What is SEO Migration and why is it crucial for traffic retention?
An SEO migration strategy is essential because search engines treat every site change as a new landscape. If redirects are missing, content is altered, or the site structure changes without notification, algorithms can struggle to reassess your site, resulting in traffic dips. Our goal is to ensure search engines seamlessly transfer the equity and authority from your old site to the new one.
Mitigating the Risk of Platform ChangesMoving CMS platforms (e.g., from Magento to Shopify, or an old custom build to a modern stack) involves massive technical shifts. We work with you to audit the new platform’s SEO capabilities, ensuring all critical elements – from canonicals and site speed to XML Sitemaps – are correctly configured before the launch to prevent a post-migration ranking collapse.
Securing Domain and URL EquityWhen changing domains or significantly restructuring URL paths, preserving authority is paramount. We focus on defining a precise redirect map for every high-value URL. This ensures that the search engine ranking equity (link juice) is safely and efficiently passed from the old location to the new, safeguarding SEO value.
Our Approach to SEO Migration
Our approach is built on reducing risk through clarity, prioritisation, and intense technical verification. We provide the technical assurance you need for a major website launch.
Pre-Migration Auditing & Planning
Our process starts with a thorough audit of your existing website structure and traffic profile. We then work with you to develop a highly detailed migration plan and URL redirect map that prioritises the most valuable, high-traffic pages. Our goal is to translate the technical complexity into clear, sequenced tasks for your development team.
Redirect Map Generation & Verification
We generate and quality-check the extensive 301 redirect map required for the migration. We work closely with developers to implement redirects efficiently, followed by rigorous pre, and post, launch testing to verify that every critical URL resolves correctly and passes authority as intended.
Technical Go-Live Oversight
During the critical launch window, we provide technical oversight, working directly with your team to manage the search engine aspect of the transition. This includes coordinating the timing of DNS changes, submitting the new XML Sitemap, and handling configuration within Google Search Console.
Post-Migration Monitoring & Recovery
Immediately after launch, our focus shifts to rapid monitoring. We deploy tools to watch for common errors, tracking ranking volatility, crawl errors, and traffic patterns. Our goal is to quickly identify and action any unexpected technical issues or indexing problems, ensuring the recovery window is as short as possible.
Our SEO Migration services
We work with you to deliver the clarity and confidence required for successful large-scale site changes. Our services focus on risk mitigation and seamless technical execution:
Migration Risk Assessment & Planning
A clear assessment of potential traffic loss based on the scope of the change, resulting in a prioritised migration project plan.
Comprehensive Redirect Mapping
Creation and quality assurance of the definitive redirect list for all high-value pages, safeguarding link equity.
Pre-Launch Technical Audit
A final, critical audit of the staging environment to ensure all essential SEO elements are correctly configured before going live.
Post-Launch Monitoring & Indexing Analysis
Dedicated monitoring during the crucial recovery period to identify and action any indexing errors or 404s immediately.
Search Console Configuration & Oversight
Support for updating and submitting new site information, Sitemaps, and change of address notifications within Google Search Console.
SEO Migration in the AI Search Era
In the age of AI Search and LLMs, stability and consistency are non-negotiable. Algorithms expect clean, accessible data. A flawed migration results in unstable data, making it harder for AI models to correctly associate historical authority with your new URLs. Our approach ensures technical hygiene is maintained throughout the process, giving AI systems confidence that the content they cite is correct.
Ready to maximise your organic potential?
Contact us today for a complimentary SEO Evaluation
SEO Migration is the process of protecting your existing organic value during a period of major technical change. By partnering with us, our goal is to translate the complexity of the migration into a clear, actionable plan that ensures you retain your existing SEO value, and quickly build upon your technical foundation for future organic growth.
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We focus on understanding your audience: what drives them to click, what they search for, and how they convert.
Our approach means we operate as a seamless extension of your team – friendly, down-to-earth, and plain-speaking.