A Beginner’s Guide to Website Migration Without Losing SEO

Did you know that migrating your website can cause a significant drop in traffic and search engine rankings if not done correctly? One major cause of this is improper web migration planning.

If you don’t want to fall into this common trap, you need to engage in proper planning and preparation before website migration. In this guide, we’ll explore tips, strategies, and best practices for moving your site with minimal SEO impact. Let’s go!

What Is Website Migration?

Website migration involves moving your website from one environment to another such as switching domains, changing web hosts, altering the technology behind it, or even redesigning your website’s structure.

It entails transferring databases and files, redirecting old pages to new ones, updating links and URLs, driving mobile responsiveness, and testing functionality once the migration is complete.

Types of Website Migrations (and What They Mean for Your Business)

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Website migrations come in different forms. Each one serves a different purpose and comes with unique challenges.

If you’re planning a site migration, knowing which type you need is the first step. Here’s a breakdown of the most common types and why they matter:

Migration Type	What It Is	Why Do It?
Domain Migration	The website moves from one domain to another, such as changing from olddomain.com to newdomain.com.	Businesses do this for rebranding, mergers, SEO improvements, or legal reasons.
Website Redesign	The site’s design, layout, and functionality get a complete overhaul.	A redesign improves user experience, modernises the look, and enhances performance.
Platform Migration	The website switches from one CMS or platform to another, such as moving from Wix to WordPress.	This improves scalability, flexibility, security, and available features.
Content Migration	Text, images, and media move from one website to another or to a new section of the same site.	Businesses migrate content during redesigns, rebrands, or when merging websites.
Hybrid Migration	Multiple migration types happen at the same time, such as a domain change, content migration, and site structure update.	Businesses take this approach for major website upgrades or rebranding efforts.
International Expansion	The website is adapted for different languages or regions, often by switching to a country-specific domain or adding hreflang tags.	Businesses do this to reach global markets and improve local SEO.
Moving to HTTPS	The site upgrades from HTTP to HTTPS to create a secure connection.	This improves security, builds trust, and helps with search engine rankings.
Mobile Optimisation	The site is modified to improve usability and performance on mobile devices.	Faster load times, better navigation, and improved rankings make the site more mobile-friendly.
Subdomain to Subdirectory	Content moves from a subdomain (blog.example.com) to a subdirectory (example.com/blog).	This shift is usually done to improve SEO and boost content authority.
Site Structure Changes	The website’s architecture changes, which may include updating URLs, navigation, categories, or internal linking.	A better structure improves SEO, enhances user experience, and makes site management easier.

Does Website Migration Impact SEO?

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Website migration can boost or hurt SEO depending on how well you handle it. About 18.8% people face challenges in preserving search rankings and traffic.

A smooth migration protects rankings and keeps organic traffic steady. A poorly managed one can cause a drop in search visibility and traffic. Planning ahead and following best practices helps you avoid major setbacks.

What is SEO Migration?

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SEO migration ensures search engines recognise changes to your website without losing rankings. It involves preserving authority, redirects, and indexing signals so search engines understand your new structure.

A well-executed SEO migration helps maintain traffic and visibility during major site changes.

Website Migration SEO Checklist

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Most people don’t understand that website migration involves altering page URLs with proper redirects, which can lead to broken links and loss of organic traffic.

Site owners often forget about transferring link equity from backlinks to new URLs, which affects SEO rankings.

This checklist breaks the process into three phases so you can stay on track:

Part 1: Pre-Migration Checklist: Current Site

Before shifting to a new site, you’ll want to create an in-depth timeline and action plan. To do this right, follow these steps:

1. Build a Solid SEO Migration Plan

The first point to note: Know exactly what you want from this migration:

• What’s your goal?: Are you protecting rankings? Do you want to improve the site’s structure? Maybe your goal is to enhance the user experience. Setting clear goals makes success easier to measure. You can use Google spreadsheets for smart planning.
• Get familiar with the entire migration process so you know what’s ahead: The second ask is to assemble a team with the right expertise—technical SEO, developers, and a project manager. Including their perspectives ensures nothing falls through the cracks.
• Think about the “right” timing: Move when traffic is at its lowest to minimise disruption. Generally speaking, weekends or late nights work best. The end goal is to create a realistic timeline, ensuring you have enough time for redirects, testing, and troubleshooting. Some migrations take weeks; others take months, so plan accordingly.

2. Crawl Your Existing Site

Gather a full list of URLs to track pages and structure and ensure nothing gets lost during migration. You can use a website crawler to scan the site. However, crawlers might not catch everything. So, check your site’s backend and search engine data to uncover hidden URLs.

Pro Tip: This is also a good time to run a technical SEO audit. Identify crawl issues, broken pages, slow load times, and mobile problems. Fixing these before migration prevents carrying old issues into the new site.

3. Identify High-Value Pages

Not all content pages are equal. Some drive the bulk of traffic, conversions, and backlinks. You can’t afford to lose these. So here’s what you should be doing:

• Evaluate your existing content for quality and relevance
• Identify areas of improvement during the migration process
• Pull data on traffic, backlinks, and conversion rates for relevant pages
• Prioritise pages that bring the most value

Pro Tip: Use your XML sitemap to view all your pages from a high-level. Copy and paste these into your spreadsheet and sort them alphabetically. You can leverage the sitemap to organise your content pages in a hierarchical structure and divide the migration process into more manageable sections.

4. Gather Image Data

Many site owners forget about images, but they matter for SEO. Some images bring in traffic and have strong backlinks. So, get a list of image URLs, track which ones perform best, and ensure they’re migrated properly.

5. Benchmark SEO Performance

Before making changes, record where things stand. Traffic, rankings, conversions, crawl stats, and indexing rates—you must track it all.

Comparing this data after migration will tell you if things improved or if issues need fixing. Store this data in a simple spreadsheet with “before” and “after” tabs for easy reference.

6. Back Up Everything

Never migrate without a full backup. If something goes wrong, a backup lets you restore the site instantly. Talk to your developers to create a rollback plan. At this point, you must also collaborate with the IT team to perform a technical assessment of challenges that may impact the website migration process.

7. Save Your Robots.txt and Sitemap

Download the robots.txt file and sitemap to ensure important rules and site structure stay intact. Check what’s blocked from search engines and make necessary adjustments before moving to the new site.

Pre-Migration SEO Checklist: New Site

With the old site prepared, shift focus to the new one. The goal here is to prevent errors before going live.

8. Keep the New Site Private

The staging site isn’t ready for search engines or users. Block it with authentication and “noindex” tags to keep it hidden. This prevents duplicate content issues and accidental indexing.

9. Crawl the New Site for Errors

Before launch, scan the new site for broken links, missing pages, and duplicate content. Any issues found now should be fixed before going live.

Test the site’s speed and mobile performance. A slow or unoptimised site can hurt rankings.

10. Verify Robots.txt and Sitemap

Make sure the robots.txt file includes the right rules. The sitemap should list only live, indexable pages. Remove old or missing URLs.

11. Set Up Analytics and Tracking

Add tracking codes to monitor performance immediately after launch. Make sure analytics tools are correctly set up to avoid losing critical data.

URL Mapping and Redirects

Redirects keep search rankings and traffic intact. A poor redirect setup can lead to ranking drops and broken pages.

12. Map Old URLs to the New Site

List all URLs from the old site and match them to their new versions. If a page isn’t moving, redirect it to the most relevant page instead of letting it return a dead-end 404.

Check for:

• Pages that exist on both sites (no redirect needed)
• Pages missing from the new site (determine if they need redirects)
• Redirect chains and loops (fix them to avoid slowing down search engines)

13. Test Redirects Before Launch

Before going live, test every redirect. Ensure old pages properly forward to the right new pages.

Redirects should always lead to a final, working page, not another redirect or an error page.

Images should be included in the redirect process too. If an image URL changes or gets removed, set up a redirect to keep search traffic intact.

Part 2: The Migration Process: What to Do When You’re in the Thick of Things

When the time comes to launch, make sure everything is in place. You’ll need to define the scope of work by outlining all the tasks that need to be completed as well as resources who will complete them. Make sure to double-check with your team, confirm backups, and follow this checklist to the t:

14. Launch the New Website

As mentioned earlier, you must pick an optimal time that experiences least traffic (think: late at night or on weekends). Turn on the maintenance mode so that visitors know that the site will be back soon.

Remove password protection and blocks preventing search engines from crawling the site.

Pro Tip: Before you go live, create a full backup of your current website. This way, if anything goes wrong, you’ll have a safety net.

15. Make Sure Search Engines Can Crawl and Index the Site

Run a site crawl using tools like Screaming Frog or SEMrush to ensure all key pages have ‘index, follow’ in their robot tags. Update pages with ‘noindex, nofollow’ to ‘index, follow’ if they should appear in search results.

Pro Tip: If a page shows a different setting, review it and confirm whether they should be indexed. If you’re not unsure about how to do this, ask your SEO specialist to verify that important pages are fully accessible to search engines.

16. Set Up 301 Redirects

Once the new site is live, redirect old URLs to their new counterparts using 301 redirects. If you’re moving to a new domain, don’t forget to redirect the homepage as well.

Google suggests keeping these redirects for at least a year. For larger websites, it’s best to leave them in place for even longer to protect rankings and traffic.

Part 3: Post-Live SEO Migration Checklist: Tying Up Loose Ends

Once your new site is live, act fast to check if everything works as expected. You need to confirm redirects, fix errors, and ensure Google properly indexes the new site. Here’s what to focus on:

17. Crawl the Live Site and Fix Important Issues

Run a full crawl using your preferred SEO tool. Look for:

• Missing or duplicate title tags, H1s, and meta descriptions
• Pages missing indexing or canonical tags
• Broken links pointing to 404 pages
• Redirect chains and loops
• Orphaned pages with no internal links
• Duplicate content issues
• Problems in the XML sitemap
• Incorrect URL structures (uppercase letters, spaces, multiple slashes)
• Missing alt text on images

Remember, even if you tested before launch, mistakes can happen. Fixing these issues early keeps your rankings from dropping.

18. Test All 301 Redirects

Your redirects must work correctly. Take the list of old URLs and run them through a crawler like Screaming Frog in list mode. Turn on “always follow redirects” to ensure they lead to the right final page.

• Every old URL should return a 301 status and point to the correct new page
• If a page returns a 200 status, the redirect was not applied
• If a page returns a 404, update the redirect immediately

19. Validate and Submit the New XML Sitemap

Check your sitemap for errors and submit it to Google Search Console. This ensures Google can find, crawl, and index all your pages correctly.

20. Check the Robots.txt File

A misconfigured robots.txt file can block search engines from crawling important pages. Use Google Search Console or an SEO tool to verify that it works as expected.

21. Submit a Domain Name Change (If Needed)

If you changed your domain, tell Google using the Change of Address Tool in Search Console. This helps transfer rankings from the old domain to the new one faster.

22. Update Rank Tracking and Analytics

Update your domain in:

• Google Analytics 4
• Google Search Console
• Google My Business
• Google Tag Manager
• Google Merchant Center
• Third-party tracking tools

This keeps your reports accurate and ensures you track user behaviour correctly.

23. Check Event and Conversion Tracking

If you use Google Tag Manager or other tools to track user actions, update tags and triggers to match the new site structure. Use preview mode in Tag Manager and Debug View in Google Analytics 4 to verify everything works.

24. Add Tracking Notes for Future Reference

Log the migration date in Google Analytics 4 and Search Console. This makes it easier to analyse changes in rankings and traffic over time.

25. Monitor Traffic, Rankings, and Backlinks

Keep a close eye on:

• Keyword rankings for your top pages
• Organic traffic trends
• Conversion rates
• Backlink changes

If traffic drops, check if redirects work properly or if key pages lost content. If backlinks disappear, reach out to site owners and ask them to update links to the new URLs.

Bonus: Questions to Ask During the Website Migration Process

To sum up, here’s a checklist of all the questions you must ask at different stages of the migration process as well as tips to remember:

Pre-Migration:

Questions to ask:

1. What are the main goals for this migration?
2. Have you identified and documented all key pages?
3. Have you conducted a full SEO audit of the current site?
4. Have you crawled the existing site to capture all URLs?
5. Is your robots.txt file up-to-date?
6. Have you prepared a 301 redirect map?
7. Have you backed up all site data, including content and media?
8. Is the sitemap updated and ready?
9. Have you set up a staging or test site?
10. Do you have tracking set up for key performance metrics?

Tips to follow:

• Audit Your Current Site: Before migrating, perform a comprehensive audit of your site’s structure, traffic, and performance. Make a list of key URLs and identify which ones bring in the most traffic.
• Backup Everything: Ensure you have a full backup of your website. A backup can save you from headaches if anything goes wrong during the migration.
• Check Your Hosting: Confirm your hosting provider can handle the demands of the new site structure. This can affect performance and site speed.
• Test the Staging Site: Use a staging site to test the migration. Fix issues here before they affect your live site.
• Create a Clear Migration Plan: Outline a step-by-step plan with deadlines and responsibilities for everyone involved.

During migration: Questions to ask

1. Have you removed password protection and blocks for crawlers?
2. Are you updating robots.txt and meta tags for all pages?
3. Are all 301 redirects correctly implemented?
4. Is the new site fully crawlable by search engines?
5. Have you optimised the site speed during migration?
6. Are you testing on multiple devices and browsers?
7. Have you checked internal links and URLs on the new site?
8. Are you monitoring any downtime or issues during migration?

Tips to follow:

• Implement 301 Redirects: Set up 301 redirects to ensure that your old URLs point to the new ones. This maintains your SEO authority and prevents 404 errors.
• Test Internal Linking: Check internal links to ensure they point to the correct URLs after migration. Broken links impact both user experience and SEO.
• Avoid Major Changes: Stick to structural changes only. Avoid making design or branding changes to prevent confusion during migration.
• Ensure Mobile Compatibility: Double-check that the new website is fully responsive. Google uses mobile-first indexing, so mobile optimisation is critical.
• Monitor Site Speed: Keep an eye on how quickly your pages load. Slow pages can harm SEO and user experience.

Post-migration: Questions to ask

1. Is the site indexable and appearing in search results?
2. Are 301 redirects functioning as expected?
3. Have you checked for broken links or 404 errors?
4. Are you monitoring traffic in Google Analytics and Search Console?
5. Are you monitoring core web vitals and site performance?
6. Are you tracking changes in rankings or traffic?
7. Have you submitted the updated sitemap to Google Search Console?
8. Have you confirmed all media (images, videos, etc.) are optimised?
9. Are you communicating with users about the migration?
10. Have you scheduled regular post-migration SEO checks?

Here are some tips to follow in this regard:

• Track these Key Metrics:

  • Organic Traffic: Monitor changes in organic traffic. A slight dip is normal, but large drops indicate problems.
  • Keyword Rankings: Track keyword rankings across your main pages to see if they’ve dropped or stayed stable post-migration.
  • Bounce Rate: A higher bounce rate can signal that users are having trouble navigating the new site.
  • Crawl Errors: Use Google Search Console to monitor for 404 errors, 301 redirect issues, or other crawl problems.
• Submit an Updated Sitemap: Make sure you submit the updated sitemap to Google Search Console to help search engines find your new pages.
• Review Google Search Console for Errors: Check for crawl errors, indexing issues, or security problems that may affect your site’s performance.
• Check Redirects: Test all 301 redirects post-migration. Ensure there are no redirect chains or loops that could hurt performance.
• Evaluate User Experience: Regularly check the site’s usability. Test for missing images, broken links, or changes that might have gone unnoticed during migration.
• Monitor Metrics Consistently: Track your traffic, rankings, and bounce rate weekly to identify patterns and catch lingering issues quickly.
• Audit Your Site Regularly: Run a site audit after the migration to spot broken links, missing images, and unexpected technical problems.
• Review Core Web Vitals: Google prioritises Core Web Vitals, so keep an eye on loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.

Migrate Domain Without Impacting Your SEO with Crazy Domains

Migrating your website isn’t a simple task. It requires careful planning, attention to detail, and a solid strategy to successfully complete.

If you’re new to SEO migrations or don’t have much experience, handling it on your own can be a risky move. A botched migration can mess with your rankings, traffic, and authority, and it could take months to recover.

To keep things smooth and minimise headaches, it’s smart to get help from those who know the ins and outs.

With the right approach and trusted providers such as Crazy Domains for hosting and domain management, you can ensure your SEO stays strong, your traffic doesn’t dip, and the migration goes off without a hitch!

Visit our site to learn more!