Site migration: what it is and how to do it safely for SEO
It is a delicate process that represents much more than a series of technical operations: it is a strategic operation that can spell the fate of a business, large or small, because it involves literally transferring an online business from one place to another. The migration of a site of any kind must be managed as well as possible to avoid annoyances to Google or users at any stage of the transfer, resulting in ranking, organic traffic and even security problems. In the words of our own Giuseppe Liguori, “if the migration is not done correctly it can only lead to one result, and that is trouble,” and even Google confirms that domain and URL transfer is indeed a complex operation even for search engines, which can take up to several months to process the changes completely. So let’s delve deeper into the topic of website transfer and the migration process, trying to define the scenarios in which it is necessary or preferable to transfer a site, what this step means in concrete terms, and what are the risks involved that can sink the new site.
What is migration in IT and the digital world
In the digital context, migration is the transfer of data, applications, or entire infrastructures from one environment to another, usually to increase performance, scalability , or security This process affects not only websites, but multiple digital assets.
A critical example is server migration, in which data and applications are moved from a physical machine or hosting service to a new one that is often more performant, suitable, or scalable. Database migration, on the other hand, involves moving entire datasets between different management systems, with the risk of causing incompatibility or incorrect integration if the transfer is not carefully managed.
Another major phenomenon is migration to the cloud, which is increasingly common for reasons of flexibility and reduced cost. In such a transition, applications and data are moved from physical hardware resources to cloud-based platforms, such as AWS or Google Cloud. This operation requires special attention to ensure that data remains secure and accessible without service disruptions or access problems.
The challenges of migrating digital infrastructure
Whether it’s a database, a server or an entire IT infrastructure, any type of migration hides pitfalls that, if not handled with careful planning, can lead to prolonged downtime and loss of critical data. Planning a well-structured path and performing pre-migration testing are key factors in minimizing operational risks.
The most serious risk, and probably the most feared, is data loss: an error during configuration or lack of proper backups can lead to irreparable compromise of critical information. And lost or corrupted data are often impossible to recover without immense cost and extended time.
Another frequent problem is prolonged downtime: every second a service is unavailable can represent a missed opportunity. This is especially true for e-commerce platforms or digital services that must ensure 24/7 business continuity. Failure during the migration phase can not only impact business directly, but also compromise brand image, which also incurs costs from a customer retention perspective.
Another challenge, perhaps less conspicuous but just as insidious, is misconfigurations, particularly for delicate aspects such as coordinating databases, applications, and infrastructure to ensure optimal operation: a single carelessness can compromise entire operations. Misconfigurations can lead, for example, to compatibility problems between old and new systems or inefficiencies in operational resources.
What makes it all the more delicate is the need to balance speed of transfer with data security and technical accuracy. We cannot afford to rush the process, but we also need to keep a close eye on the timing to avoid prolonged downtime or even incalculable damage in financial and reputational terms. A successful migration is never the result of pure luck, but of rigorous planning that goes through prior audit, full backup and total verification of systems before and after the transfer.
What is site migration
Site migration is the process of temporarily or permanently transferring one or more essential website components-domain, platform, protocol or structure.
It is never a “one-off” act dictated by pure superficiality, but rather a thoughtful choice determined by well-defined strategic or technical needs. For example, we may face a migration to move from the old HTTP to the more secure HTTPS protocol, or move the site to a new hosting service to improve performance.
Although it can take different forms, this operation always requires attention: when not performed properly, it can in fact compromise the site’s SEO performance and management, causing damage to organic traffic and relevance gained over time on search engines, as well as also creating difficulties for users and their user experience, leading them to suddenly navigate to a different site and perhaps problematic on some aspects.
When and why to perform a site migration
A website migration is therefore not something to be tackled lightly, but an imperative necessity that arises at some point in a site’s life cycle, to be performed despite the potential risks for a number of strategic reasons, from security needs to a complete technological rethink, as Pierluigi Tosto explained in a very useful webinar.
In fact, there are many reasons that can prompt a site to be transferred or completely redesigned: among the most frequent are the move to HTTPS protocol (which should be a minimum standard by now), the need for rebranding and a new corporate identity, the choice to make the site faster and mobile-friendly, or the emergence of new digital marketing goals achievable precisely with a change of strategy.
More specifically, one of the most frequent reasons is a change of Content Management System (CMS): if our site has grown beyond the capabilities of the platform on which it is built, it may be appropriate to switch to a more structured and scalable CMS. For example, sites born on WordPress may need a dedicated platform such as Magento if you want to manage an e-commerce project of greater size and complexity. In this case, CMS migration is not only about an aesthetic or functional change, but also requires attention to URL redirects and proper content transposition, so as not to lose anything in terms of organic ranking .
Another common scenario is the aforementioned switch from HTTP to HTTPS: although at first glance it seems to be a purely technical intervention, it requires that every single resource on the site – from URLs to images – be correctly transferred under the new protocol, otherwise page loading errors or slowdowns will appear, negatively affecting performance and, consequently, ranking.
Another relevant strategic cause is related to the introduction of a new architecture or design: when we feel the need to reorganize the structure of the site, update the navigation map or simply improve the user experience, we may be faced with a site migration project. The risk, in this case, is to alter the page hierarchy, leading Google to have to reevaluate the site, with the potential loss of relevant signals such as the importance of certain URLs or domain stability.
Finally, we cannot overlook the case of domain switching – one of the most delicate migration operations, especially as far as SEO is concerned: it does not only mean transferring content from one address to another, but involves all the careful management of backlink passing, domain reputation and 301 redirect settings to avoid organic traffic loss or indexing problems. Moving a domain must therefore be painless for users and, equally, recognized and accepted by search engines.
What are the types of website migrations
Not all website migrations are the same, and each type has its own degrees of complexity and associated risks, especially from an SEO perspective .
Transferring a site can be done independently-having the basic knowledge and skills, of course-or outsourced to an outside agency, and the various types of migration can be done individually or simultaneously. In any case, it is best to know the main types of migrations, their effects, issues and specific criticalities of the various cases, so as to approach these processes with awareness, limiting negative impact and making the most of opportunities for improvement.
Domain migration, for example, deserves special attention. When we decide to rebrand our business or acquire a domain better suited to our business, we find ourselves having to notify Google that all accumulated traffic and authority must be transferred to the new home. A poorly managed change can lead to a drastic loss of organic traffic as search engines have to “rediscover” the site. Backlinks may also lose their value if proper management of 301 redirects is not implemented, which are the only way to tell Google that those links must point to the new version of the pages.
CMS migration, on the other hand, is often a forced choice when our site, as it grows, requires a more effective platform to manage content. Changing CMS involves not only addressing the purely technical side of content migration, but also ensuring that SEO remains aligned on several levels: from URL structure to metadata management and canonical tags. The risk is to lose hard-won positioning if the new infrastructure does not accurately reflect the previous setup.
Another widespread operation is the migration from HTTP to HTTPS , mainly for security and performance reasons. Search engines reward the most secure sites and, indeed, often penalize those that do not align with the new regulations (see Google’s warning sign for unprotected sites). However, there are challenges here as well, consisting of updating all linked resources and properly replatforming any redirects.
Speaking of replatforming, this is a migration that occurs at the infrastructure level. It involves moving to a completely different platform which, in many cases, also involves rethinking the technologies underlying the site. Replatforming is never a light option: it requires substantial technical resources. It is often adopted to improve site scalability or introduce features that are impossible to achieve with the current infrastructure. Again, the consequences on SEO are direct, as it changes the way the site will be managed and tracked by search engines.
Finally, we cannot overlook hosting migration, a case that is usually addressed when the current hosting provider can no longer meet certain needs in terms of speed, capacity, or reliability. Moving a website to a new hosting primarily involves data, file and database management. Although it is one of the least SEO-invasive forms of migration, a technical error related to resource loading can still affect overall site performance and negatively affect ranking factors such as loading speed or site availability.
Website transfer, the types in level of difficulty
Let us try to classify the types of migration according to the level of difficulty required by the operation.
The simplest type of migration is domain change or rebranding (including extension transformation); even graphic migration and redesign of the site layout should not involve particular risks (an example is the replacement of the WordPress template or its implementation), just as the process of migration from HTTP to HTTPS should be smooth by now.
We can define of higher complexity and therefore medium level other types of migration, such as that of URLs, content architecture or servers hosting the site. URL transfer is precisely concerned with changes to the addresses, paths, and structure of the internal URLs of the same site (an immediate example is switching from speaking to static URLs); content migration is necessary, for example, when reorganizing categories and then needing to move articles and products under the new hierarchies. Finally, server transfer or migration of hosting and IP address occur when, for technical, reliability or practical reasons, one decides precisely to change one of these parameters.
CMS transfer, on the other hand, is the most complex migration for SEO, the most difficult case to deal with, which involves moving the site from one CMS to another, or even from .asp to .php and so on, following evaluations on the best CMS. In this case, the most critical aspect on the technical front is the radical change of addresses that can result in a long list of pages in 404 error, while on the SEO side, the risks are the loss of domain authority (also) due to the disruption of backlinks received over time and the excessive and dispersive increase in Google crawl budgets. Then there are even more special cases, such as the one recounted by our CMO Giuseppe Liguori, who had to migrate an outdated website built on a misunderstood CMS and without access to the database for data extraction!
The main risks in migrating a site: what are they and how to prevent them
Thus, a website migration always represents a critical operation, especially when viewed from the perspective of SEO: potential pitfalls can emerge at each stage of this process that, if not addressed with due caution, lead to irreparable errors that compromise the work built up over years of optimization.
One of the most significant problems is undoubtedly the loss of organic traffic, which usually materializes due to flaws in URL transfer or in the management of the all-important 301 redirects. In practice, the user (and also Google) will no longer find those pages, getting 404 errors and drastically reducing traffic to our site: in the blink of an eye we may lose valuable visitors who, disoriented, turn to our competitors.
Another recurring risk concerns indexing errors. When we change the architecture or domain of the site, search engines can misinterpret the signals sent and, in the worst cases, not index the new pages correctly . An underestimated, but equally serious, risk is duplicate content, which can occur when old and new URLs coexist without proper redirect management, generating duplicate content in the eyes of Google, which could penalize the site in terms of ranking.
Finally, the loss of backlinks is another risk that can inflict damage to SEO and affects the heart of link building. If all the hyperlinks that third parties have built over time direct to pages that are unavailable post-migration, we will lose that accumulated SEO value. Without proper management of redirects , such a scenario becomes very likely.
But how can we prevent these problems? Basically, we need to put in place continuous monitoring and attention to technical details, before, during and after migration.
The first step is in detailed planning and a thorough pre-migration SEO audit, through which we track all major site pages, URLs and crucial data. During the operational phase, it will be essential to implement 301 redirects with pinpoint accuracy to maintain the SEO value of the old structure. In addition, it is critical to test and monitor indexing to ensure that all new pages are properly understood and indexed by search engines.
Another key tool for preventing traffic loss is active monitoring of backlinks and duplicate content. Checking that sites pointing to us are updated with the right redirects allows us to maintain our integrity in link building.
The key technical steps of a well-managed migration.
But let’s explore these concepts in more detail.
A site migration is characterized by closely interdependent technical steps that must be approached with a combination of precision and flexibility to meet the different needs that may arise during the process. Performing a successful migration requires detailed planning that integrates advanced tools and continuous monitoring of the site, both before and after the move.
A successful technical migration follows interdependent steps, each of which requires precision and flexibility.
- Advance planning and audit. Identifying key backlinks , relevant pages and mapping each URL on the site through tools such as Screaming Frog SEO Spider helps to understand where to focus attention. Planning 301 redirects appropriately is vital to avoid loss of SEO value.
- Implementing 301 redirects. Tracking each old URL and linking it to the new one is a crucial step in maintaining SERPs and organic results. Tools such as Ahrefs are useful for verifying that traffic generated by backlinks is being redirected correctly.
- Post-migration SEO verification. Immediately after the launch of the new site, careful performance monitoring using Google Search Console and SEOZoom is necessary to detect any crawling errors and verify that organic traffic does not suffer sudden drops.
- Post-launch performance monitoring. After migration, it is essential to keep an eye on SEO metrics such as organic traffic and conversion rates. Tools such as Google Analytics and PageSpeed Insights help identify any post-migration issues, such as slowdowns or loading errors.
The workflow of a well-managed technical migration, then, is not limited to transferring content from point A to point B, but must be carefully monitored and supported by a suite of analytical and SEO tools. Only in this way can we ensure not only the stability of the new structure but alsoongoing optimization, strengthening SEO and preventing any slumps that could negatively impact site performance.
Verifying the migration: how to monitor SEO changes after the move
Once a migration is complete-whether it is a domain switch, a CMS change, or a migration from HTTP to HTTPS-the work is certainly not done. In fact, the true success of an SEO migration is measured through a careful post-migration audit, in which we monitor site performance and correct any problems in real time. SEO analysis tools become our main allies in keeping an eye on every aspect of the site and immediately identifying any negative signs.
First and foremost, organic traffic must be our benchmark. Using Google Analytics, we can monitor the volume of visitors coming in via organic search and see if there have been any significant changes. If we register declines in traffic, it is important to analyze the source right away, comparing current performance with pre-migration data. Any reductions could indicate issues with redirects, indexing errors, or problems related to the rendering of new pages.
Essential, then, is to perform a backlink audit, to check whether incoming links collected over time are now being directed to the site’s new URLs. This is a critical step: failing to recover the value of existing backlinks means losing a significant portion of theSEO authority that our site has painstakingly built. If the new site no longer receives the traffic and value from these links, we must act promptly to establish new 301 redirects or, in some cases, contact the owners of the sites linking to us to update their links.
Google Search Console, moreover, is an indispensable tool for detecting indexing errors. We must perform a thorough coverage check to see which URLs have been successfully indexed and identify those that might generate 404 errors. Also make sure that duplicate content is not present, a problem that can easily arise when old and new pages coexist without proper canonical tag management.
Checking site performance from a technical standpoint is also important. Tools such as PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix help us analyze speed and load times, two key factors not only for SEO but also for user experience. The migration may have introduced heavy new components or caching errors; technical performance should be monitored closely.
Finally, performing a full SEO audit a few days after the migration allows us to verify that the transition was positive in every sense. Our attention must always be alert, ready to act on any negative signs to ensure that the site continues to perform at its best. By doing so, we prevent unexpected ranking drops and keep our SEO strategy firm and functional.
Best practices for doing site migrations.
As mentioned, the types of relocation and migration have different levels of complexity, and there are a few pointers and tips that allow us to approach these operations with the right foresight and peace of mind.
- How to perform site URL migration
Changing addresses within the same site may become necessary when you discover that you have made mistakes in structuring, or when you are trying to improve navigation and the overall user experience. Common cases are the presence of dates in the pages that then become obsolete, the indication of unnecessary elements, the moving of entire directories, and so on; in such situations, the migration is done through rewriting rules, trying to respect the “less is better” philosophy (and thus the suggestion to have a light and compact url as opposed to more extensive ones).
From an SEO point of view, Google reassures about the “credit” the site has after redirect links to new URLs: in fact, the Search Console Guide states that “301 or 302 redirects do not result in any worsening of PageRank ranking.”
- Site server relocation
Server migration can also be a risky process, because it can generate two types of problematic situations: the new server turns out to be worse than the previous one or some incompatibilities are found, and therefore it does not respond perfectly to requests and causes errors; the technical time of DNS switchover and IP change can cause even serious disruptions to users and the search engine.
In this case, in order to transfer a site from one hosting to another without having disruptions, we must pay attention to the following aspects that, if neglected, could cause very long downtimes, exceeding 24 hours-in other words, cause trouble!
- Make an initial copy of the complete website from the old hosting to the new hosting, using one of the many plugins to do website backup & restore, especially in the WordPress environment.
- Test the website well on the new hosting and launch a stress testalsite with the new IP address, taking advantage of the computer’s “hosts” file; then we can see perfectly how the site will work when the migration is complete.
- Do a full scan of the site to check for any errors that previously did not exist.
- Having completed the initial steps, if it has been too long you need to re-copy the website or at least the recently uploaded database and images.
- Move the website IP from the DNS manager’s panel; do not disable the old hosting as it may take several hours to update to the new IP.
- Tips for migrating from HTTP to HTTPS.
It has been several years now that Google has been pushing for all sites to migrate to the HTTPS protocol, either by including this as a ranking factor or by marking all sites in HTTP as “Not Secure” on the Chrome browser. In fact, as far as security is concerned, it should be specified that the major protection concerns the traffic between the site and the end user, and therefore there is no protection against hacker attacks and the like, and that in general this migration serves to ensure the security of data transport, raise the level of privacy and increase the level of trust in the user.
The first step is to purchase the certificate, which then needs to be activated manually or by following the provider’s installation. This transfer is quite simple and you only need to follow a few steps to complete it effectively; for example, to migrate WordPress to HTTPS (or to transfer Prestahop, Magento, Joomla and the other CMSs) you just need to change the data in the settings panel, but there are also specific plugins that perform the process automatically. Then you need to launch 301 redirects with htaccess and spot-check that the redirects were effective.
It is important to note that after the migration is complete, it is necessary to create a new property in Google Search Console for the domain in HTTPS, as if it were a new site, because GSC handles HTTP and HTTPS separately. Also, it is advisable to keep the old property in HTTP for possible future problems or to evaluate historical data.
- Steps for doing a domain change and rebranding.
Another critical situation you may find yourself in involves rebranding, which is the need or requirement to change the name of the site and domain as a result of certain factors, such as copyright or online reputation issues, moving a multilingual tier to a country-based domain, site or brand name meaning something bad or obscene in other languages, or more simply for other marketing choices.
Regardless of the reason for rebranding one must use the usual SEO side tricks of redirection, with the change of addresses in CMS described earlier and other redirection rules for URLs. Before the new site goes online one must scan and verify that the process has been effective, either with specific tools or with manual comparisons, keeping in mind that all status codes other than 301 or 200 generate problems for Google (and thus potentially for the site and the business).
In any case, to avoid dissipating the work done one must approach this delicate step by also taking care of the SEO aspect of the migration, and thus be careful to preserve the organic visibility of pages and content and to ensure that the keywords that generate the most traffic (and their URLs) are transferred without errors.
- How to perform a CMS migration safely
Given the complexity of the task, tips on how to perform a safe CMS transfer are key, with at least three points to adhere to in order to avoid nasty surprises and one assumption: the need to “build a bridge between the two CMSs.”
In the preventive phase, you need to back up the old product database and the old .htaccess rules, while on the practical side you should build a code script that “queries the old database; finds a common element (E.g. SKU code, product name, etc.); queries the new database; performs a 301 redirect to the new URL.” At the end of this process you must verify that everything is correctly transported to the new addresses.
This operation is particularly complex because it presupposes (at least) three minimum requirements: the presence of a programmer who knows both CMSs well; the intervention of an SEO specialist who knows how to use htaccess; and a phase of constant verification of the work to make sure that everything is done in the right way and without hiccups. However, it represents the only working way to recover all or most URLs.
SEO site migration, quick tips to avoid trouble
The guidelines described here are a quick vademecum to deal with the site migration phase safely in a preventive way, trying to avoid inconveniencing Google or users in a delicate transfer process. However, it should not be overlooked that any migration, even when done in the best possible way, may have positive or negative consequences on the site, so the goal is to minimize risks and try to limit any damage. In addition, the time factor cannot be overlooked: such a massive and substantial change also takes time in search engine scans, so it is normal in the early stages after migration to register fluctuations in visibility and rankings, which will then regularize in later periods.
- E-commerce site migrations and specific SEO cautions
Migrating an e-commerce site is much more complex than migrating a standard site, and this complexity is not only due to the number of pages involved, but to the fact that every aspect of the site directly affects economic performance. Here we are not simply moving information pages, but we are operating on an integrated system of transactions, conversion funnels, inventories, and user data. Any mistake made during the migration can cause a devastating impact, leading to a drastic reduction in sales and organic traffic.
One of the first points we must pay attention to is the management of the product catalog and related databases. E-commerce sites typically contain thousands of product pages, each with unique URLs, detailed descriptions, images and often customer reviews. Any changes in permalink structure or URLs must be handled with surgical precision, using 301 redirects to avoid losing the SEO ranking earned by those pages. Let’s imagine, for example, that a flagship product is well indexed for some highly profitable keywords: if the SEO migration for e-commerce is not handled correctly, we could lose thousands of visitors from that single page.
User experience also plays a central role in migration. A consistent, intuitive and easily navigable user experience is essential to maintaining high conversion rates. Dramatic changes in architecture, or compromised navigation, can cause a customer to abandon the shopping cart. It is therefore necessary to preserve the navigation structure and optimize performance such as loading speed so that the page continues to deliver excellent performance even after migration.
Another vital step in the process of migrating an e-commerce site is to maintain continuous monitoring of conversion rates. Analysis and tracking tools will need to be fully operational during and after migration to ensure that there are no unexpected fluctuations in sales rates, and that any immediate drops can be quickly corrected. Let’s not forget that while organic ranking is critical, content retention and especially the ability to accompany the user through to the conclusion of the purchase are also crucial factors to track. A well-integrated system to monitor KPIs such as conversions, checkout abandonment, frequency of uptake of promotions and response to specific campaigns is a must.
To maximize the success of the migration, it will also be important to leverage the transition to optimize existing meta tags and product descriptions, without neglecting the implementation of new SEO best practices that can be integrated thanks to the opportunities offered by the new infrastructure. What initially starts out as a technical necessity – migration – can in fact turn into an opportunity to overhaul and improve different parts of the site for even better performance.
Finally, a valuable tip: perform pre-launch testing from every possible angle. From stress testing the new server to make sure it can handle traffic spikes, to multiple checkout checks with different forms of payment. The cost of errors for an ecommerce site is much higher than for other types of sites, and any problems that arise on launch day could erode brand reputation significantly.
The main problems encountered in problematic migrations and how to solve them
Even with the best planning, website migrations can hold a number of unforeseen issues that risk compromising SEO , organic traffic and user experience. When the site structure is particularly complex, pitfalls increase, especially if technical errors are not detected early.
One of the most common problems immediately after migration is a drop in organic traffic. This happens frequently due to errors in the implementation of 301 redirects: if the old URLs, those that historically secured traffic and rankings on Google, are not properly linked to the new versions, users and search engines are faced with error (404) pages and, in the long run, Google may deindex those resources, resulting in a loss of visibility.
Another critical issue that can occur during migration is duplicate content, which typically happens when new and old versions of the same page are kept active without proper management of canonical tags or redirects.
As part of an SEO migration, an indexing problem can also occur: in some cases, Google bots may fail to properly crawl the new site because the robots.txt file or the noindex meta tag have not been updated correctly, blocking the crawling and indexing process.
Another common error concerns post-migration HTTPS and SSL settings : having improperly configured certificates can generate warnings in users’ browsers, which may perceive the site as insecure, decreasing trust and reputation.
Migrations and URL changes: hints and tips from Google
Migration is not a difficult topic only for webmasters, specialists et similia, because search engines also find it difficult to handle this operation, even taking up to several months to process the changes completely.
Although “at first glance it may seem like a small change within a website, changing the structure of URLs is not so simple for search engines”: a #AskGooglebot video opens with precisely this reflection, in which John Mueller responds to a user’s request asking about precisely the topic of migration and, in particular, the possible risks associated with the operation.
The Search Advocate then immediately warns about the delicacy of the process, which even when done correctly takes a long time for the search engines themselves to process, and thus can lead to critical situations, such as dreaded drops in traffic.
The difficulties with site migration
Changing all the URLs of a site to move them to a new domain, and thus a complete migration, is perhaps one of the most intimidating SEO interventions one can make, because it affects precisely the entire site as a whole.
There are a variety of reasons for taking this step (e.g., domain change after corporate mergers or brand changes), but in general whether we are “completely rebuilding a Web site or simply removing a slash from the end of URLs” we are still performing a site migration, which also requires time and attention from search engines to process the changes.
As Mueller explains, this is due to the very characteristics of search engines such as Google, which “store their index on a per-page basis: therefore, by changing the address or URL of a page, its data must be forwarded somehow, otherwise it is lost” . That is, all signals, all links, all information that Google has in relation to that URL must be forwarded to the new URL.
Google’s recommendations on site migration
To try to reduce the risks and not make mistakes in the migration, the Search Advocate offers a quick guide to the process with basic directions to follow.
- Evaluate options and potential effects
These changes to the site can cause disruptions to the SEO and ranking gained, and so it is important to plan the intervention and carefully evaluate the options, risks, and possible consequences in terms of ranking and timing – to decide what is the best timing to expose the site to a potential drop in traffic.
- Mapping old and new URLs
Before performing the migration, it is a good idea to keep track of all URLs from the old site and the new one, to “control changes later.”
In this way, we can study in advance which resources are to be migrated with a 301 redirect, which ones are to be deleted, etc.: when the process is finished, then we will go to verify that all useful URLs have been transferred and are actually online, and that there are no unexpected responses with pages in 404 status code (resource not found).
- Launching the migration
Now is the time to launch the migration.
Google reminds you to properly implement 301 redirects from the old URLs to the new ones and not to leave out all “internal mentions” of the site, such as links, forms, structured data, sitemaps, and robots.txt files.
- Monitor the outcomes of the migration
The last step is the most important one for the SEO fate of the site: that is, we need to check that all pages have been redirected correctly, using Google Search Console tools.
The time it takes to complete the migration
Mueller’s (short) video also gives us a rough indication of the time it takes Google to complete processing a site migration: in fact, the search engine can take up to several months to finish the modification process on all URLs, although it will prioritize those that are important to the site.
In fact, in the Search Console you can see that the most important pages will be analyzed and modified faster, while the others are subject to slower processing to give Google’s systems a chance to reprocess all the changes.
Also for this reason, Google reminds you that redirects should be kept active for at least a year after migration.
Migrations are really hard, as SEOs, site owners, publishers and webmasters who have already experienced these URL and domain shifts know. Yet, Google wants to “reassure” us that with the right amount of preparation, study, research and attention it is possible to successfully complete this operation and reduce stress, taking advantage of all the tools to detect errors early and monitor the progress of the transfer.
Changing hosting, Google’s official guide
Staying with Google, the Search team has published a support documentation page dedicated to SEO migrations, focusing its advice specifically on hosting changes and techniques to minimize the impact of changing the site’s hosting infrastructure on the site’s performance in Google Search.
Even more specifically, the guidance only covers migrations that do not affect the user-visible URL.
As Google reminds us, changing the hosting infrastructure means changing host providers or moving to a content delivery network ( CDN ), and the ideal process consists of four steps:
- Prepare the new hosting infrastructure, either by uploading content to the new servers or by configuring the CDN network and the source servers, with the appropriate functional tests.
- Begin the site move by changing the domain name DNS settings so that they redirect to the new hosting infrastructure. This step represents the actual moving of the site and begins the process of directing traffic to the new infrastructure.
- Monitor traffic, both from the new hosting and the previous hosting.
- Close the previous hosting infrastructure when we are certain that all users, including Googlebot, are properly receiving content from the new infrastructure and that no one is using the previous one.
Tips for changing hosting correctly
The trickiest part of this operation is probably managing all the steps we need to take before we start the actual infrastructure move.
According to Google, we should start by uploading to the new host provider a copy of the site, intended either as actual HTML files to be replicated to the new hosting platform or as a database to be imported to the new location, and by scrupulously testing that the site is working as intended, verifying that there are no problems of any kind in aspects of user interaction.
A viable solution for testing all functionality prior to the actual publication of the site might be to create a test environment, perhaps with limited access to specific IPs, and the testing process should include oversight of all elements of the site that are open in a Web browser–and thus pages, images, forms, and downloads (e.g., PDF files).
Next, it may be to allow public testing with a temporary host name (such as beta.example.com) for the new infrastructure to test accessibility by browsers, so as to check whether or not Googlebot can reach the site – to prevent the test site from being accidentally indexed, we will add the noindex rule to the HTML or HTTP headers of the pages. To control Googlebot’s behavior (and Google’s access and traffic) to the new hosting infrastructure, we can access the Search Console, create a new one for your site and possibly also for the temporary property. Aspects to consider include checking the firewall configuration or protection against denial of service (DoS) attacks to prevent them from preventing Googlebot from reaching the host provider’s DNS system or servers.
In addition, Google suggests reducing the TTL value (e.g., a few hours) for DNS records as early as a week before the move to speed up the site move: in this way, we allow faster propagation to ISPs of the new settings.
The last step brings us back to Search Console and, specifically, to checking that the site verification in Search Console is still valid after the hosting move and also updating the verification methods chosen in the new site. For example, if we use the verification method via HTML file we must include the current verification file in the new copy of the site, just as verification via meta tags or Google Analytics in CMS templates requires inclusion in the new CMS copy as well.
False SEO myths, what to know about site migration
In short, site migration is definitely a difficult task, but it is certainly not impossible, even though we often read the opposite (or at least exaggerate the magnitude of the task).Just to clarify these concepts, the SEO Mythbusting series on YouTube dedicated an episode to debunk myths about site migration, offering an overview also of domain name changes, site mergers, partial migrations and more.
False myths about site migration
Given the breadth of the topic, it is not surprising that this episode is also the longest ever in the series, running over 20 minutes; the guest is Glenn Gabe (Digital Marketing Consultant, G-Squared Interactive), who opens the episode by recounting an old consulting experience he had, which is helpful in introducing the topic.
Once, he says, “I once helped a large-scale e-Commerce site that had not done 301 redirects to images, which therefore had not been transferred (we also cited this as a frequent error in our appronfondment); therefore, the advice is to never forget to redirect images and visual content as well, and then check to see if the process was successful.” For example, checking the server log files of the old domain to see if traffic has dropped, and when we notice that crawling activity has dropped say goodbye to the site.
It is Gabe again who points out that many site owners are genuinely afraid to start the migration process, because they do not know for sure what might happen; others do the operations too quickly and without having prepared everything properly, reflecting the complexity of the topic and the strength of the main “false myth.”
Indeed, according to SEO urban legends, there will always be a drop in traffic after a domain name change or site migration, but this is not actually the case.
What site migration really is
It is Martin Splitt then who takes the floor and dispels this myth, explaining that first and foremost what a site migration is, which is – literally – the complete transfer from one domain to another, copying virtually the entire URL structure and content, so that at the end of the process you will have a perfect copy of the old site on another domain.
This process does not always imply a drop in traffic: to be precise, traffic starts to decrease on the old domain to resume on the new one. Overall, this does not mean that we are losing traffic, and in general doing this cleanly allows us to complete the job smoothly without losing anything. More critical, however, is only a partial transfer of the site, which could lead to traffic anomalies.
To better explain the concept, Splitt launches into a colorful analogy: in his opinion, site migration can be compared to changing the location of a restaurant or food truck.
When we go to a restaurant, we look for answers to a series of questions, such as “Do I feel welcome? Is the staff friendly? Is the quality of the food good? Is the price right?” and we store the answers in our mental folder for that place-just as Google does with its signals and ranking factorsfor each Web page.
If a friend asks us for a recommendation on a restaurant to try, we’ll probably use the signals we’ve collected to give him the right information and recommendations- “it’s perfect if you like Asian cuisine, it’s a really really nice place, but it’s quite expensive,” and so on.
If the restaurant moves to another area and another location, we will probably have to reevaluate some of the responses, to find out if the features have remained the same or if there has been some variation – to determine if it is the same restaurant or food truck that has only changed areas, keeping, for example, the same quality cuisine and prices, or if something has changed.
All of this also applies to search engines, which must reevaluate what they see and find on the new domain.
New domain name and traffic anomalies
Gabe then asks to focus attention on a specific topic, the domain name change : sometimes the process went smoothly and the site gains strength over time, but in other cases anomalies can occur, such as “a site that, three days later, completely fills up by 70 percent.” The expert asks whether this different behavior can be based on domain history, especially in cases of domains purchased and subsequent migrations.
According to Splitt, these cases are unrelated to the domain’s history, which plays a role mainly in situations — called “complicated” — of sites basically used for spam purposes and then purchased and switched immediately. The advice is to take all precautions so as not to end up in strange issues, using all monitoring tools even in Google Search Console to check that everything has been set up correctly before making the switch.
Anomalies can also occur if we make other changes during the migration, a “risky thing” because it confronts Googlebot with difficulties in understanding and differences between two versions of the site. And this, in turn, can result in the bot having to perform new scans to better understand, also negatively affecting the crawl budget, especially for large sites.
Situations with acquired domains
So these particular situations may depend on various factors, but according to the Googler in principle switching to a domain that we are sure has no past pending loads should be fine. And even if we switch to a domain with a negative history, Google is aware “that domain content changes,” and the Manual Actions Report has a dedicated tool for requesting reconsideration of recently acquired domains. However, we should be aware that depending on how the domain was previously, Google may not immediately consider the action as a migration, and this will then require doing a re-crawl and reworking of the content, and thus more time.
In this regard, Gabe cites another example from his consulting work: there was a client, an e-Commerce site, that had a very long domain name and wanted to reduce the name to the four letters that represented the company; after they finally purchased the new domain and did the transfer, they noticed that something was wrong. They had not done the proper checks and balances and bought the old domain of a “kind of rock band from the past” that was full of “crazy spammy links and all kinds of things”: so they had a traffic crash immediately, which then settled down over time.
This confirms that content can change and Google’s consideration can change as well-even in cases where the domain has a spam history or has been hacked-and so it just takes some time to fix it.
Splitt’s advice is to be sure to clean up anything that might be problematic in advance, so as to give Google time to understand that “things have changed” and there has been a clean slate of the past.
More specifically, when taking over a domain (not just transferring our old site) it is critical to measure what is happening through tools such as Search Console and learn about the health of the domain, possibly considering removing the content, waiting for Google to understand this intervention, eliminate the negative signals, and get things normalized. Only at this point does it make sense to begin the domain transfer in a phased manner, so that-as Google discovers the moved pages-it begins to evaluate the content as a fresh start for the domain.
The false myth about merging sites
The video then goes on to address another myth to dispel, related to merging two sites: many people, says Gabe, simplistically think that putting “one plus one results in two,” but this is not always the case.
Not least because, adds Splitt, combining two sites together is no longer doing a migration, but creating a new site from a merged version of the previous ones: this means that Google has to understand the new content, understand how it moved from the starting domains, but also determine whether it is dealing with a completely different domain or not, because maybe only the URL structure has changed in the transition, or there has been a transfer of some content.
Either way, nothing in this process is as simple as a migration, and Googlebot has to rescan a lot of pages. Depending on the size of the site, this could mean that it takes quite a long time for the search engine to get a clear view of the site, its structure and its current content, and a lot also depends, of course, on what concretely comes together in this merger and the attention given to the process.
Migrated sites, how Google recognizes the new domain
Next, Gabe shifts the focus to another topic, namely what happens for Google when the domain name change is correctly completed and recognized, that is, when a site moves from one domain to another and all redirects are active.
As a first step, Google first checks for similarities between the old and new sites, to be sure that the new site is exactly a perfect copy of the one on the old domain-which, Splitt reiterates, is the true migration of the site. When it ascertains that this is what has happened, Google will begin forwarding all signals from the old domain to the new one, but the speed of this process is completed varies from site to site (ranging from a few days to a few weeks).
Initially, one might notice an increase in crawling activity on the new domain, which gradually drops when Google understands that it is a copy of the site present on another space. At the same time, if everything is normal, crawling and signals will disappear from the old domain and move to the new one.
Webmasters engaged in the migration process can use the Change of Address Tool to give Google additional and clearer signals about what is happening and make it easier for the search engine to understand.
This is, according to Splitt, a useful tool to give explicit indications to Google that the site has moved permanently and that it is therefore not a temporary change, which could then speed up the completion of the process because it gives Google a way to skip some steps, being certain that the move was voluntary and intentional.
Migration and content quality: new assessments after the switch?
Another “myth” Gabe has encountered and heard in his work concerns the readjustment of quality ratings by Google after a migration. In fact, Splitt explains that Google constantly reassesses the quality of content, regardless of whether the site has been moved, and reiterates that “if your content is now considered high quality, that doesn’t mean it always will be.”
This is also true in reverse: low quality or spammy content could, in theory, be considered high quality if improvements are made.
In any case, as far as migration is concerned, in principle if there was high-quality content on the old site that is moved identically to the new domain, then the signals will also follow.
Problems with the transfer, better not to go back
Another piece of advice that comes from Martin Splitt concerns how to deal with any problems that arise after completing the migration: a common feeling, especially when traffic drops occur and previous positions are not recovered, leads one to consider reversing the process to restore the initial status.
For Google, this is a step that should never be performed except as a last resort, when there are no other options and all the checks performed on the new site have not yielded results or explanations for the collapse.
In most cases, in fact, it is enough to check that there are no technical problems that could interfere and cause the negative effect: for example, Google might not have recognized the redirects, or the old site was crawled infrequently and thus more time is needed for the bot to pick up the redirects. Other situations could be algorithmic changes that have occurred in the meantime, or even reporting spammy content or manual actions, and so on.
If we are certain that we have performed all the steps correctly and, after a month, the traffic has not improved and returned to the levels of the old site, it might be time to seek outside help to find out the cause of the situation.
In any case, it is always important to compare the traffic between the old and new domains: if the old site continues to have all the historical traffic, this is a sign that there was some error in the migration process. Only in this sense, says Splitt, might it make sense to “reverse the process for a while, go back, figure out what happened, and then reorganize.”
Migration and file robots, tips for not getting it wrong
Another technical issue covered in the episode concerns the handling of blocked URLs in the robots.txt file: in fact, Gabe asks whether it makes sense to unblock resources in the transition to the new site, but Splitt is quite adamant in stating that “there is no need.”
According to the Googler, there’s a reason the site doesn’t want those URLs crawled, so there’s no reason for the crawler to scan them with the migration to the new site.
The most common problems with site migration
The last topic analyzed concerns the most common problems Google finds on newly migrated sites: the list includes many technical variables, such as robots.txt completely blocking pages on the new domain, a robots noindex meta tag on all new content, or failure to switch Google Search Console settings to the new domain.
Yet, according to Splitt, the most common mistake is making too many modifications and changes at the same time during the migration, adding “too many variables” that also make it difficult to understand the effects of the work. Indeed, in such cases, it becomes difficult to identify with certainty the cause of a problem, which could stem from the new URL structure, different technology used, new content, migration, Google algorithmic changes, penalties or sanctions, and so on.
Google’s final advice is to take it one step at a time: focus first on domain transfer, then change text decks, then possibly intervene with other things. “Whatever you’re doing, do it step by step,” says Splitt, waiting for Google to crawl and process the site again before putting more hands on it.
Site migration, five frequent mistakes in the transfer
What has been written should have helped us to better understand what website migration is and why it is a delicate process for the SEO of our projects, but also to dispel some negative myths surrounding the topic. Yet, we said, some negative effects can always occur, especially in the early stages after the work is completed, and most importantly there is the possibility of running into migration mistakes that turn into trouble.
The critical issues with the process of relocating a site
In general, we can say that failure in website migration occurs when a number of components come into play, such as an underestimation of the risks involved in the transfer process, poor prior planning of the various steps, the absence of a checklist of the operations to be performed (or the failure to comply with its points), and, last but not least, the lack of necessary technical skills on the part of those performing the migration.
- Forgetting to transfer images
One of the most frequent mistakes made during migration, especially when transferring from CMS to CMS, is forgetting or neglecting images. These media assets are a part of the SEO strategy especially for eCommerce, which also benefit and traffic from Google Images searches. Therefore, losing rankings for image searches can also mean loss of conversions.
It is Giuseppe Liguori again who explains that – in his experience – there is no easy way to migrate images from CMS to CMS. To perform this operation in the best possible way, he advises to “keep the old folders still there for a long enough period, and then wait for Google to understand that the page has changed,” premising, however, that it is “not the optimal solution because 301s would have to be handled there as well, but it is not always feasible.”
- Not performing redirects correctly
The second category of errors concerns the mismanagement of redirects, which are the most important tool for avoiding inefficiencies and limiting problems. In this case, the mistakes to avoid are temporary redirects ( 301 redirects should be permanent or at least remain active as long as possible, so as not to result in other types and error statuses) or “one-to-many” type redirects to the new home, which Google interprets as “soft 404s.”
A more effective strategy involves, in case an old page does not have an exact match with one on the new site, redirecting the resource to a category page or a page that is related in terms of content covered.
- Do not set a custom page for 404 error
Let’s move on to a “concept” error, so to speak: a good strategy for limiting risks and disruptions cannot fail to include the possibility of something going wrong. Therefore, with a view to still providing attention to the user and his or her experience on the site, it is always preferable during the migration phase to make sure to design custom pages for the 404 error, the most dreaded status for sites.
By reading the information on this “page not found,” perhaps peppered with a tongue-in-cheek message or tips for landing on other useful resources, the reader will not find himself disoriented but may have pointers to continue navigating within the new website
- Robots.txt file not configured correctly
Far more serious are the consequences of errors related to failure to configure or misconfiguration of the robots.txt file at the end of the site transfer process: in the regular procedure, it is necessary to update the file and avoid the possibility that resources or sections of the site that should instead be opened may be blocked.
Another frequent critical issue is the use of the disallow directive in the robots.txt on folders that contain CSS and Javascript files that are needed by browsers to properly draw the page and by spiders such as Googlebot to properly scan and index the contained elements.
- Not checking backlinks
The last mistake we add to this quick list of problems related to migrating a site concerns a sensitive topic for SEO, namely backlinks, which, as we frequently repeat, are among the most important ranking signals on Google.
Therefore, in order to avoid jolts to the ranking achieved after much work and effort, it is necessary to proceed with special criterion and care at every stage of the migration and strictly verify the settings of redirects on pages that had received backlinks over time.
Verify backlinks even after redirects
In addition to the standard changes, such as changes to social profile links in case of domain transfer or rebranding, the general advice is to proceed with updating the referring URLs of incoming links to the migrated site, possibly contacting the individual webmasters of these sites (starting with those who manage the most important and highest-trust domains) to report the migration and thus request the consequent change to the links.
The most effective way of doing this starts in the early stages of the migration process, when one can download the list of resources pointing to the divested site thanks to the classic backlink analysis tools, then checking after the transfer is complete that the redirects are working and if there is the possibility of linking directly to the new resources, thus also simplifying the path that Google has to follow to reach the correct destination.
Migrations and site traffic drops, 11 possible causes
Despite the cautions, however, we can still run into some mistake, forgetfulness or carelessness that risks compromising the result and causes a drop in the site’s organic traffic: if, in fact, it is natural to experience fluctuations in visit volumes and in rankings in the early stages following the process, the situation can become critical in the presence of errors such as wrong redirects, broken internal links, blockages in robots.txt files or in the sitemap that can cause the site’s performance to plummet.
Uncover the problems present with a technical analysis
The first step to resolving this issue is to have “a comprehensive list of the problems plaguing your site, so you can check and correct any problems that might arise,” Ludwig Makhyan tells us in Search Engine Journal.
We can use a tool such as ScreamingFrog or SEOZoom’s spider to scan the site and find any page-specific problems, such as
- Redirects
- Broken links
- Duplicate content
- Metadata issues
- txt blocked URLs.
Another tip is to launch a master scan and back up the data before any major Web site migration or redesign, so you have data for later comparison and see what has changed. At the same time, you should save a copy of the HTML and layout of the site before redesigning it so that you can review and revisit it if necessary .
The 11 most common causes of traffic drops after a migration
Based on his experience, Makhyan then lists what are the 11 most common reasons for traffic drops after a migration, related to the complexity of the process, which can lead to the failure of the operation in terms of site profitability.
However, the advice given by Google applies: it is better not to go back, but to try to solve all the problems and insist on the new site, unless you find yourself without any other solution, because all the checks performed on the new domain have not yielded results or identify explanations for the collapse.
- Changes to canonical tags
We look for pages on the site that have lost traffic or ranking by analyzing the canonical tags to see if they have been changed in a way that may have affected traffic.
Some of the common problems with these tags are:
- Indication of irrelevant pages.
- Programming problems (example: missing trailing slash).
- Indication of old URLs that no longer exist.
- Robots.txt and/or Content that cannot be indexed.
The second step is to check the robots.txt file or pages that have lost traffic to see if they are still indexable, because the drop could result from a problem with indexing. Google provides a robots.txt file testing tool (Robots.txt file tester) that can help us identify and correct any problems we may be experiencing with the file.
- Loss of metadata
Migration may cause website metadata to disappear during the process, because columns related to title tags or meta descriptions may be lost in the database transfer.
Scanning with crawling and spidering tools allows us to verify that the titles and description are still accurate and intact; if not, it will be necessary to reinsert these important metadata, either by finding the previous ones thanks to the backup created before the migration or by doing a quick Google search of the site using the command “site: URL.com” to re-read those in the engine’s memory.
- Loss of page speed
In the case of a complete website migration or server change, you may risk losing some page speed in the process, so it is useful to check the technical performance of pages with declining traffic to monitor the situation.
In cases of actual loss of speed, it may be necessary to:
- Verify that the CDN is included in the migration and working properly.
- Check that the caching system is installed and working properly.
- Check PageSpeed Insights for easy solutions that can increase site speed.
Also, do not forget that server problems may also plague the site and not allow it to load fast enough.
- Internal links
Internal links are a great natural way to keep people on the site and also help search engines move from page to page on the site. After a migration, it is critical to check that internal links in blog posts and pages link back to the current new site and do not refer to the old one.
- Content accessibility issues
Google Search Console lists all indexed pages on the site in the Coverage Status Report, which flags pages with error, valid with warning, valid or excluded. At the conclusion of the transfer process, therefore, it is advisable to monitor this report to find out if any accessibility problems have arisen.
- Broken redirects
Site redirects are an integral part of any migration, Makhyan points out, and “if you don’t have a 301 redirect plan in place during the site migration, you’re going to have a lot of problems later,” the expert explains.
The risk is losing traffic because “search engines are not told where your site has been migrated,” but visitors may also be disoriented in the process.
We need to go looking for any problematic redirect loops or chains by trying to:
- Clean up all redirect loops.
- Follow the redirect chains to verify that the redirection is accurate.
- Check that old URLs are redirecting correctly to new URLs, updating links to pages with 301 linking to the new page instead.
- Check that the start URL and destination URL are accurate.
- Also check the end status and status code.
Another tip is to use redirects from old pages with 301 red irects and not 302 redirects, which are not permanent.
- Lost external links
External links remain a powerful signal to search engines, and one can simplistically say that a great site with many organic links will often have high rankings.
After a migration, it may be useful to contact site owners who were hosting backlinks to our old domain to ask them to update their links to the new site or redirect links to similar pages on the new project.
Otherwise, the presence of broken links or links pointing to pages on the old site that were not redirected to the new one may cause problems with search rankings.
- Platform/hosting issues
In the case of platform or server shifts, one must watch out for some small problems that could decrease site traffic:
- Firewalls that block search engine bots.
- Platforms that use JavaScript, which is harder for bots to execute.
- Low speeds and poor performance.
- Country restrictions.
In these cases, it is useful to carefully examine all pages that have had traffic drop, first trying a test drive of the new platform or server “before going all in and migrating your site,” which may give you the information you need to avoid later problems.
- Images
Another possible cause of decreased organic traffic are errors with image URLs, frequent when the site receives a lot of traffic from these resources. To avoid nasty surprises, we must be sure to link to the right images and the correct new domain.
If using a CDN network, it should be easy to make a quick change to transfer all the images to the new site. If we use a CNAME to create the image URLs, it is critical to verify that the CNAME is pointing to the new site and/or server.
- Google Update.
If in the previous cases the responsibility for the problems was on us (or at any rate on the person who took care of the migration), sometimes fate can also have a hand in it: this is the case of transfers that arrive at the same time as a Google algorithm update, which can then completely change the SERPs.
In such a situation, therefore, the loss of ranking and traffic is not strictly related to the migration, but depends precisely on the search engine updates.
How to solve problems and recover traffic
Collecting and benchmarking data before the website migration takes place is crucial, says Ludwig Makhyan, who then recommends as a priority element keeping track of all changes before and after this delicate process.
Correcting all the problems on the site takes time and patience, “but SEO always requires a long-term approach”: specifically, we need to examine the site, check for these problems and make the necessary corrections. When we are satisfied with the changes, then, you still have to wait a few days or weeks to see if traffic returns to pre-migration levels.
If, after this period, traffic is still drastically lower than it was before the migration, it may be necessary to seek specialized support to find any troublesome problems that we cannot identify.
