SEO
Changing domain, CMS or technology infrastructure is a critical moment for a site’s visibility. If Google does not link the old and new pages correctly, traffic and rankings can fall. With SEO migration we guide the move from the old site to the new one, preserving continuity and authority.
Over time a site becomes a recognisable entity thanks to its content, links, citations and historical data.
SEO migration exists to preserve that continuity. URLs, content and structure need to remain readable and coherent after the move as well, through technical and semantic SEO work.
Otherwise the pages that generate traffic, sales or enquiries can lose visibility and send users towards resources that can no longer be reached.
Below are the most common scenarios in which an SEO migration becomes necessary in order to protect the site’s authority.
| Scenario | What changes | Main risk |
|---|---|---|
| Moving from one domain to another | The site moves to a new web address. | Google has to understand that the entity is the same. If it does not, the authority built up on the old domain will not transfer to the new one. |
| Change of CMS or platform | The site is moved to a new content management system (for example from Magento to Shopify, or from WordPress to a custom build). | The structure of the code, the metadata and the performance can all change drastically, disorientating crawlers. |
| Change of URL structure | Paths, categories, subfolders or page naming conventions change. | If they are not redirected correctly, ranked pages return a 404 error, interrupting the flow of authority (link equity). |
| Move to HTTPS | The site adopts the security protocol (from http:// to https://). | If the signals are inconsistent, duplication arises that fragments the trust Google places in the entity. |
| Merging several sites | Several domains or company divisions are combined into a single portal. | There is a high risk of creating conflicts between different entities, losing relevant content and the strength of historical links. |
| Change of TLD | The site moves from one domain extension to another, for example from .it to .com or from .com to .de. | If the move is not handled correctly, the site can lose visibility in searches in the target country and disperse part of the authority built up over time. |
There are also migrations with no change of URL, such as moving the site to a new server, host or CDN. In these cases the visible address of the pages stays the same, but the move still has to be handled carefully. Response times, server stability, page availability and technical configurations can all affect crawling by search engines and the user experience.
The risk involved in an SEO migration varies according to the role the site plays in the business. An e-commerce site, a blog and a B2B site generate value in different ways and call for different priorities:
E-commerce
In the SEO migration of an e-commerce site, we concentrate on the pages that have a direct bearing on traffic and sales: categories, product pages and brand pages.
Brochure sites
On corporate sites geared to generating enquiries, the most delicate pages are the service pages, the case studies and the contact pages.
Editorial blogs
In the SEO migration of a blog, the risk concerns editorial pages such as articles, guides and informational content that reach users in the early stages of the buying journey.
Whatever the type of site, an SEO migration has to be planned before go-live. Doing so reduces the risk of dispersing authority, traffic and investment already made.
Investing in a new site, platform or domain is not enough on its own to protect organic traffic. Unmapped URLs, deleted pages, incorrect redirects and badly moved content can all cause drops in visibility.
SEO migration consultancy heads off these problems before go-live, maintaining continuity between the old and the new site and protecting authority, strategic queries and valuable pages.
Before publication, we identify the pages that bring visits, leads, sales or enquiries. This allows us to set the priorities for the migration and to reduce the risk of losing visibility on the pages that contribute most to the business.
We analyse the queries in order to understand what need the old URL was answering. During the migration we choose the new destination that is most consistent with the content, the search intent and the commercial value.
When the domain, CMS, structure or URL paths change, Google has to be able to recognise the link between old and new pages. Correct mapping and precise 301 redirects maintain continuity between the previous site and the new version.
A badly handled migration can force a company to win back traffic, rankings and conversions after publication. Planning in advance reduces the risk of losing the return on investment already made in SEO, content, development and branding.
We start from the value the site has already built: ranked pages, organic traffic, clicks, impressions, content, backlinks and the sections that contribute to the business. We analyse the current site and the new structure in order to plan the move before go-live.
We examine every page of the current site, including those in the sitemap and those reachable through internal links. We use crawling tools and data from Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console to build a complete baseline.
Not all pages carry the same weight. We assess which URLs generate traffic, clicks, impressions, ranked keywords, backlinks or commercial enquiries. This lets us establish which pages deserve priority during the migration.
We define the correspondence between the existing pages and the new destinations, organising the URLs by content type. Where there is no direct match, we analyse queries, clicks and impressions to determine the destination most consistent with search intent and commercial value.
We configure the 301 redirects and test them before go-live, preferably in a staging environment. We check that the old pages point to the new destinations with no errors or broken paths.
After publication we monitor Google Search Console, analytics and SEO tools to detect 404 errors and changes in keywords, organic traffic, clicks, impressions and conversions. We act promptly on any drops or indexing problems in order to keep the new site’s organic performance stable.
We have worked on SEO migration projects in a variety of settings, supporting companies facing domain changes, URL reorganisations or moves to new versions of their site. The objective has always been to preserve organic traffic, authority and commercial continuity.
SEO migration is the work that makes it possible to change site, domain, CMS or URL structure without dispersing the value built up over time on Google. It maintains the link between old and new pages, protecting organic traffic, rankings, authority and commercial opportunities.
The risk is losing organic traffic, rankings on relevant keywords, commercial enquiries, sales and backlinks acquired over time. The most frequent errors are pages that cannot be found, missing redirects, content deleted without any clear rationale, and prolonged indexing blocks. The main problem is that the financial damage often only becomes apparent weeks after publication.
Yes. Categories, product pages, navigation filters and commercial landing pages can generate revenue directly. If these pages change address without the right precautions, users arriving from search engines can land on 404 errors or on generic pages, interrupting the buying journey.
The site has already required investment in content, development, SEO, branding and traffic acquisition. A badly handled migration can disperse part of that value. We manage SEO migration in order to protect the authority and traffic already built, reducing the risk of having to win back what had already been achieved.
Contact our experts for further details