Website Migration 101: Preserving SEO, Speed, and User Experience

Website migration refers to making significant changes to a website’s setup, like moving it to a new platform or domain, in a way that can affect how users and search engines experience the site. 

In simple terms, it is the process of transferring a website from one environment or system to another (such as switching hosting or CMS platforms) while trying to minimize any disruption to site functionality, SEO rankings, and user experience​. 

Website migrations are done for many reasons: you might rebrand and need a new domain, switch to a better content management system (CMS) for more features, do a full redesign for improved user experience, or adopt new technology for better performance and security​. 

No matter the reason, a successful migration should make your site better for users and preserve (or preferably improve) your search engine optimization (SEO) and site speed.

What is a Website Migration (and Why Do It)?

A website migration is any substantial change to your website’s technology or structure that can affect its SEO and performance. This broad term can cover several types of changes​:

• Changing your CMS or platform: e.g. moving from WordPress to Webflow or Shopify. This often promises better ease of use, features, or speed.
• Changing your domain name: e.g. rebranding from oldname.com to newname.com. This is common during company rebrands or when getting a more suitable domain.
• Redesigning your site’s look or structure: a design/UX overhaul or navigation change to improve user experience or modernize the site.
• Content restructuring – adding, removing, or consolidating a lot of content (like merging pages, introducing new sections or languages).
• Infrastructure changes: for example, moving to a new host server or changing URL structures (such as switching from HTTP to HTTPS for security).

Many different types of site migration can occur – from domain moves to platform changes to content, structural, or design overhauls (each with their own implications).

Why migrate? Typically, a migration is done to support new business goals or improvements. For instance, a business might migrate to a new e-commerce platform to gain better mobile features and site speed or change the website’s design to improve branding and user engagement​. 

Other common reasons include staying up-to-date with technology (e.g., upgrading an outdated CMS), improving security, or merging websites after an acquisition. Ideally, the outcome of a migration is a faster, more user-friendly site that continues to rank well (or even better) on search engines.

Risks of Website Migration (SEO and More)

Website migrations are delicate projects with some significant risks if not handled carefully. The biggest concern is usually SEO and traffic loss. A poorly executed migration can cause your search rankings to plummet. For example, if you “mess up your redirects” (don’t properly point old URLs to new ones), your rankings and organic traffic can suddenly drop.

Pages that users or other sites used to visit might turn into broken links, which frustrate visitors and send negative signals to Google. 

Other risks include increased bounce rates if users encounter errors or a slower site, loss of conversions or sales during any downtime, and a general hit to your brand’s credibility if the new site has glitches. Business metrics can suffer across the board when a migration goes wrong, with conversion rates dropping, advertising costs rising to compensate for lost organic traffic, and overall revenue falling​.

The good news is that with proper planning, these negative effects can be minimized or avoided. In fact, when done right, a migration can transfer all your old SEO strength to the new site with no loss of visibility and even set the stage for growth​.

It's important to recognize the risks so you can address them. The primary goal during migration is to retain your SEO rankings and traffic. The next sections will outline a step-by-step process and best practices to help you migrate your website safely.

Step-by-Step Website Migration Process

Migrating a website involves several phases: preparation, the move itself, and follow-up. Below is a step-by-step guide covering what to do before, during, and after a migration to preserve SEO, site speed, and UX.

1. Pre-Migration Planning 

Start with solid planning. Define the scope of the migration (what’s changing: platform, domain, design, content?) and set clear goals – for example, “We want a faster site and no loss of Google rankings.” Involve all relevant team members or stakeholders early so everyone knows the plan​. 

Create a timeline that includes a buffer for testing and fixing issues. It’s wise to schedule the final switch during a low-traffic period (such as a late night or weekend) to minimize user impact​. Before anything else, back up your current website (all files, database, content, etc.) so you have a recovery option if needed.

If possible, set up a staging site (a private test site) for the new version of your website and keep it blocked from search engines (for example, via a robots.txt disallow or password protection) until launch. This way, you can build and test the new site without Google indexing duplicate content on the staging site.

2. Content and URL Inventory

Take stock of your current site’s content and URLs. Make a list (spreadsheet) of all existing pages on your site. You can use your XML sitemap, Google Search Console, analytics, or crawling tools like Screaming Frog to get a comprehensive URL list​. 

This inventory is important for making sure nothing important slips through the cracks. Note which pages are your high performers (in terms of SEO traffic or conversions) and which ones have a lot of backlinks pointing to them. During migration, you’ll want to preserve these valuable pages and their content. Also, decide if there’s anything you won’t carry over (for example, outdated pages that you prefer to remove). Plan what to do with such pages – if there’s no equivalent on the new site, you might let them return a “410 Gone” status rather than redirecting to something irrelevant​. 

Essentially, create a URL mapping document: for each old URL, note the new URL it will correspond to (or whether it’s being removed). This will be your checklist for setting up redirects.

3. Implement 301 Redirects

Now, set up permanent redirects (301) from every old URL to its new URL. 301 redirects are basically the most important part of a successful and SEO-friendly website migration. They automatically send visitors (and Google) from an old page to the new page’s address. 

A 301 redirect sends both users and search engines from an old page to the new page. This tells Google the page has moved permanently, so the new page can inherit the old page’s rankings and “SEO authority.”

 Without proper 301s, users will hit broken links, and Google will treat the old pages as missing, causing your rankings to drop. A 301 redirect is especially important if you change CMS or domain name, as it ensures anyone trying to reach your old site is sent to the new one​. 

Create a thorough redirect map (using the URL inventory from step 2) and implement those redirects in your new CMS or server configuration before launch if possible. After launching, test these redirects: try visiting old URLs and verify they forward to the correct new pages. Remember, redirects not only help users but also tell search engines that the content’s location has permanently changed, allowing them to pass any existing SEO value to the new URL​. 

Tip: Avoid “redirect chains” – each old URL should ideally directly redirect to its new version, not via multiple hops.

4. Technical SEO Checks

Ensure the new site is technically sound for SEO. First, carry over or reapply all important on-page SEO elements from your old site: page titles, meta descriptions, header tags (H1s), and structured data (if any) should be intact or improved, not inadvertently left blank. 

Double-check your canonical tags on the new site. They should point to the new pages themselves (sometimes, during staging, they might have pointed to old URLs or duplicates; update them to avoid confusion to search engines). 

Update your robots.txt file. On launch, remove any disallow lines that were blocking search engines on the staging site, and make sure you’re not accidentally preventing important sections from being crawled.

 Generate a new XML sitemap listing all the URLs on the new site. Other checks: If you have Analytics or tracking codes, install them on the new site; if you use hreflang for multilingual sites or other SEO-related tags, update those as needed. 

Also, verify internal links on the new site: all navigation menus, footer links, and in-text links should point to the new URLs (no self-referencing old links, which can cause unexpected hops). Essentially, you want the new site to be fully crawlable and indexable, with no meta tags or settings hiding it from search engines. This step is like an SEO audit of the new site before it goes live.

5. Launch and Testing

When everything is ready and double-checked, it’s time to launch the new site. If you built it on a new host, this might involve pointing your domain to the new site’s server (updating DNS settings). If you’re also changing the domain name, this is when the old domain’s DNS should be configured to redirect to the new domain as well. 

Once live, thoroughly test the site in production. Click around as a user would: is every page loading correctly? Are images showing up? Test important features like contact forms, login areas, or checkout flows (for e-commerce) to ensure they work. Because things can behave differently in the live environment, catching any broken elements early is very important. 

Use tools like Google Search Console’s URL Inspection or third-party crawlers to scan for broken links or missing resources. If you see any 404 Not Found errors on the new site for URLs that should exist, fix them right away (either adjust the link or add a redirect if you missed one). 

Also, make sure any temporary measures from pre-launch are addressed. For example, you should remove any “noindex” tags or passwords that were used to block the staging site so that the new site can be indexed. It’s normal to feel nervous at launch, but if you planned well, this step is mostly about verification. Keep your old site environment backed up for a short while just in case you need to reference something or roll back in an extreme case.

6. Post-Launch Monitoring and Improvements

The migration doesn’t end at launch. Even when everything is done with care, there is a chance that something will be missing. Continuously monitor your site’s performance. Check Google Search Console for any crawl errors, index coverage issues, or drop in indexed pages. If you changed your domain, use Search Console’s Change of Address tool to notify Google of the domain move (you should have added the new domain property in Search Console)​. 

Keep an eye on your rankings and organic traffic in the days and weeks after migration. It’s common to see some fluctuation or a small dip initially as search engines re-process your site, but a well-handled migration should not result in a drastic or long-term traffic loss. 

If you did see a big drop, it calls for a detailed investigation. You might find a missing redirect or something blocking crawlers. Track your site speed and user engagement metrics as well since improvements there can help SEO in the long run​. 

It’s wise to annotate the migration date in your analytics tool (e.g., add a note in Google Analytics) so that you can easily see later how the migration impacted traffic​. 

Over the next several weeks, continue optimizing: fix any minor issues that come up, and consider tweaking content or on-page SEO now that the major move is done. With diligent monitoring, you can catch and address problems early and even spot opportunities to improve the new site further.

SEO Best Practices for a Painless Migration

To preserve (and hopefully boost) your SEO through the transition, keep these best practices in mind:

• Plan thoroughly and don’t rush. Rushing increases the likelihood of mistakes. Spend a good chunk of time in planning and auditing before you flip the switch. Experts often suggest that 70% of the effort in a migration should be planning/prep​
• Keep URLs consistent when possible. If you can avoid changing a URL, that’s the best way to preserve its SEO. Of course, if you are changing domain or restructuring, then make sure to map every old URL to the closest new URL.
• Redirect every old page to its new page. A comprehensive 301 redirect plan is non-negotiable for SEO. Map old URLs to new ones and implement 301 redirects for all changed URLs​. This retains your “link juice” (ranking power) and guides users to the right place.
• Preserve content and metadata. Don’t throw away your good content. Carry over your valuable page content, titles, and meta descriptions. If you must prune some content, consider consolidating it or updating it rather than just dropping it without replacement.
• Don’t change everything at once if avoidable. Sometimes you can’t help it, but know that changing domain + design + content all at the same time makes it harder to pinpoint issues. If feasible, you could stagger changes or at least test in smaller sections. (For instance, some companies migrate a section of the site first to see the effects and then proceed site-wide.)
• Update all references to the old site. After launch, update your internal links and navigation to use the new URLs (so you’re not relying on redirects internally). Also, update external links under your control: for example, your social media profile links, email templates, or any online listings should be updated to the new site/domain​. This helps users reach you and reinforces to search engines that the new URLs are the primary ones.
• Monitor SEO metrics. Use Google Search Console and analytics daily after migration to catch issues. If Google reports crawl errors or drops in indexing, respond quickly. Monitoring will also let you see positive trends. For instance, if your site speed improves, you might see better user engagement, which can boost SEO over time.

Be patient but proactive. It may take some days or weeks for rankings to fully stabilize. During that time, continue improving your site (fix bugs, optimize content, build quality backlinks to the new site if you can). With a sound migration, you may even experience an SEO boost in the long run as your new, faster and better site gets re-evaluated by search engines.

Tips for Improving Site Speed and UX During Migration

One advantage of migration (especially a redesign or CMS change) is the chance to make your site faster and more user-friendly. Site speed and good UX are not only great for visitors but are also factors in Google’s rankings. Here are some beginner-friendly tips to improve page speed and user experience as you migrate:

• Optimize images: Large, uncompressed images can slow down pages. Ensure all images on the new site are optimized – compress them to reduce file size (without noticeable quality loss) and use modern formats like WebP where possible. Also, specify proper dimensions and consider “lazy loading” images below the fold so they don’t all load at once.
• Reduce code bloat: If you’re moving to a cleaner CMS, take advantage of that by avoiding unnecessary plugins or scripts that add weight. Minify and combine CSS and JavaScript files to reduce the number of requests. Remove any outdated or redundant code. A leaner codebase means faster load times.
• Use caching and CDNs: Many CMS platforms (and hosts) offer caching mechanisms, and you should make sure these are enabled so that pages can be served quickly from cache to users. Similarly, use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) if available; it stores copies of your site’s files on servers around the world, speeding up delivery to users based on their location.
• Ensure responsive, mobile-friendly design: A redesign should follow responsive design principles so your site looks and works great on all screen sizes. Test the new site on mobile devices and tablets. Google uses mobile-first indexing, so mobile UX and speed are critical. Responsive, fast sites keep users engaged and improve SEO.
• Test site speed and iterate: After launch, run your site through speed testing tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. These tools will highlight what parts of your pages are slow and give suggestions (for example, enabling text compression or improving server response time). Use these insights to further tweak performance. Even small improvements (like eliminating a heavy third-party script) can shave seconds off load time, which significantly boosts the user experience.

Remember, a faster site not only pleases your visitors but also can lead to better search rankings – Google prioritizes sites that deliver information quickly and smoothly​. So, investing time in speed and UX optimizations during your migration is well worth it.

Helpful Tools for a Smooth Migration

You don’t have to do a migration all by memory, and there are several tools that can assist you in executing and verifying the process:

Google Search Console (GSC): 

This is an essential (free) tool from Google for website owners. Before migrating, use GSC to export a list of your site’s indexed URLs (to aid your inventory). After migrating, use it to monitor indexing status and errors on the new site. If you changed domains, add the new domain property to GSC and use the “Change of Address” feature to tell Google about the move​. 

Also, submit your new XML sitemap in GSC to encourage Google to crawl the new site quickly. GSC will be your early warning system if any page is not getting indexed or if there are 404 errors, so check it frequently post-launch.

Google Analytics (GA): 

GA (or any analytics platform you use) will help track traffic and user behavior before and after the migration. It’s a good idea to annotate the date of migration in GA​ so that when you look at traffic graphs, you can clearly see the “before and after” and gauge the impact. Watch key metrics like organic sessions, bounce rate, and conversions. 

If something drops significantly after migration, you may need to investigate. Conversely, hopefully, you’ll see improvements in metrics like page load time or pages per session if the new site is more engaging.

Website Crawler Tools (e.g, Screaming Frog): 

Screaming Frog SEO is a popular desktop program that crawls your website like a search engine would. Use it before migration to get a full list of URLs and to identify any existing SEO issues on the old site (like broken links, which you can then avoid carrying over). After migration, crawl your new site with it to verify that all pages are accessible, all redirects are working, and there are no broken links or missing resources. This tool can also generate reports of any missing title tags, meta descriptions, or canonical tags on the new site so you can fix them.

Site Speed Testers: 

As mentioned, tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or Pingdom Tools can measure your site’s load performance. Use them to test both your old site (to have a baseline) and your new site. They will point out specific things to improve for faster loading. 

For example, PageSpeed Insights might suggest enabling browser caching or eliminating render-blocking scripts – these suggestions can guide you in fine-tuning the new site’s speed.

CMS-Specific Migration Tools: 

Depending on what platforms you’re moving between, there may be utilities to help. For instance, if migrating from WordPress, there are plugins to export content in bulk. If moving to Shopify or another platform, they often have guides or apps to import products, blog posts, etc. Leverage these to save time, but always double-check the imported content for completeness.

Some More Tools to Consider: 

If you have a large or complex site, professional SEO tools (Moz, SEMrush, Ahrefs, etc.) can track keyword rankings before and after, which can be useful to spot any drops. They can also help discover if any backlinks are now pointing to broken pages after the move (so you can add redirects for those if missed). But for a beginner-friendly approach, the essentials are GSC, GA, and a crawler tool. Together, these form your safety net to catch most issues.

Lastly, don’t hesitate to consult documentation or seek help. Google’s Search Central documentation has a section on site moves with best practices​, and many SEO communities share checklists and experiences. Using the right tools and knowledge, even someone with limited technical experience can carry out a successful website migration.

Professional Website Migration

Website migration is a rather complex process for improving your site's performance, user experience, and SEO rankings. It involves multiple steps, tools, and considerations, and while it's true that it can be accessible even to those with limited technical knowledge, many still choose to leave it to the professionals. Migrations carry risks like traffic loss or SEO drops, but these can be minimized with careful planning and execution.

At Get Stuff Digital, we specialize in professional SEO migrations, and we carefully manage every single detail of the process. Our approach ensures your site maintains or boosts SEO performance, delivers exceptional speed, and provides an outstanding user experience.

If you want worry-free website migration, contact us today, and let our team do all the work.

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