Migrating Without Losing SEO Rankings
Website migration is risky for SEO. Without proper planning, you can lose months of ranking progress.
Pre-Migration Checklist
- Crawl your current site to document all URLs
- Export Google Search Console data (rankings, clicks)
- Create URL mapping (old URL to new URL)
- Set up 301 redirects for every URL change
- Backup everything before migration
During Migration
- Implement all 301 redirects from old to new URLs
- Update internal links to point to new URLs
- Keep meta titles and descriptions that rank well
- Maintain the same URL structure where possible
- Update XML sitemap with new URLs
Post-Migration Monitoring
- Submit new sitemap to Google Search Console
- Check for 404 errors and fix them immediately
- Monitor organic traffic for 30-60 days
- Test all redirects using a crawling tool
- Watch for ranking drops and address quickly
Common Migration Mistakes
- Not setting up 301 redirects (biggest mistake)
- Changing URL structure unnecessarily
- Removing pages that have backlinks
- Not updating the sitemap
- Forgetting about image URLs
Need help with a safe website migration? I handle the entire process.