Website migration without losing SEO: a step-by-step plan

What is a website migration?

You're talking about a migration when something fundamental changes about your website. That can happen in different ways:

• New domain: you move from oldname.nl to newname.nl, or from .nl to .com.
• New CMS or new technology: for example from WordPress to a custom website.
• New structure: pages get different addresses, are merged or disappear.
• Switching to https or a different subdomain.
• New hosting: usually the least risky, as long as addresses and content stay the same.

Often several things happen at once, for example when you redesign your website. The more that changes at once, the bigger the risk and the more important a good plan becomes.

Why do you lose SEO in a migration?

Google has got to know your old pages. They have a place in the search results and other websites link to them. If an address changes without a redirect, Google sees an error (404) and a new, unknown page. The value you've built up doesn't automatically carry over.

Other common causes are copy that was cut short for the design, missing page titles and descriptions, a test environment accidentally left on 'noindex' and a new site that's slower than the old one.

Step 1: map your current website

Start well before launch with a complete list of what exists now. Record at least this:

• Every address (URL) on your current website, including old blogs and PDFs.
• Which pages get the most traffic from Google, from Google Search Console or Google Analytics.
• Which keywords you currently rank well for.
• Which pages get links from other websites.
• Page titles, meta descriptions and headings of your most important pages.
• Your current speed and Core Web Vitals, so you can compare later.

Keep this as your baseline. Without this overview, you won't know what has changed after the migration.

Useful tools here are Google Search Console, your analytics and a crawler. A crawler is a program that works through your website the way Google does and lists every address. There are free versions that are enough for small websites. Don't forget addresses that aren't in your menu, such as old campaign pages or PDFs you once shared in a newsletter.

Step 2: build a redirect plan

The redirect plan is the heart of a website migration without losing SEO. It's a simple table with two columns: old address and new address. For each old page you choose the best matching new page. Then you set up a 301 redirect. That's a permanent redirect that automatically sends visitors and Google to the new address.

• Redirect one to one where you can: the old service page to the new service page.
• If you merge pages, redirect all the old pages to the new merged page.
• Don't redirect everything to the homepage. Google often treats that as a page that no longer exists.
• Avoid chains such as A to B to C. Redirect straight to the final address.
• If a page really no longer exists and there's no good alternative, a proper 404 page is more honest than an odd redirect.

Step 3: carry over your content and SEO settings

A new design is often a reason to cut copy. Be careful with that on pages that rank well now. Their content is exactly why Google shows them. Feel free to improve them, but don't remove the core.

Also carry over page titles, meta descriptions, image alt text and structured data. Check that internal links point to the new addresses and don't go through a redirect.

A migration is also a good moment to tidy up. Pages without traffic, without links and without value for your customer can be merged or dropped. Do it deliberately, though, and put those choices in your redirect plan too. That way you know exactly why a page disappeared.

Step 4: test before you go live

Build and test the new website in a protected test environment. Set it to 'noindex' so Google doesn't find it. Check there:

• Whether all the redirects in your plan work, with a crawler or by spot-checking by hand.
• Whether forms, buttons and integrations work.
• Whether the speed is at least as good as the old site's.
• Whether the site works well on mobile.

Step 5: launch day and the weeks after your website migration

Pick a quiet moment for the launch, preferably not just before a busy period. On the day itself, do these checks:

• Remove the 'noindex' setting. This gets forgotten surprisingly often.
• Check robots.txt and have a new XML sitemap ready.
• Submit the sitemap in Google Search Console. With a new domain, also use the change of address tool there.
• Test the most important old addresses by hand once more.
• Check that Google Analytics and conversion tracking work.

Then follow your figures in Search Console for a few weeks: 404 errors, indexed pages and traffic. A small fluctuation in the first weeks is common. If your traffic keeps falling, look for missing redirects or pages that have lost content. Read more about that first period in SEO at launch.

Website migration with Violexa

At Violexa we include a migration as part of a new website. We make an overview of your current pages, set up the redirects and check after launch that Google picks everything up properly. A custom website through websites and apps starts from €1,799 excl. VAT (€2,177 incl. VAT), including basic SEO and Google Analytics. For larger sites with many pages you get a fixed price upfront, in writing.

Facing a migration and want to know where the risks are? Book a free quickscan. In 30 minutes we look at your situation together. Afterwards you get short written advice with a price indication, with no obligation.

Frequently asked questions