Changing domain. Migrating to HTTPS. Moving from WordPress to Shopify. Restructuring the sitemap. Any project we call an “SEO migration” is open-heart surgery on your organic visibility. Done well, nothing dramatic happens. Done badly, it can destroy months or years of rankings.
We see it every month: companies rebuild their website, hire their favourite designer, launch on a Friday and by Monday organic traffic has dropped by 60%. No bad intentions. Just a lack of understanding of what changes for Google when you change your website.
What is an SEO migration — and what is it not?
An SEO migration is any structural change to your website that affects how Google sees and crawls it:
From mycompany.com to mycompany.es, or a full rebrand. The highest possible SEO risk.
WordPress → Shopify, custom → Webflow. URLs, schema and structure can all change.
From /category/post to /post, or from subdomain to subfolder.
Moving to HTTPS is mandatory, but not trivial: redirects, internal links and mixed content must be handled.
If you restructure sections, URLs and hierarchy, it is an SEO migration.
Adding /en/, hreflang, gTLDs or ccTLDs.
The SEO migration process in 10 steps
- Full crawl of the current site. Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, JetOctopus.
- Ranking snapshot. Ahrefs, Semrush: export your top 500-2,000 keywords.
- Old URL → new URL map (redirect map). The most important document.
- Internal validation of the map. Marketing + dev + content review it together.
- Full staging environment — not production.
- Exhaustive testing in staging. Zero 404 errors, redirects working correctly.
- Launch day: controlled deployment window. Tuesday-Wednesday; avoid Monday/Friday.
- Deployment and immediate verification. Crawl, submit new sitemap in GSC.
- Request recrawling from Google. Search Console > URL inspection.
- 30/60/90-day monitoring. Traffic, rankings and errors.
Typical mistakes that kill your traffic
Old URLs die without a 301 redirect. The most expensive mistake.
302 = temporary. 301 = permanent. The difference is preserving or wasting your link equity.
Every hop loses equity and slows crawling. Always map A → D directly.
Without an updated sitemap, Google can take weeks to discover URLs.
Losing Article, Product or other schema means losing rich snippets and AI citations.
Posts linking to old URLs that no longer exist create compounded damage.
What to expect after the migration — the critical 90 days
| Week | What happens | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | Temporary 10-30% drop | Do not panic. Monitor redirects and GSC errors. |
| 3-4 | Partial recovery | GSC: check that everything is being crawled |
| 5-8 | Stabilisation | Fix detected 404s and improve speed |
| 9-12 | Full recovery | Compare against the pre-migration baseline |
If by week 8 you are still down by 30% or more, something is wrong: broken redirects, blocked indexation, misconfigured schema or a missing technical step.
Who should be involved in an SEO migration?
A poorly coordinated SEO migration ends with marketing blaming development and development blaming marketing. The reality: a proper migration requires three profiles working in parallel: technical SEO, developer and content/marketing.
If one person is covering all three roles — common in SMEs — external support is essential. The cost of doing it badly is always much higher.
FAQs about SEO migration
How long does a properly planned SEO migration take?
Average SME website (500-2,000 URLs): 4-8 weeks of planning plus 8-12 weeks of post-migration monitoring.
How much does a professional SEO migration cost?
SME website (500-2,000 URLs): €1,500-4,000 in consultancy. Ecommerce or international sites: €5,000-15,000.
Do I need to notify Google about the migration?
For a domain change: yes, using the “Change of Address” tool in Search Console.
Do I lose the ranking value of my backlinks?
With properly implemented 301 redirects, you can preserve 90-99% of link equity.
Can I migrate gradually or does it have to be all at once?
Domain change: all at once. Redesign or structure change: it can be done by sections if planned properly.
How do I test whether the migration is going well?
Four KPIs in GSC: impressions, top 50 positions, 404 errors and indexation.
Can I run a migration without a specialist consultant?
Small websites under 100 URLs: yes. Medium or large websites: not recommended.
ARE YOU MIGRATING YOUR WEBSITE AND WANT TO PROTECT YOUR TRAFFIC?
We provide end-to-end SEO migration consultancy: crawl, redirect map, validation, supervision and 90-day monitoring.
SEO team in Palma de Mallorca.
