Moving your old website without losing traffic

A redesign is a chance to improve everything, but it can also wipe out years of search rankings if the move is careless. The good news is that keeping your traffic is mostly a matter of preparation.

This guide covers a website migration from start to finish: the inventory, the redirects, the launch-day checklist and the first weeks after. It applies whether you are redesigning on the same domain, changing platforms, or moving to a new address.

Start with an inventory

List every page on the old site that brings visitors or links, using your analytics and Google Search Console. Decide for each one: keep it, merge it into another page, or retire it.

Redirect every old address

Each old address should point to the most relevant new page with a permanent (301) redirect. Sending everything to the home page throws away what those pages had earned.

Keep the redirects in a simple spreadsheet: old address in one column, new address in the next. It doubles as the test list on launch day, and as the record when someone asks later where a page went.

Types of website migration

• Redesign on the same domain: new design and often new addresses. The most common case, and redirects are the main job.
• Platform change: for example, from a website builder to WordPress, or from WordPress to a custom build. Addresses usually change, and content has to be moved carefully, including images and their alt text.
• New domain: a rebrand or moving from a .com to a .id. Every address changes, so every page needs a redirect, and you tell Google about the move in Search Console.
• HTTP to HTTPS: still common on older sites, and simpler: the same redirects, one rule.

Google’s guide to site moves with URL changes covers each case in detail.

Our launch-day checklist

Your old addresses are worth keeping, even when the pages change.

Website migration mistakes we see most

• The new site launches still blocked from search engines, a setting left on from the test version.
• Old pages that ranked well are dropped because they “didn’t fit” the new structure.
• Everything is redirected to the home page.
• Images get new addresses, and image search traffic disappears.
• Analytics isn’t installed on the new site, so nobody can tell what changed.

Watch the first weeks

A small dip right after a launch is normal. Check Search Console for pages that are not found, fix any missed redirects, and compare traffic with the same weeks before the move.

Keep the redirects in place for good, or at least a year. Links from other sites, old bookmarks and printed materials keep pointing at the old addresses long after search engines have updated.

Questions people ask

How long does a website migration take to settle in search?

For most sites, a few weeks for Google to process the redirects and update its results, sometimes longer for large sites. Traffic that dips a little usually comes back once that happens, if the redirects are right.

Can we change the content and the addresses at the same time?

Yes, and in a redesign you usually do. Just keep each old page’s topic alive somewhere on the new site, and redirect it there. Improving the content often improves rankings too.

What if the old site is already gone?

Use Search Console, analytics and archived copies to rebuild the list of old addresses, then add the redirects as soon as you can. Pages that recover quickly lose the least.

A careful website migration is part of every redesign we take on, together with the SEO foundations a new site should launch with. Planning a move? Our digital growth service can audit the old site first, or get in touch to talk it through.