Changing domains, moving to HTTPS, replacing a CMS or reorganising URLs can affect organic visibility. An SEO migration should plan what stays, what changes and how the result will be checked.
Good planning reduces risk but does not guarantee unchanged traffic or rankings. Save baseline data and assign responsibility for resolving issues after launch.
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 rebrand with a new domain. Review URL mapping and canonicalisation signals.
WordPress → Shopify, custom → Webflow. URLs, schema and structure can all change.
From /category/post to /post, or from subdomain to subfolder.
Moving to HTTPS requires a certificate and checks on redirects, internal links and mixed content.
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.
- Staging tests. Check URLs that should exist, redirects, and intentional 404 or 410 responses for retired content with no replacement.
- Deployment window. Choose a lower-traffic period with the team available and a rollback procedure ready.
- 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
Map each old URL to its equivalent destination and decide which content is being retired without a replacement.
301 and 308 indicate a permanent move; 302 and 307 indicate a temporary one. Choose the type that reflects the real change, without assigning a fixed loss of authority to each code.
Avoid unnecessary chains: redirect each old URL to its final equivalent destination. A fixed percentage loss per hop should not be assumed.
Update the sitemap with final, indexable URLs. It helps discovery but does not guarantee indexing or establish a crawl deadline.
Preserve valid markup that matches the content. Review its URLs and properties; retaining schema does not guarantee rich results or AI citations.
Posts linking to old URLs that no longer exist create compounded damage.
Monitoring after the migration
| Stage | Check | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Launch | Access and destinations | Check URLs and redirects |
| Early reviews | Crawling and indexing | Investigate unexpected exclusions |
| Monitoring | Traffic and queries | Compare with the baseline |
| Technical sign-off | Issues and documentation | Resolve faults and continue monitoring |
Investigate a sustained drop without waiting for a fixed threshold. Check technical faults, content changes, demand and competition; there is no universal week of full recovery.
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 covers several roles, check that they have the time, skills and support to execute the plan. External support depends on project complexity and risk.
FAQs about SEO migration
How long does a properly planned SEO migration take?
It depends on the number of URLs, integrations and content changes. Agree a planning and implementation schedule after reviewing the site; post-launch monitoring does not guarantee a recovery date.
How much does a professional SEO migration cost?
The quotation depends on the URL and template inventory, domain or CMS changes, languages, redirects, testing and agreed monitoring. Define the scope and responsibilities before requesting an itemised proposal.
Do I need to notify Google about the migration?
For supported domain or subdomain moves, use Search Console’s Change of Address after preparing redirects. It is not used for HTTP-to-HTTPS changes; consult the official documentation for your type of move.
Do I lose the ranking value of my backlinks?
Google states that permanent redirects do not themselves cause PageRank loss. This does not guarantee unchanged rankings: content equivalence and other signals also matter.
Can I migrate gradually or does it have to be all at once?
A move can be phased when the architecture and plan allow it. For domain changes, coordinate coexistence, redirects and checks; there is no universal requirement to move everything at once.
How do I test whether the migration is going well?
Combine URL inspection and indexing data with checks on links, redirects, clicks, impressions and queries. Separate expected 404 responses from destinations that should remain available.
Can I run a migration without a specialist consultant?
It depends on the team’s skills and the scope of the change. URL count alone does not determine whether a project can be carried out safely.
Official sources: Google Search Central: site moves · Redirects · Change of Address.
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.
