How To Do Website Migration Without Losing Traffic & SEO

I'm Olga Zarr, an SEO consultant. Let me cut to the chase: website migrations can be tricky, and if not done correctly, you risk losing traffic. I've seen plenty of migrations, some good, some bad. I'm here to share practical advice from my experience.

In this article, I’ll give you 11 straightforward tips and best practices for website migration and share 5 . These are aimed at ensuring your site retains its traffic. If you're managing a small to medium-sized website, this guide is ideal.

However, for very large sites with millions of URLs, remember that automation may be necessary for handling redirects efficiently. Let's get straight into it.

How to migrate without losing traffic (TL;DR)

The most frequent issue I see in traffic loss post-migration is the failure to properly set up redirects. Often, sites don’t use redirects at all, set them up incorrectly, or overlook redirecting a crucial blog post driving most of their traffic.

After a botched migration, you might see a significant drop in Google Search Console clicks. To avoid this, ensure you implement 301 redirects from old URLs to new ones correctly.

While redirects are vital, there's more to a successful migration. I recommend reading the full article for comprehensive insights.

What is website migration? A lot of things!

Now, what exactly is website migration?

It’s the process of moving a website from one environment to another. This can include changing domains, designs, structures, or platforms. It's a complex process that needs careful planning to avoid losing traffic and search engine rankings.

Different types of website migrations exist:

1. Domain Migration: Changing the website’s domain name, like moving from “seosly.com” to “seosly.cloud” or completely rebranding.
2. Design Migration: Updating the visual elements of a site without changing the content or URL structure. This needs careful handling.
3. Platform Migration: Moving a site from one CMS or e-commerce platform to another, for example, from WordPress to Shopify.
4. URL Structure Migration: Altering the site’s URL structure, which could involve directory reorganization, renaming URLs, or switching from HTTP to HTTPS (this one does not happen often now).
5. Content Migration: Transferring and updating site content, including text, images, videos, and other media.
6. Server Migration: Moving the site to a different hosting environment, usually for better speed, performance, or security.

For instance, I moved from Bluehost to Cloudways due to persistent 5xx errors on the old host, which negatively affected my SEO. Post-migration, the site's performance significantly improved.

Remember, every type of website migration affects your site’s traffic and SEO, both for better and worse.

• A well-managed migration can enhance your site's performance, user experience, and search engine rankings.
• But a poorly handled one can lead to traffic loss, reduced search visibility, and a poor user experience.
• To smoothly navigate through the migration process, it's crucial to understand the specific challenges and potential outcomes of each type of migration.
• By doing so, you can develop a tailored migration strategy that addresses possible risks while capitalizing on opportunities to boost your site’s performance and SEO. A successful migration can actually be a great opportunity for growth.

Take, for instance, a migration project I handled last year. The first arrow in the graph marks the migration launch, and the second arrow shows when the client removed some blog posts without informing me. Despite this setback, the site continued to grow. I leveraged the migration to enhance the site's SEO, which the old site was lacking.

How to do website migration without losing traffic and SEO in 11 easy steps

Here are 11 essential steps for migrating your site without losing traffic. These steps apply to most migrations, though each case can have its unique aspects.

Note: The only case where you might skip most of these steps is if you're migrating a site with no traffic or rankings at all – yes, I've come across a few of those too.

1. Crawl Your Current Site for All URLs: Use tools like JetOctopus, Screaming Frog, or Sitebulb to thoroughly crawl your existing website and gather all URLs, including those in XML sitemaps or those indexed by Google. This complete URL list is crucial for planning your migration.

Remember: Don’t overlook any hidden or orphan pages. They might have important content or backlinks worth preserving.

2. Evaluate Site Performance: Assess key metrics such as search visibility, organic and other source traffic, backlinks, and keyword rankings. Tools like Google Search Console, Semrush, or Ahrefs are useful here. This helps you understand what's working well and what needs improvement.

Key Point: Focus on pages with high traffic in Google Analytics, those getting most clicks in Google Search Console, and pages with strong backlinks and rankings in tools like Semrush.

3. Consolidate Data into a Spreadsheet: Compile all data – URLs, performance metrics, content details – into one master spreadsheet. This will be your comprehensive guide through the migration.

What to Include: URL metadata, recent traffic data, backlink information, top keyword positions, and both current and new URLs.

Caution: Keep this spreadsheet well-organized and updated to prevent any confusion or errors during migration.

4. Decide URL Fate – Keep, Redirect, or Remove: Review each URL to decide whether to maintain it, redirect it, or remove it (using 404 or 410 status codes). Base these decisions on content quality, relevance, backlinks, and traffic.

Suggestion: In your spreadsheet, add an “Action” column to note down whether to keep (200 status), redirect (301 status), or remove (404/410 status) each URL.

Important Consideration: A page with little traffic but valuable backlinks might be better off redirected rather than removed.

5. Create a Redirect Map: Formulate a detailed redirect map linking old URLs to their new counterparts. This is vital for a smooth transition and maintaining SEO rankings.

Tip: If you’ve categorized URLs by “Action” in your spreadsheet, it can almost serve as your redirect map.

Attention to Detail: Ensure the accuracy of your redirect map to avoid redirect loops or broken links, which can negatively impact the migration.

6. Crawl the Staging Site: Before going live, thoroughly crawl the staging site to spot and fix issues like broken links or missing metadata. Use tools like JetOctopus or Screaming Frog, which can handle password-protected or no-index-tagged staging sites.

Important: Ensure the staging site mirrors the final version to avoid post-launch surprises.

7. Set Up Redirects and Launch: After preparing your redirect map, implement the 301 redirects and launch your new site. The method for setting up redirects depends on your server type and personal preferences. Options include .htaccess file for Apache servers, Nginx configuration files, IIS servers using the URL Rewrite Module, WordPress plugins, or PHP redirects for PHP-based sites.

Keep an Eye Out: Monitor the site closely post-launch for any issues.

Pro Tip: Consider launching during off-peak hours, like nighttime on weekends, for minimal disruption.

8. Crawl Immediately Post-Launch: Once live, crawl the site again, especially focusing on the redirected URLs, to ensure everything functions correctly. Use tools like Screaming Frog in URL List mode for this.

Act Fast on Issues: Quickly address any problems found in this crawl to safeguard your site's traffic and rankings.

9. Maintain Old XML Sitemap Temporarily: Keep the old XML sitemap for a short while post-migration to help search engines find and index your new URLs faster.

Remember: Update and submit the new XML sitemap to search engines once you remove the old one.

10. Monitor Performance Post-Migration: Mark the migration date in your analytics tools and monitor your site’s metrics closely. Use Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4, Semrush, or similar tools for this. Regular site audits are also recommended.

Be Ready to React: Address any significant performance drops immediately to prevent lasting damage.

11. Have a Backup Ready: Before launching, back up your current site. This allows for a rollback if needed.

5 Common Yet Devastating Migration Mistakes That Ruined Websites

In my career, I've encountered numerous failed migrations and have often been called in to diagnose the issues. While there are many potential reasons for migration failures, these five stand out for their frequency and impact:

1. Forgetting to Remove No-Index Tags Post-Domain Change: A surprisingly common blunder is not removing the no-index tag from the new site once it's live. This oversight can lead to catastrophic visibility issues.

2. Non-SEO Savvy Decisions on Content Removal: I've seen cases where someone, often with limited SEO knowledge, decides to remove key articles without considering their SEO value. For example, removing just five articles might seem minor, but if those articles bring in 95% of the organic traffic and have great backlinks, it's a massive blow to the site.

3. Oversight by SEO Agencies: Even professionals can slip up. I've witnessed an SEO "agency" forget to create and implement a crucial redirects map – an elementary yet fatal mistake.

4. Canonical Tags Overlooked by Developers: Sometimes developers forget to update canonical tags. As a result, redirected URLs point to a non-indexable development version of the site, leading to severe issues.

5. Destruction of Internal Linking Structures: In some migrations, especially those focused on redesign (looks, looks, looks, not SEO), I've seen well-structured internal linking replaced with ineffective links like "Read More" or generic image arrows. This can significantly weaken the site's SEO or even totally KILL the site.

Reflecting on these examples and SEO mistakes, it's astonishing how such fundamental errors can still occur, effectively playing Russian roulette with a website's online presence. Recalling these scenarios frustrates me; it's a mix of basic oversights and a lack of attention to critical SEO details.

I could go on about these mistakes, but I believe the point is clear. Let's leave it at that and focus on avoiding these pitfalls in your migration process.

I've performed hundreds of migrations during my SEO career and have consulted with hundreds of companies who want to recover from a failed migration. If you are planning a website migration, I invite you to check my article about how to migrate without losing traffic and SEO and my 40-step SEO migration checklist.