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Website migration SEO services planned before launch, not after the drop.

Website migration SEO for companies redesigning, changing platforms, moving domains or merging sites. We inventory every URL that earns traffic or links, map each one to its new home, test every redirect before and after launch, and watch rankings and 404s until the new site settles.

Get a free migration SEO audit See the playbook
  • Redesigns
  • Replatforming
  • Domain moves
  • Site mergers
Example screen with placeholder URLs. On your project, every old URL that earns traffic or links is on this list before launch.
A laptop showing a 404 error page in a dark room
Two weeks after launchLaunch day went fine. Then the old URLs that brought in the leads started returning 404.

Why traffic drops after a new site launches.

Four ways a migration loses search traffic. Each one can be prevented if the work starts before launch.

  1. 01

    Old URLs that lead nowhere

    Every old URL that returns a 404 after launch eventually drops out of the index, and the links pointing at it stop passing value. The pages that get missed are usually the ones nobody remembers: old blog posts, PDFs, product variants and campaign pages that still earn links.

  2. 02

    Redirects that chain, loop or point home

    Pointing every old page at the homepage looks tidy, but Google can treat those redirects as soft 404s. Chains of several hops and temporary 302s slow the transfer of rankings to the new URLs, and redirect loops break the page outright.

  3. 03

    Content that quietly went missing

    Redesigns often cut copy, merge pages or drop the title tags, headings, internal links and structured data the old site had. The URL still works, but the page no longer answers the search it used to rank for, and the ranking slips.

  4. 04

    Nobody watching after launch

    The expensive launch mistakes are small ones: a staging noindex tag left in place, a robots.txt that blocks the whole site, a sitemap full of old URLs, a form that stopped sending leads. Without daily checks, they surface weeks later as a drop in calls and sales.

We check all four in the free audit

The deliverable

What a migration plan covers before launch day

A redirect spreadsheet is one part of a migration plan, not the whole of it. These are the six parts every plan we write includes.

6 components, every page

1
2
3
4
5
6
1

Full URL inventory with traffic

Every URL from crawls, sitemaps, analytics and backlink tools, with its clicks, links and conversions listed beside it.

2

One-to-one redirect map

Each old URL points to its closest new page with a single 301. No chains, and no blanket redirects to the homepage.

3

Status checks on every redirect

Every row is tested on staging and again at launch: one hop, a 301 status, a 200 at the destination.

4

Content and metadata parity

Titles, headings, copy, canonicals, internal links and structured data compared page by page against the old site.

5

Launch-day checklist

Noindex tags removed, robots.txt opened, sitemaps submitted, analytics and forms tested, in a set order with named owners.

6

Post-launch 404 and ranking watch

Daily checks for new 404s and crawl errors, plus rankings on your priority pages compared with the pre-launch baseline.

The fix

Migration SEO, planned from the first sprint, not the last week.

Every retainer is built around the verticals it serves. Below is the work — and we'll tell you on the audit call which of these actually move the needle for your situation.

8
Workstreams
90d
First ranking move
Talk to a strategist
  • A full URL inventory from crawls, XML sitemaps, analytics, Search Console and backlink data, not just the CMS export
  • Every URL tagged with its traffic, links and conversions, so the pages that matter most get checked first
  • A one-to-one 301 redirect map from each old URL to its closest new equivalent, never a blanket redirect to the homepage
  • Content and metadata parity checks: titles, headings, body copy, internal links, canonicals, hreflang and structured data
  • Redirects built into the new platform, including on Drupal with Migrate Redirect Map, the contributed module we published on drupal.org
  • A staging review before launch: full crawl, redirect test run, noindex and robots.txt checks, page speed
  • A launch-day checklist run with your developers: redirects live, sitemaps submitted, analytics and forms tested
  • Post-launch monitoring of 404s, redirects, indexing and rankings, with a short fix list each week until the site settles

How we deliver

A phased rollout — not a 100-page strategy doc.

You see live work shipped every month, with quarterly executive reviews to recalibrate priorities.

1

Plan

Month 1

  • Full URL inventory with traffic and links
  • One-to-one 301 redirect map
  • Content and metadata parity audit
  • Staging crawl and redirect test run
2

Launch

Months 2–3

  • Launch-day checklist with your developers
  • Every redirect verified in bulk
  • XML sitemaps and robots.txt checked
  • Change of address filed for domain moves
3

Monitor

Month 4+

  • Daily 404 and redirect checks
  • Indexing and ranking watch on priority pages
  • Weekly fix list for your developers
  • Post-migration report against the baseline

Why us, for this vertical

What we bring that the generic agency down the street doesn't.

Many migration plans treat SEO as a redirect spreadsheet handed over in the last week. These are the four things we do differently.

We published the redirect module

Migrate Redirect Map, our contributed module on drupal.org, builds 301 redirects from migrated content's old paths. On Drupal projects, redirects come from the migration data itself rather than a spreadsheet retyped by hand.

Timelines grounded in real projects

We studied start-to-launch timelines from 29 real Drupal migration projects and published the findings. We plan with that evidence in mind, and we build in time for SEO checks before launch, not after.

SEO and developers on one team

We build on Drupal, WordPress and Shopify ourselves, so redirects, canonicals and schema are implemented and tested by the team that planned them. Acuative.com, which we built on Drupal 11, went live in October 2026.

We stay through the settling period

Rankings and traffic often wobble for weeks after a migration while Google recrawls. We keep checking 404s, indexing and priority rankings through that period and hand your developers a short, ranked fix list each week.

FAQ

Got questions?

The same questions every prospect asks. Don't see yours? Tell us — answers within one business day.

Ask us anything

Our migration already launched and traffic dropped. Can you help?

Yes. Recovery starts with the same inventory: we compare the old URL list against what the new site returns, fix missing and chained redirects, restore content that was cut, and use Search Console to find the pages that lost clicks. Our guide, Website Migration SEO: How to Rescue One That Has Already Gone Wrong, covers the eight causes in the order we check them.

What is website migration SEO?

Website migration SEO is the work of protecting search traffic when a site changes in ways that affect how Google finds and ranks it: a redesign, a new platform, a new domain, a new URL structure or a merger of two sites. It covers the URL inventory, the redirect map, content parity, launch checks and monitoring after the new site goes live.

Will we lose traffic when we migrate?

A short dip while Google recrawls and processes the redirects is common, even on well-run migrations. Large, lasting losses usually come from avoidable gaps: unmapped URLs, redirects to the homepage, content cut in the redesign, or a noindex tag left on from staging. Nobody can honestly guarantee zero change, but a complete plan makes a lasting drop much less likely.

How much does website migration SEO cost?

The main drivers are the number of URLs, how many platforms, domains or languages are involved, how much the URL structure and content are changing, and how long you want monitoring after launch. A small brochure site and a large store with years of product URLs are very different jobs. The free audit ends with a fixed quote, so you know the cost before work starts.

How long does migration SEO take, and when should it start?

Start while the new URL structure and templates are still being designed, when decisions about which pages to merge or retire are cheap to change. The inventory and redirect map then run alongside the build, and monitoring continues for several weeks after launch. For a reference point on overall schedules, we published a study of start-to-launch timelines from 29 real Drupal migration projects.

What does a migration SEO project include?

Before launch: a full URL inventory with traffic and links, a one-to-one 301 redirect map, content and metadata parity checks, and a staging review. On launch day: a checklist run with your developers, with every redirect tested. After launch: daily 404 and indexing checks, a ranking watch on priority pages, a weekly fix list and a closing report against the pre-launch baseline.

What should I ask a migration SEO consultant before hiring one?

Ask where their URL inventory comes from, because a CMS export misses old PDFs, retired campaign pages and URLs from earlier versions of the site that still have backlinks. Ask whether every redirect is tested on staging and at launch, how they handle pages with no obvious new home, and how long they monitor afterward. A sample redirect map tells you a lot.

Can you work with our own developers or agency?

Yes. If another team is building the new site, we handle the SEO side: the URL inventory, a redirect map in the format your platform needs, parity checks on staging and the launch checklist. If you need the build too, our team develops on Drupal, WordPress and Shopify. Either way, the inventory, redirect map and reports are yours to keep.

Do you handle domain changes and site mergers?

Yes. A domain move adds steps a redesign does not: page-level redirects from the old domain, a change of address in Search Console, updated profiles and links where you can reach the linking site, and keeping the old domain registered and redirecting for at least a year, as Google recommends. A merger adds a decision for every overlapping page: which one survives and where the other redirects.

Free SEO audit

Planning a redesign, replatform or domain move?

Get a free 30-minute audit. We'll walk through your current rankings, the keywords you're missing, and what we'd do in the first 90 days. No deck, no sales pitch.

Get a free migration SEO audit Book a 30-min call

Or email [email protected]

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