Why migrations go wrong
Most traffic losses after a new website come from a handful of avoidable mistakes: old URLs that no longer exist and do not redirect, content cut in the name of a cleaner design, titles and headings lost in the move, and a new site that is slower than the old one.
The migration plan
- Benchmark: record current traffic, rankings and top pages so the effect of launch can be measured.
- Inventory: list every URL that has traffic, links or rankings, from Search Console, analytics, backlink data and a full crawl.
- Redirect map: map each old URL to its closest new equivalent with a permanent (301) redirect, avoiding chains.
- Staging checks: titles, headings, canonicals, structured data, internal links and speed on the new site before it goes live.
- Launch and monitor: test redirects on launch day, submit the new sitemap and watch Search Console for errors in the following weeks.
Redesign with a purpose
A redesign is the best chance to fix structural problems: a clearer navigation, stronger service pages, better internal linking and faster templates. I combine the design work with technical SEO so the new site starts ahead.
Any platform to any platform
WordPress to Laravel, a page builder to a custom theme, one store platform to another: the principles are the same. If your site is a store, see e-commerce development.
Proof
The Laravel rebuild case study shows a legacy migration that carried rankings across and made the site three times faster.