--- title: "How to keep SEO traffic during a site migration" author: "Performetic Ekibi" url: "https://www.performetic.com/en/blog/website-migration-seo-checklist" published: "2026-05-28T08:00:00.000Z" updated: "2026-10-05T01:22:48.816Z" --- # How to keep SEO traffic during a site migration > To keep SEO traffic during a site migration, map every old URL to its most relevant new URL with a permanent 301 redirect. Preserve content, titles and structured data, update internal links and sitemaps, and use the Change of Address tool only if the domain changes. Google recommends keeping redirects live for at least one year. ## How do you keep SEO traffic during a site migration? You keep SEO traffic during a migration by redirecting every old URL to its closest new equivalent with a permanent 301, preserving content, titles and structured data, updating internal links and XML sitemaps, and watching Search Console closely after launch. Google recommends keeping those redirects in place for as long as possible, generally at least one year. Replatforming from WooCommerce, Magento or a custom build to Shopify is often a smart growth decision. A poorly planned move, however, can wipe out years of organic visibility within weeks. The new platform is rarely the culprit. The damage comes from changed URLs, content that quietly disappears during the move and redirects nobody remembered to set up. ## Which types of site migration are riskiest? Google splits site moves into two groups: moves where URLs stay the same and moves where they change. If only your hosting or server changes, risk is relatively low. Once URLs change, every old address needs a new destination, and that is where most of the work lives. | Migration type | Do URLs change? | Example | Change of Address tool | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Hosting or server change | No | Same domain, new server | Not needed | | Platform change | Usually yes | WooCommerce to Shopify | Not needed if the domain stays | | HTTP to HTTPS | Yes, the protocol | http URLs become https | Not used | | URL structure change | Yes | /product/123 becomes /products/leather-bag | Not used | | Domain change | Yes | oldbrand.com to newbrand.com | Used | Platform changes are the most common scenario and the most underestimated. Shopify, for instance, generates URLs from fixed patterns: products live under /products/ and collections under /collections/. Even if your domain stays exactly the same, almost every product and category URL will change. Review the new URL structure on a staging store before you commit to anything. ## What should you prepare before the migration? ### How do you build a complete URL inventory? Your migration is only as good as your list of old URLs. Build it from several sources rather than one: - A full crawl of the current site. - Every existing XML sitemap. - Pages with clicks, exported from the Search Console Performance report. - Landing pages from your analytics tool. - Pages that earn backlinks from other sites. - Product image URLs. If Google Images sends you traffic, those addresses change too. Next to each URL, add recent clicks and revenue. When testing time comes, you will know exactly which pages to check first. ### How do you build a 301 redirect map? A redirect map is a spreadsheet that pairs every old URL with its new destination. The core rule is one to one: an old product page should point to the same product on the new site. Here is an example. | Old URL (example) | New URL (example) | Note | | --- | --- | --- | | /product/black-leather-bag-123 | /products/black-leather-bag | Direct product match | | /category/womens-bags | /collections/womens-bags | Category match | | /product/last-season-wallet-88 | /collections/wallets | Discontinued, closest category | | /blog/leather-care | /blogs/journal/leather-care | Content moved as is | For discontinued products, choose the closest alternative product or category. Avoid sending hundreds of old URLs to the homepage, because Google may treat redirects to irrelevant destinations as soft 404s. Avoid chains as well: if A redirects to B and B redirects to C, update the map so A points straight to C. ## What should you do on launch day? 1. **Remove staging blocks.** Make sure robots.txt disallow rules and noindex tags from staging did not make it to production. 2. **Deploy and test redirects.** Check a sample: every old URL should reach the right page in a single hop with a 301 status code. 3. **Verify canonical tags.** Each page should declare its new URL as canonical. 4. **Update internal links.** Navigation, footer, product descriptions and blog posts should link to new URLs directly instead of relying on redirects. 5. **Submit the new sitemap.** Add the new XML sitemap in Search Console. 6. **Run the Change of Address tool if the domain changed.** Both the old and new properties must be verified in Search Console. 7. **Check tracking and markup.** Analytics tags, ad pixels, structured data and any hreflang annotations must work on the new site. 8. **Update product feeds.** Point product links in Merchant Center and your ad accounts to the new URLs. ## When should you use the Change of Address tool? The Change of Address tool in Search Console tells Google that your site has moved from one domain or subdomain to another. Before using it, you need to verify both properties and have your 301 redirects from old to new URLs live. It is not meant for a platform change on the same domain, an HTTP to HTTPS switch or changes to URL paths only. In those cases, Google learns the new addresses from correctly configured redirects, updated internal links and fresh sitemaps. ## What should you monitor in Search Console after launch? - **Page indexing report:** watch Not found (404) and Page with redirect counts, and how quickly new URLs get indexed. - **Performance report:** compare before and after periods by page and by query. - **URL Inspection tool:** check your highest revenue pages one by one and see which canonical Google selected. - **Crawl Stats report:** keep an eye on server response times and crawl errors. Google notes that for a medium sized site most pages move within a few weeks, while larger sites can take longer. Ranking fluctuations during that window are normal. Do not overlook the speed of your new theme either, since a slow storefront can undo the gains of a clean migration. Our article on [Core Web Vitals and conversion rate](/en/blog/core-web-vitals-conversion-rate) covers what to check. ## What are the most common site migration mistakes? - Carrying a staging noindex tag or robots.txt block over to the live site. - Redirecting all old URLs to the homepage. - Using a 302 temporary redirect for a permanent move. - Creating redirect chains. - Rewriting content, titles and the category structure at the same time as the move. Separate the variables so you can find the cause if something breaks. - Removing redirects after a few months. - Forgetting image URLs in the redirect map. ## How long should redirects stay in place? Google recommends keeping redirects for as long as possible, generally at least one year. In practice the safest choice is to never remove them, especially for URLs that have backlinks. Links on other websites keep sending visitors and authority for years. If you would like an expert review of your migration plan before launch, the Performetic team offers a [free growth analysis](/en/contact). Redirect mapping and post launch monitoring are also part of our [SEO service](/en/services/seo). ## Key takeaways - Build a complete URL inventory from crawls, sitemaps, Search Console and analytics before you migrate. - Redirect every old URL to its most relevant new equivalent in one hop with a permanent 301, and avoid mass homepage redirects. - On launch day, check noindex blocks, canonical tags, internal links and the new sitemap. - Use the Change of Address tool only when the domain or subdomain changes. - Monitor the Page indexing and Performance reports after launch and keep redirects for at least a year. ## FAQ ### Is a traffic drop after a site migration normal? A short dip is normal. Google needs time to crawl the new URLs and transfer signals, which for a medium sized site usually takes a few weeks. If the decline keeps deepening after that, check Search Console for redirect errors, leftover noindex tags and important pages that are not being indexed. ### When should I use the Change of Address tool? Use it only when your domain or subdomain changes, for example moving from oldbrand.com to newbrand.com. Before submitting, verify both properties in Search Console and make sure 301 redirects are live. It is not used for a platform change on the same domain or for an HTTP to HTTPS switch. ### Where should discontinued product URLs redirect? First look for the closest alternative product that meets the same need. If there is none, redirect to the category the product belonged to. When no relevant destination exists, returning a 404 or 410 is better than redirecting to the homepage, which Google may treat as a soft 404. ### How long should 301 redirects stay live? Google recommends keeping redirects for as long as possible, generally at least one year. For URLs that have backlinks or still receive visits, the safest option is to keep them permanently. Removing redirects too early means losing visitors and authority that still arrive through old links on other sites. ## Sources - [Google Search Central: Site moves with URL changes](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes) - [Google Search Central: Redirects and Google Search](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/301-redirects) - [Search Console Help: Change of Address tool](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/83106) - [Search Console Help: Page indexing report](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7440203) - [Google Search Central: Site moves without URL changes](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-no-url-changes)