How Do I Move My Website Without Losing SEO?
You move a website without losing SEO by doing four things: capture every existing URL before the move, map each one to its new destination, switch everything in a single coordinated launch, and monitor indexing for weeks after. Rushed migrations are the most common self-inflicted SEO disaster.
The launch order
- Crawl and freeze your current URL list.
- Build the redirect map, old to new, no exceptions.
- Keep paths identical wherever possible. Same content, same slugs.
- Launch in one window, off peak.
- Update the sitemap, resubmit in Search Console.
- Watch for 404s and index drops daily for two weeks.
The free toolchain
Generate the redirect CSV with the Redirect Map Generator. Post launch, run the Broken Link Checker on key pages and the Sitemap and Robots Checker to confirm nothing is blocked.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much traffic drop is normal?
A brief dip for days to two weeks. A drop beyond that means missed redirects.
Can I change URLs and content at once?
You can, but if rankings then drop you cannot tell which change caused it. One change at a time.
Related reading
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