Inventory and baseline
Identify important URLs, inbound links, content, index controls and current errors. Record what is known about organic visits and enquiries without assuming every old page must survive unchanged.
Explore Inventory and baselineSEO for website migrations
Treat search continuity as part of the migration.
SEO planning for redesigns, platform changes and URL moves. Account for existing pages before the new site replaces them.
Keep the useful parts of the old site findable.
A redesign or platform change can alter URLs, content, templates and navigation at the same time. The highest-risk pages are often the ones that already answer a valuable question or receive links from elsewhere. We start before the new structure is fixed, so old destinations can be mapped to relevant new ones and content decisions can be reviewed rather than discovered after launch.
A migration plan tied to actual URLs.
The scope depends on what changes and which systems control the old and new sites.
Destination mapping
Give each retained page an appropriate new home, or a deliberate retirement decision. Plan redirects, canonical signals and internal links together so people do not land on an unrelated home page.
Explore Destination mappingCutover checks
Test the redirect map, status codes, sitemap, navigation and important journeys before switching traffic. Recheck the released site and watch search reporting for unexpected exclusions or broken paths.
Explore Cutover checksRehearse the move before it becomes public.
We agree who can change DNS, hosting, CMS content and the redirect rules. A representative set of high-value URLs is tested against the proposed site, including mobile pages, PDFs and pages with external links where relevant. The cutover plan names who checks what and how an issue is recorded. Search results can change after a move, so the post-launch review is part of the work rather than an optional afterthought.
Avoid promising a perfectly flat traffic line.
Even a careful move can have temporary search variation. We cannot control recrawl timing or guarantee that every query retains the same position. Access to the old site, analytics and Search Console improves the baseline; missing access is recorded rather than replaced with estimates. New content or brand decisions remain your approval.
Keep the map for future changes.
The final record contains the old-to-new URL decisions, unresolved exclusions, validation results and a monitoring checklist. It helps future editors avoid reintroducing retired paths or breaking an established redirect. If the store is moving as well, the ecommerce migration page covers catalog and order continuity alongside search.
Some of the teams we have worked with.
Across talent, fitness, mobility, payments and local commerce.RandstadClassPassVeezuRushpaySupport Black Owned
Questions before we start.
Can every old URL redirect to the new home page?
That is rarely useful to the visitor. A former product, service or article URL should reach the closest relevant destination when one exists. Pages without a suitable replacement need a deliberate response, rather than a blanket redirect that hides a content gap.
When should SEO join a redesign?
Before navigation and URL decisions are fixed. That leaves room to retain useful content, plan redirects and test the new templates. We can still review a late-stage move, but the available choices may be narrower.
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Service
Website redesign & migration
Website redesign and migration with content, URLs and business continuity planned together. Improve the experience while protecting the journeys people and search engines already use.
Explore Website redesign & migrationServiceEcommerce migration
Ecommerce migration covering catalogs, customers, orders, URLs and operational integrations. Plan the change around how the store actually trades.
Explore Ecommerce migrationGuideWebsite migration SEO checklist
A website migration SEO checklist should connect the old URL inventory to the new content, redirects, canonicals and internal links. Check the released pages after cutover, not only the staging site.
Explore Website migration SEO checklistService hubSearch & digital marketing
SEO, paid search, analytics and conversion work built around your offer and the customers you want to reach. Connect acquisition with what happens after the visit.
Explore Search & digital marketingA DIRECT CONVERSATION
Bring us the problem. We’ll work through the next step.
Share what exists today and what you want to change. We can discuss the scope, dependencies and a practical way forward.