Record where you started
Before changes begin, save a list of every URL, your top landing pages, leads by page, and a site crawl. You'll need these to spot problems after launch.
SEO guide 14 · The migration map
SEO-Safe Website Migrations and Redesigns
A careful migration keeps valuable pages findable and gives search engines a clear instruction for every URL that changes.
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Why this matters
How this part of SEO supports visibility and customer decisions.
A redesign can change URLs, navigation, content, and tracking all at once. Even a site that looks great at launch can lose search traffic if important pages disappear, redirect to the wrong place, or get blocked.
Some fluctuation after launch is normal while Google recrawls. The goal is to avoid preventable losses: list the old pages, keep what still helps customers, redirect each changed URL to its closest match, and test before and after launch.
See the work in context.
Preserve signals through every site change
A redesign can change URLs, navigation, content, and tracking all at once. Even a site that looks great at launch can lose search traffic if important pages disappear, redirect to the wrong place, or get blocked.
- Record where you started
- Redirect each page to its closest match
- Change one big thing at a time
Recommended practices
What good work looks like.
Redirect each page to its closest match
Hypothetical redirect map row: /services/water-heaters.html → /water-heater-repair/. Keep URLs unchanged where possible. When nothing relevant replaces a page, let it return a 404 instead of redirecting to the homepage.
Change one big thing at a time
Avoid changing domain, platform, URLs, copy, and design all at once unless necessary. Smaller steps make problems easier to trace.
Test before and after launch
Crawl the test site, then the live site, for errors, noindex tags, canonical tags, broken links, missing content, sitemaps, and tracking. Make sure the test site's search block isn't copied to the live site.
Watch groups of pages after launch
Track indexing, impressions, clicks, and leads for service pages, location pages, and blog posts separately. Keep redirects and the old domain for at least a year.
What to do next
A practical checklist.
- 01
Save a list of current URLs, top pages, backlinks, and lead sources before work starts.
- 02
Approve a redirect map with one row for every changed page that matters.
- 03
Crawl and click through the test site before launch.
- 04
On launch day, check redirects, robots rules, sitemaps, forms, tracking, and key pages.
- 05
Check Search Console and leads daily for two weeks, then weekly until things settle.
Avoid these shortcuts
Mistakes that cost visibility or trust.
- Redirecting every retired URL to the homepage
- Changing URLs, domain, platform, and content with no starting record
- Leaving the test site's noindex rules on the live site
- Letting the old domain or redirects lapse soon after launch
Search visibility, rankings, enhanced results, calls, leads, and revenue depend on demand, competition, the website's starting point, and factors outside any agency's control. Results are not guaranteed.
Questions business owners ask
Direct answers for this part of SEO.
01Will a migration always reduce organic traffic?+
Not necessarily. Some short-term movement is common while Google processes the changes. Careful redirects, testing, and monitoring prevent most avoidable losses.
02How long should redirects remain?+
Google recommends keeping redirects for at least a year. Longer is often better for old links and bookmarks. Keep renewing the old domain as well.
03Should all old pages be recreated?+
Keep pages that are still accurate and useful. Merge true duplicates carefully, redirect to a close match when one exists, and let pages with no replacement return a 404.
Primary guidance
Read the current source material.
Apply the right practice to the right problem