SEO site migration services that protect your rankings
Replatforming, redesigns, domain changes and URL restructures handled so your organic traffic comes with you
I’m Dan George, an SEO consultant with over 20 years in B2B marketing. Site migrations are one of the highest-risk events in SEO. Done without proper planning they destroy rankings that took years to build, often permanently. Done properly, they preserve what you have and create the opportunity to improve it.
I work with you before, during and after the migration: planning the redirect map, auditing the new site before it goes live, checking crawl behaviour post-launch and monitoring for traffic drops in the weeks that follow. The goal is that Google sees the change as seamless, not as a signal that something has gone wrong.
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What site migration SEO covers
A migration can involve a new platform, a new domain, new URLs, a redesign, or all of these at once. Each introduces different risks. These are the areas I cover:
Pre-migration audit
Before anything moves, I crawl the existing site and document what is ranking, what traffic each key page receives, and what the current URL structure looks like. This is the baseline everything else is measured against.
Redirect mapping
A complete, tested redirect map from every old URL to its new equivalent, prioritised by traffic and ranking value. Old URLs that are not properly redirected become dead ends that destroy the authority those pages had accumulated.
Pre-launch new site audit
I audit the staging site before launch to catch broken redirects, missing pages, incorrect canonicals, blocked crawl paths and on-page issues before they go live. It is far easier to fix problems at this stage than to unpick them after launch.
Post-launch monitoring
Daily monitoring of crawl errors, indexation and ranking shifts in the weeks following launch. If something goes wrong, early detection and quick action usually limits the damage. I stay involved through the critical post-launch window, not just the day of launch.
Domain and platform migrations
Moving from one domain to another or switching platforms (WordPress to Shopify, Magento to WooCommerce, custom CMS to a new build) carries additional risk around URL structure, content carry-over and platform-specific SEO settings. I handle the full checklist for each scenario.
Migration recovery
If a migration has already gone wrong and rankings have dropped, I diagnose what happened and work through the recovery: finding missing redirects, fixing crawl issues, identifying lost pages and rebuilding what can be rebuilt. Not all of it is recoverable, but most of it is if you act quickly.
Why site migrations go wrong
The most common cause is a developer launching a new site without an SEO sign-off. Redirects are missing or pointing to the wrong pages, content is restructured without thinking about what was ranking and why, or the staging site gets indexed before launch. Any one of these can cause significant traffic loss within days of going live.
The second most common cause is treating a migration as a web project rather than an SEO project. Web agencies and developers are focused on the build and the design. SEO is often an afterthought, or something that gets handed to someone else once the site is live. By that point, the damage is already done.
I work with your web agency or developer as part of the project, not as an external reviewer brought in after the fact. The earlier I am involved, the less there is to fix.
Migrations and AI visibility
A migration is also one of the riskier moments for AI visibility. If AI tools have indexed your old URLs in their training data or live search, a poorly handled migration can remove you from AI results as well as traditional ones. Getting the technical foundations right during a migration protects both channels.
A migration also creates an opportunity to improve your AI visibility if the old site had structural problems. Clean URLs, improved content structure and proper schema markup added during the rebuild can put you in a stronger position than before the migration, not just an equivalent one.
My free AI Visibility Checker shows whether your business is currently appearing in AI search results, which is a useful baseline to establish before a migration changes anything.
How I run a site migration
Here is how I approach a migration from start to finish.
1.
Crawl and baseline the existing site
Full crawl of the existing site, ranking data exported from Search Console, traffic analysis by URL. Every page that matters is identified and documented before anything changes.
2.
Build and test the redirect map
Every old URL mapped to its new equivalent, tested and validated before launch. Redirect chains identified and collapsed. High-value pages prioritised. The map is delivered in a format your developer can implement directly, with nothing ambiguous.
3.
Audit staging and sign off before launch
I crawl the staging environment before anything goes live. Redirects tested, canonicals checked, robots.txt verified, search console configured, sitemap ready. Nothing launches until I have signed it off.
4.
Monitor post-launch and fix fast
Daily crawl monitoring, ranking checks and Search Console review for the first four weeks post-launch. If errors surface, I diagnose and fix quickly. Most migration problems that are going to appear show up within the first two weeks.
Reviews
His input has already helped boost traffic and clarity across the site.
Highly recommended.
Since partnering with them, we've seen results very quickly – our platform's visibility has improved very quickly, and we now rank highly on search engines with new keywords. Very happy with their work and will definitely be long-term customers. We highly recommend Little Green Agency to anyone looking to grow their online presence.
Case StudIES
Results from real clients
Professional services • Networking platform
OpenIntro
OpenIntro is a curated expert-booking platform that lets founders, operators and investors connect directly with experienced leaders. When they came to us, strong technical fundamentals were missing and search engines were struggling to fully explore the site.
We ran a full technical SEO audit using Screaming Frog, SE Ranking and Google Search Console, then worked through the priority fixes over the following months.
409% increase in search impressions. 130% more clicks from Google.
Creative studio • Letterpress printing, Leicestershire
Green Machine Creative
Green Machine Creative is a letterpress printing studio based in Melton Mowbray. They came to us for local SEO after years of relying almost entirely on word of mouth, with very little organic visibility to show for a genuinely well-regarded business.
We focused on the technical foundations, local signals and content structure that were holding their rankings back.
368%more organic clicks. 19xgrowth in search impressions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Site migration SEO: common questions
Will my rankings definitely drop during a migration?
Not necessarily. Some temporary fluctuation is normal as Google processes the changes, but with proper planning and a clean redirect map, most well-ranking pages recover within a few weeks. The significant drops you hear about are almost always the result of poor preparation, not the migration itself.
When should I bring you in during the project?
As early as possible. Ideally before the new site structure is finalised, so URL decisions, content decisions and redirect logic can be planned together rather than retrofitted. If you are already mid-build, bring me in now rather than after launch. If you have already launched and rankings have dropped, contact me today.
My web agency says they handle SEO as part of the build. Is that enough?
Sometimes, but it depends heavily on how seriously they take it. Basic on-page SEO during a build is not the same as a migration-specific SEO process. If your agency cannot show you a pre-migration crawl, a full redirect map and a staging audit checklist, an independent SEO review before launch is worth doing.
Can you help if the migration has already happened and rankings have dropped?
Yes. The first step is diagnosing what went wrong: missing redirects, lost pages, crawl issues, content gaps. Many post-migration drops are recoverable if you act quickly. The longer they are left, the harder recovery becomes as Google updates its index around the new state of the site.
How much does migration SEO cost?
It depends on the size of the site and the complexity of the migration. A straightforward redesign on the same domain with no URL changes is a different scope to a platform migration with a new domain and thousands of redirects. I quote based on your specific situation after an initial conversation.
Planning a new site? Get the SEO right from the start.
Most migration traffic losses are avoidable. The ones that happen are almost always down to SEO being treated as an afterthought rather than part of the build. If you are planning a redesign, replatform or domain change, a conversation now costs nothing. Fixing a failed migration later costs considerably more.
Get in touch before your launch date, not after it. No pressure, no jargon, no hard sell.
Call 0116 488 9171 or click the button.