Website Migration

A website migration is a move of your site to a new host, a new domain, a new platform or a new URL structure. Done carefully, it keeps your content, your search rankings and your email working. Done carelessly, it breaks links, loses traffic and can take email offline for days. The key to doing it safely is knowing which kind of migration you are doing, because each type carries different risks and Google publishes specific guidance for each.

This article sits within our guide to website redesign, since many migrations happen as part of a redesign. When you are ready to plan the work step by step, the website migration checklist turns everything here into a list.

The four types of website migration

Google divides site moves into two groups: moves where URLs stay the same and moves where they change. That distinction matters more than anything else, because search engines track pages by their URLs.

Host move

A host move keeps the same domain and the same URLs, and only changes the server the site runs on. It is the lowest-risk migration for search, but it has its own practical risks. If DNS is switched before the new server is ready, visitors see errors. If the DNS records for email are not copied across, mail stops arriving.

Google’s guidance for this kind of move is straightforward. Set up and test the site on the new host first. About a week before the move, lower the DNS time to live (TTL) to a few hours, so the change spreads faster when you make it. Then update DNS, monitor traffic to both servers, and only shut down the old hosting once its traffic has dropped to zero. Google also notes that it is normal to see a temporary drop in how often Googlebot crawls the site just after the move, followed by a steady increase over the following days.

Domain change

A domain change moves every page to a new address. Without redirects, Google treats the new domain as a separate site with no history. With proper 301 redirects from every old URL to its matching new URL, Google can pass the old site’s signals to the new one.

Google Search Console offers a Change of Address tool for exactly this case. It requires you to be a verified owner of both the old and new properties and to have a 301 redirect from the old home page to the new one. Google says it will prioritize crawling the new site and forward signals from the old one for 180 days. Keep the old domain registered, renewed and redirecting well beyond that, because links on other sites will point to it for years.

Platform change

A platform change moves the site from one system to another, for example from Wix or Squarespace to WordPress. The URLs often change because each platform has its own default structure, and some platforms make it hard to take content with you. Wix, for example, states that its sites cannot be hosted elsewhere and that blog posts cannot currently be exported to other platforms.

With a platform change, check early what can be exported and what will have to be moved by hand, and design the new URL structure to match the old one where you can. If you are leaving Wix specifically, the guide on how to migrate from Wix to WordPress covers it step by step. If you are still choosing a platform, the comparison of the best website builder for small business may help.

Structure change

A structure change keeps the domain and platform but changes URLs: pages renamed, sections merged, a blog moved from one folder to another, or the whole site moved from HTTP to HTTPS. Google classes all of these as moves with URL changes, so the same rules apply: map, redirect and monitor.

How to migrate a website without losing traffic

Whatever the type, the steps that protect search traffic are the same. Google’s documentation on moving a site with URL changes sets them out, and they apply just as well to small sites.

1. Take stock of what you have

Collect every URL on the current site from the sitemap, a crawl and Search Console. Note the pages with the most search clicks and the most leads. These are the pages that must land perfectly.

2. Map old URLs to new ones

In a spreadsheet, give every old URL a destination. Keep URLs the same wherever possible, since an unchanged URL needs no redirect at all. Where a URL must change, choose the most relevant new page, not the home page.

3. Set up permanent redirects

Use server-side 301 or 308 redirects for every changed URL. Google explains that permanent redirects lead it to show the new URL in search results, while temporary ones keep showing the old one. Avoid chains of redirects; Google advises against long chains, and a direct redirect to the final page is simplest.

4. Prepare the new site properly

Remove any “do not index” setting or robots.txt block that was used during development. Update internal links to point straight to the new URLs, and create an updated XML sitemap.

5. Move everything at once (for most small sites)

Google recommends that small and medium-sized sites move all URLs at the same time rather than section by section. It also suggests changing one thing at a time where you can, so combining a domain change with a platform change and a redesign makes troubleshooting harder. If you combine them, plan more carefully and monitor more closely.

6. Tell Google and monitor

Submit the new sitemap in Search Console and, for a domain change, use the Change of Address tool. Then watch the page indexing report and your traffic. Google states that visibility may fluctuate temporarily during a move, and that for a small to medium-sized site it can take a few weeks for most pages to be processed.

7. Keep the redirects

Google recommends keeping redirects for as long as possible, generally at least one year. There is rarely a good reason to remove them later.

Ownership during a migration

A migration is when control of accounts matters most, because it involves the domain registrar, the DNS, both hosting accounts and Search Console. Everything should be in your name before work starts. Registrars can apply temporary transfer locks after some changes to a domain’s registration details, so last-minute fixes can delay the whole move. The agency or developer should work through access you grant and that you can remove when the job is done.

Getting help with a migration

If you would like the move handled for you, with the redirects, DNS and email checked and every account left in your name, our website redesign and migration service covers it.