Website Migration SEO
Replatform, redesign or change domain without the traffic collapse that follows most migrations.
The problem this solves
Migrations are where years of SEO investment quietly die. A redesign ships, redirects are half-mapped, URL structures change without anyone checking Search Console, and six weeks later organic traffic is down 60% with no obvious cause. The worst part is that recovery takes far longer than the migration did — and some of it never comes back.
Deliverables
What you actually get
- Pre-migration crawl and full inventory of every ranking, linked and indexed URL
- One-to-one URL mapping from old to new, reviewed before launch
- Redirect specification — 301 chains eliminated, loops removed, tested on staging
- Content and metadata parity check so nothing valuable is dropped in the rebuild
- Staging environment audit before go-live, including noindex removal verification
- Launch-day monitoring and a 30-day post-migration recovery watch
Process
How the engagement runs
- 01
Freeze and inventory
Before anything changes, I capture the complete current state — rankings, indexed URLs, backlink targets and traffic by URL.
- 02
Map every URL
Every old URL gets a destination. No wildcard redirect to the homepage — that is the single most common cause of migration traffic loss.
- 03
Staging validation
I test redirects, canonicals, robots directives and structured data on staging, and confirm the site-wide noindex is removed before launch.
- 04
Launch and monitor
Live crawl within hours of go-live, then daily Search Console checks for the first month so any drop is caught in days, not quarters.
Outcomes
What success looks like
Rankings held through launch instead of rebuilt afterwards
Link equity preserved on every URL that had earned it
Issues caught in the first 48 hours, when they are still cheap to fix
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
We already migrated and lost traffic. Can you help?
Yes, and this is urgent work — recovery odds fall the longer it is left. I reconstruct the old URL inventory from archives, backlink data and historical Search Console exports, then rebuild the redirect map that should have existed.
When should you be involved?
Before URL structures are decided, ideally at the wireframe stage. Being brought in the week before launch limits me to damage control rather than prevention.
Is some traffic loss inevitable?
A brief dip of one to three weeks while Google reprocesses is normal. A sustained double-digit drop is not inevitable — it is the signature of a migration that was not mapped properly.
Does this cover domain changes too?
Yes. Domain changes add Search Console change-of-address processing, brand entity updates and backlink outreach to update the highest-value links at source.
Related services
Free audit
Let’s find out what’s capping your rankings
Send me your domain and I’ll reply with the three issues costing you the most organic traffic right now. No pitch deck, no obligation.
You work with me directly — no account managers, no offshore handoff, no junior taking over after the sales call.
