Website migration
A new website without losing your Google rankings.
Most rankings lost in a redesign are lost the same way: the old pages disappear and nothing points to the new ones. Here is the checklist we work through on every rebuild.
The short answer
Google ranks addresses, not businesses. Every page that ranks today does so at a specific URL, with links from other sites pointing at that URL. Change the address without a permanent redirect and, as far as Google is concerned, the old page is gone and the new one has no history.
So the work is mostly bookkeeping: list every old address, decide where each one goes, redirect it on launch day, and check afterwards that nothing was missed.
The checklist
List every URL you have now
Pull them from the current sitemap, the Pages report in Google Search Console, the landing pages in your analytics and a backlink tool. Note which pages bring in traffic and which have links from other sites. Those are the ones you cannot afford to lose.
Map each old URL to its new home
A spreadsheet with two columns: old address, new address. Match one to one wherever you can. Where a page is going away, point it at the closest relevant page, not the homepage. Google treats a redirect to an unrelated page much like a missing page.
Keep what already ranks
A page that brings in traffic is ranking for its title, headings and content. Rewrite it by all means, but keep it about the same thing, and think twice before merging it into another page or cutting it.
Put permanent redirects live at launch
Every old URL returns a 301 redirect to its new address from the moment the new site goes up, not a week later. In the gap, every link and every search result pointing at the old site is a dead end.
Update everything that points at the old addresses
Canonical tags, the sitemap, internal links and structured data should all use the new URLs. A site that redirects but still links to its own old addresses sends search engines through a redirect on every page.
Tell the search engines
Submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. If the domain itself is changing, use the Change of Address tool in Search Console as well.
Watch it for six weeks
Check Search Console for pages reporting as not found, redirect errors and drops in indexed pages, and fix them as they appear. Some movement in rankings for a few weeks is normal. A steady slide is a missing redirect.
How we handle it
Redirects are part of every rebuild we do, not an add-on. We map the old site before the new one is designed, so the structure accounts for the pages that already earn traffic, and we watch Search Console after launch.
If you’re weighing up a rebuild, our website cost page sets out what one costs, and the maintenance page covers what happens after it goes live.
Questions about moving sites.
- Will a new website lose my Google rankings?
- Not if every old URL is redirected to the right new page and the pages that rank keep their subject. Rankings belong to addresses, so a redesign that changes addresses without redirects starts again from nothing.
- How long should redirects stay in place?
- At least a year, and there is rarely a reason to remove them. Links from other sites to your old addresses keep working for as long as the redirects do.
- Do I need to tell Google when my domain changes?
- Yes. Redirect every URL, then use the Change of Address tool in Google Search Console and submit the new sitemap. We did exactly this when we moved from refineddigital.co.nz to refineddigital.nz.
- Is redirecting old pages included when you rebuild a site?
- Yes. Every rebuild includes moving the content worth keeping and redirecting every old URL to its new address, and we check Search Console after launch.
Tell us about your project.
Send a few details and you’ll get a straight answer within two business days: whether we’re a fit, roughly what it would cost, and how long it would take.