Migrating your website can feel like a risky move, but with careful planning, you can keep your search rankings stable and sometimes even improve them. Here’s a step-by-step approach to help you protect your SEO authority and performance during a website migration.

Start with a Detailed Audit

Begin by taking stock of what currently drives value on your site. Use tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics and your preferred SEO software to identify:

• Top-performing pages based on traffic and conversions
• Backlinks pointing to your site
• Pages that rank well for important keywords
  This audit helps you understand what’s at stake and ensures critical assets won’t be lost in the process.

Create a Comprehensive Redirect Plan

One of the most common causes of lost rankings during migration is missing or poorly implemented redirects. Map every old URL to its new equivalent using 301 redirects. This signals to search engines that your content has permanently moved and helps transfer link equity to your new pages.

Double-check your redirect plan to avoid:

• Redirect chains, where one redirect points to another
• Redirect loops, which can trap crawlers and users
• Redirecting pages to irrelevant destinations

Test Before You Go Live

Build and thoroughly test your new site on a staging environment. Check for:

• Broken links and missing pages
• Properly implemented redirects
• Updated canonical tags and hreflang attributes
• Correct sitemap and robots.txt configuration
  Use crawl tools like Screaming Frog or Sitebulb to scan your staging site for technical issues.

Keep Internal Links Up to Date

Even if you have redirects in place, it’s better to update internal links to point directly to the new URLs. This reduces crawl time and strengthens your site architecture, making it easier for search engines to index your pages efficiently.

Submit Your New Sitemap and Monitor Performance

After migration, upload your updated sitemap to Google Search Console. Keep an eye on:

• Index coverage reports for errors
• Organic traffic and keyword rankings
• Crawl errors and server response issues
  Early detection allows you to fix issues before they have a bigger impact.

Communicate Changes Externally

If possible, update important backlinks to point directly to your new URLs rather than relying solely on redirects. Inform partners, directories and key stakeholders about your migration. This helps preserve link equity and improves the accuracy of external citations.

Learn and Iterate

Website migrations don’t always go perfectly, even with careful preparation. Track performance over time, gather data on what worked and what didn’t, and use those insights to refine your SEO strategy moving forward.

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