Website Migration SEO
Replatform, redesign or change domain without the traffic collapse that follows most migrations.
- URL mapping — no wildcard to the homepage
- 1:1URL mapping — no wildcard to the homepage
- of post-launch monitoring
- 30 daysof post-launch monitoring
- of normal dip while Google reprocesses
- 1–3 wksof normal dip while Google reprocesses
- tolerated redirect chains or loops
- 0tolerated redirect chains or loops
The problem
What 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.
You are probably here because
- A redesign or replatform is scheduled
- You migrated already and traffic has not recovered
- Your redirect map is a spreadsheet nobody has reviewed
- You are changing domain or merging two sites
- Nobody has checked whether staging is still set to noindex
What's included
Everything this service covers
Scope is fixed and written down before we start, so there is no argument later about what was and was not included.
Pre-migration inventory
Every ranking, linked and indexed URL captured before anything changes — rankings, traffic by URL, and the pages your backlinks actually point at.
One-to-one URL mapping
Every old URL gets a specific destination, reviewed before launch. No blanket redirect to the homepage, which is the single most common cause of migration traffic loss.
Redirect specification
301s written and tested on staging, with chains collapsed and loops removed. A three-hop chain is a leak you will not notice until the traffic is gone.
Content and metadata parity
A check that nothing valuable was quietly dropped in the rebuild — copy, headings, schema, internal links and image alt text.
Staging environment audit
Redirects, canonicals, robots directives and structured data verified before go-live, including confirmation that the site-wide noindex has been removed.
Launch-day monitoring
A live crawl within hours of release, so anything broken is caught while it is still cheap to fix.
30-day recovery watch
Daily Search Console checks for the first month, because a migration problem found in week one costs a fraction of one found in quarter two.
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
Honest fit
Is this the right service for you?
I would rather tell you no now than take a retainer for work that was never going to help.
This is a good fit if
- You are replatforming, redesigning or changing domain
- You are being brought in before URLs are finalised
- You already migrated and lost traffic — this is urgent
- You are merging two sites into one
This is the wrong service if
- You launch tomorrow and want a full mapping tonight
- You are not changing URLs, content or platform at all
- You cannot provide access to staging before go-live
- You have no record of what the old site contained and no archive
Definitions
The terms on this page, explained
Plain definitions of the concepts this service works with — so you can evaluate the work rather than take the vocabulary on trust.
- 301 redirect
- A permanent instruction that a URL has moved, which passes the accumulated ranking signals to the new address. A 302 does not, reliably, which is why the distinction matters.
- Redirect chain
- A URL redirecting to a URL that redirects again. Each hop leaks signal and slows crawling, and chains form quietly across successive migrations.
- URL mapping
- The old-to-new destination list. The core deliverable of any migration, and the thing most commonly reduced to a wildcard under deadline pressure.
- Change of address
- The Search Console process that tells Google a site has moved domain. Necessary for domain changes and not a substitute for redirects.
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
Want Migration SEO done properly?
Send me your domain and I'll reply with the three issues costing you the most organic traffic right now — and whether this service is the right one for them.
- The three issues costing you the most organic traffic
- Whether those are quick fixes or structural problems
- An honest view on whether SEO is worth it for you
You work with me directly — no account managers, no offshore handoff, no junior taking over after the sales call.
Or watch the free SEO training firstRequest your free audit
Two business days, written by me, no call required.