving to a new website isn't just about launching something better—it's about not losing what you already have. Your current site, however imperfect, has accumulated search rankings, inbound links, bookmarks, and user expectations. A careless migration can wipe out years of SEO progress in an afternoon. This guide helps you plan a migration that captures the upside of your new site while protecting what your old site has earned.

What Is a Website Migration?

Website migration refers to any significant change to your website that affects its search engine visibility. This includes:

For more insights on this topic, see our guide on Website Revision Rounds: How Many Is Normal?.

Platform change: Moving from WordPress to a custom system, or from Wix to Shopify
URL structure change: Reorganizing how pages are named and organized
Domain change: Moving from oldname.com to newname.com
Protocol change: Moving from HTTP to HTTPS
Design overhaul: Significantly restructuring content and navigation

Any of these can impact your search rankings if not handled carefully. The more changes you combine at once, the higher the risk.

Pre-Migration: Taking Inventory

Before changing anything, document what you currently have.

Crawl Your Current Site

Use a tool like Screaming Frog or Sitebulb to crawl your existing website. This generates a complete list of every URL, which becomes essential for planning redirects.

Document Your Best-Performing Content

In Google Analytics and Search Console, identify which pages drive the most traffic and rank for important keywords. These pages need extra attention during migration—losing their rankings would hurt most.

Map Inbound Links

Use tools like Ahrefs or Moz to see which external sites link to yours and which pages they link to. These backlinks are SEO gold—you need to ensure they don't break.

Export Your Data

Back up everything: database, files, configurations, and any data stored in your current platform. If something goes wrong, you want the ability to restore or reference the original.

Planning Your Redirect Strategy

Redirects are the bridge between your old site and your new one. Every old URL that could receive traffic needs to redirect to an appropriate new URL.

Create a Redirect Map

For every URL on your old site, determine where it should redirect on the new site. This is tedious work, but it's the single most important part of migration planning.

Your options for each old URL:

Direct mapping: Old page redirects to equivalent new page
Consolidated mapping: Multiple old pages redirect to one comprehensive new page
Category mapping: Old page redirects to relevant category or section page
Homepage fallback: Old page with no equivalent redirects to homepage (use sparingly)

Use 301 Redirects

Implement 301 (permanent) redirects, not 302 (temporary) redirects. 301s tell search engines to transfer ranking power to the new URL. 302s do not.

Test Redirects Before Launch

On a staging environment, verify that every redirect works correctly. A single typo in a redirect rule can break entire sections of your site.

SEO Preservation Checklist

Beyond redirects, several SEO elements need attention during migration:

Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

If your old pages had optimized titles and descriptions, carry them over to equivalent new pages. Don't lose optimization work you've already done.

Header Structure

Maintain logical heading hierarchy (H1, H2, H3) on migrated pages. If content is being rewritten, ensure it still targets the same keywords.

Internal Linking

Update all internal links to point to new URLs rather than relying on redirects. Redirect chains slow down users and dilute link equity.

Image Optimization

Carry over alt text from old images. If using new images, ensure they're properly optimized with descriptive file names and alt attributes.

Structured Data

If your old site used schema markup, implement equivalent markup on the new site. Don't lose rich snippet eligibility.

Managing the Transition

The actual migration requires careful coordination:

Choose Your Timing

Migrate during a low-traffic period if possible. Late nights or weekends often work well. Avoid launching during your busiest season.

Implement and Test Redirects First

Have redirect rules ready to deploy immediately when the new site goes live. Every moment without redirects is a moment visitors hit dead ends.

Update External References

Change links in places you control: email signatures, social media profiles, Google Business Profile, business directories, and anywhere else your URL appears.

Submit the New Sitemap

Immediately after launch, submit your new XML sitemap to Google Search Console. This helps Google discover and index your new URL structure quickly.

Monitor Closely

Watch for crawl errors in Search Console, 404 spikes in your analytics, and ranking changes for important keywords. Catch problems early.

Post-Migration Monitoring

A migration isn't complete at launch—it's complete when you've verified everything works.

Week 1: Daily Monitoring

Check Search Console for crawl errors daily
Monitor analytics for unusual traffic drops
Test critical user journeys on various devices
Address any redirect issues immediately

Weeks 2-4: Regular Review

Compare traffic levels to pre-migration baselines
Monitor keyword rankings for important terms
Watch for gradual indexing of new pages
Address user-reported issues promptly

Months 2-3: Trend Analysis

Evaluate overall traffic trends versus pre-migration
Assess conversion rate changes
Identify any lingering SEO issues
Plan optimization based on new site data

Common Migration Mistakes

Avoid these frequently made errors:

No redirect plan: Assuming search engines will figure it out (they won't)
Changing too much at once: Platform, domain, and structure simultaneously makes problems hard to diagnose
Ignoring old content: Failing to migrate or redirect content that still receives traffic
Forgetting mobile: Testing only on desktop when mobile is often the majority of traffic
Not backing up: Having no way to restore or reference the old site
Rushing: Launching before proper testing because of arbitrary deadlines

Planning a Website Migration?

We've helped many businesses migrate to new websites without losing their search rankings. Let's discuss your migration strategy.

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