Traffic that finally converts
Technical audit with crawl and speed fixes, buyer-intent on-page work, internal links rebuilt.
Visits 2,140 → 4,432 · orders 116 → 149
For UK businesses changing platform, domain or design, and for the agencies and developers building the new site
By Muhammad Zohaib Ameer, SEO specialist · Updated November 14, 2026 · 8 min read
SEO website migration services that keep what you have earned.
A new website is a happy day for everyone except Google. Every address that changes without a redirect, every page that quietly disappears, every title the new theme resets costs rankings that took years to earn. I plan the move, map every old address to a new one, check the staging site and watch the numbers afterward.
By Muhammad Zohaib Ameer, SEO specialist · Updated November 14, 2026 · 8 min readA redirect map, line by line
Every old address gets a new home.
# redirect-map.csv · illustration
/services/plumbing-london.html 301 → /plumbing/london/
/shop/blue-kettle-p123 301 → /products/blue-kettle/
/blog/2019/boiler-guide 301 → /guides/boiler-guide/
/about-us.php 301 → /about/
/old-offers 404 no new page, still ranks for 2 phrases
/contact.html → /contact/ → /get-in-touch/ chain, fix to one hop
Illustration. A real map for a store often runs to thousands of lines.
In 30 seconds
- What: URL inventory, one-to-one redirect map, staging review, launch-day checks and eight weeks of monitoring.
- Effect: a planned move usually holds its traffic within a few weeks. An unplanned one can take months to recover.
- Rule: never launch on a Friday, and never launch without a redirect map that has been tested.
- Cost: small sites start with the $499 audit (about £395). Bigger moves are quoted after I see the URL list.
Tools I use for this
Google Search Console
Screaming Frog
Semrush
Google Analytics 4
WordPress
Shopify
Google Search ConsoleScreaming FrogSemrushGoogle Analytics 4WordPressShopifyIn one paragraph
What is an SEO website migration?
An SEO website migration is any change to a website big enough to alter how Google finds, reads or ranks its pages, handled so that rankings and traffic survive the change. That covers a new domain, a new platform, a redesign that changes addresses or content, merging sites, or moving between a .co.uk and a .com. The work is a plan, a redirect map, checks before launch and monitoring afterward. Your developer builds the new site. I make sure Google follows you to it.
Free check
How risky is your move?
Tick everything that applies. The score tells you how much planning the move needs.
Your migration risk
0 / 27
Tick what is true for your project.
A rough guide, not a quote.
Not every move is the same
Four kinds of migration, four different risks.
| Type of move | Main risk | What I do about it |
|---|---|---|
| New domain (rebrand, .co.uk to .com) | Google treats it as a new site | Full redirect map, Change of Address, old domain kept redirecting |
| New platform (WordPress to Shopify) | URL patterns change for every product | Redirect rules per pattern, exceptions mapped by hand |
| Redesign with new URLs | Pages merged or dropped unnoticed | Traffic and link data on every URL before anything is cut |
| Merging several sites | Duplicate pages fighting each other | One winning page per topic, the rest redirected to it |
The redirect map
Every old address needs a forwarding address.
A 301 redirect tells Google and every visitor that a page has moved for good, and where. Done one-to-one, it carries most of the old page's rankings and links. Done lazily, with everything sent to the home page, it carries almost nothing.
The map is a spreadsheet with two columns: old address, new address. The skill is in the matching. A product that no longer exists goes to its closest category. A guide split into three goes to the one that answers the old title best.
Domain changes add two steps. Search Console has a Change of Address tool, and the old domain must stay registered and redirecting for years, because links on other sites keep pointing at it.
What migration support includes
Everything that has to be right before, during and after.
Full URL inventory
Every old address with its traffic, rankings, links and conversions, so nothing valuable is dropped.
One-to-one redirect map
Each old URL mapped to its closest new page, as a file your developer can load and I can test.
Staging site review
Titles, internal links, canonicals, schema, speed and robots rules checked before launch.
Benchmarks before launch
Rankings, traffic and indexed pages recorded, so afterward we know what moved.
Launch-day checks
Redirects tested at scale, noindex removed, sitemaps and Search Console updated.
Eight weeks of monitoring
Crawl errors, lost rankings and traffic by page watched weekly.
How it works
Plan, map, test, launch, then watch.
- Benchmark
Rankings, traffic, indexed pages and backlinks recorded for every URL.
- Inventory and map
Every old URL listed, every new URL matched. Patterns by rule, exceptions by hand.
- Check staging
The new site crawled as Google would see it, including the noindex tag that must come off.
- Launch and verify
Redirects tested across the whole map, sitemaps swapped, the first crawl watched live.
- Monitor and fix
Weekly checks for eight weeks. Lost rankings traced to their cause while recovery is quick.
The effect
What a well-run migration looks like afterward.
Before launch
You know which pages earn your traffic, and each one has a named new home.
Launch day
Visitors and Google land on the new pages, not on errors.
Weeks 1 to 3
Google re-crawls the site. Some rankings wobble while the new addresses take over.
Weeks 4 to 12
Traffic settles close to where it was. A faster, better-structured site often ends up ahead.
Limit
A migration protects what you have. It does not create rankings you never had.
Why, and why not
Who needs migration help, and who does not.
You need this if
- The domain is changing, or you are merging sites.
- You are moving platform and the addresses will change.
- The redesign changes structure or content, not just the look.
- Search brings a large share of your sales.
You do not need this if
- Only colours, fonts and images are changing.
- The site has never had search traffic. Fix the basics first.
- You are editing the text on a few pages.
- Your developer has a tested redirect map and you want a second pair of eyes. The audit is enough.
Launch-day mistakes
The errors that turn a new website into a traffic drop.
No redirect map at all
The old addresses return errors, the links pointing at them are wasted.
Everything redirected to the home page
Google treats this much like an error page. The old rankings do not transfer.
Noindex left on from staging
The most common cause of a site vanishing after launch.
Changing domain, platform and content on the same day
If traffic drops, nobody can tell which change caused it.
Letting the old domain lapse
Someone else registers it, and years of links point at a stranger's site.
Do it yourself or hire someone
What your developer can do, and what needs an SEO.
| Task | Can the developer do it? | Why an SEO does it instead |
|---|---|---|
| Set up the redirects | Yes, once they have the map | Writing the map needs traffic, ranking and link data |
| Keep the same URLs where possible | Yes, if asked early | Nobody asks early unless an SEO is in the project |
| Check staging for SEO problems | Partly | Canonicals, schema and rendering need specialist crawls |
| Update Search Console and sitemaps | Yes | Change of Address is easy to get wrong once |
| Spot and fix lost rankings afterward | Rarely | It takes benchmarks from before and weekly comparison |
Real results
Migration projects stay private. Here is what I can show.
Client confidentiality
Migration work usually happens under the developer's or agency's agreement with their client, and often under the client's own confidentiality terms, so I do not publish those projects. The results below come from clients who agreed to be shown, where technical work on crawling, speed and structure was the main lever.
From page three toward page one
Crawl and speed fixes, keyword targeting, more content and better internal links.
Clicks 706 → 1.99K · position 20.7 → 13.3
A UK online store and a US paint protection film business.
SEO migration cost
Priced by the size of the move, after a look at the URL list.
⭐ Fits this serviceSEO X-Ray
$499 one-time
Small sites: the inventory, the redirect map and a launch checklist for your developer to carry out.
Growth
$799/month
The move handled end to end inside a monthly plan, with the staging review and eight weeks of monitoring.
Premium Growth
$1,999/month
Large stores and multi-country sites, staged launches, or several sites merging into one.
What changes the price
- How many URLs the old site has, and how many will change.
- Whether the domain is changing.
- Platform, languages and store features such as filters.
- How far away launch is. Rushed moves cost more.
- Plans are billed in US dollars: $499 once (about £395), $799 a month (about £630), $1,999 a month (about £1,580).
I do the work myselfWho does the work
One specialist. No hand-offs.
I'm Muhammad Zohaib Ameer. I have worked in SEO since 2022 for businesses in the US, UK, Canada and the UAE. I write the redirect map myself and I test it myself, line by line, before anyone presses launch.
Questions people ask before a move
SEO migration FAQ.
How long does an SEO website migration take?
A small site needs two to three weeks before launch for the inventory, redirect map and staging checks. A large store needs six to ten weeks. Launch is a day, and I watch the numbers for eight weeks after it.
Will we lose rankings when we move?
Some movement in the first two or three weeks is normal while Google re-crawls. A planned move with one-to-one redirects usually settles close to where it was. Losses come from missing redirects, dropped pages and noindex tags left on.
Should we move from .co.uk to .com?
Only for a business reason, such as selling outside the UK. Google treats them as different sites, so it is a full migration with a redirect map and a Change of Address in Search Console. A .co.uk does not hold back a UK-only business.
Can you work with our web developer?
Yes, that is the usual set-up. The developer builds the new site. I own the inventory, the redirect map, the staging review and the launch checks, and I test what they implement.
What happens to our backlinks?
They point at the old addresses, so every old URL with links needs a redirect to its closest new page. For the strongest links I also ask the linking sites to update the address.
What does an SEO migration cost?
For a small site the $499 audit (about £395) covers the inventory, the redirect map and a launch checklist for your developer. Larger moves are quoted after I see the URL list, usually as a Growth or Premium Growth month.
“If your developer says the redirects will be handled later, that is the moment to call someone. Later is after launch, and after launch is when the traffic has already gone.”
Muhammad Zohaib Ameer · OvaVerseMore for UK businesses
UK SEO services, page by page.
Free, no obligation
Planning a move? Check it before launch.
Send your current website and, if you have one, the staging link. Within 48 hours you get a short recorded video audit of the risks I can see, the pages you cannot afford to lose, and what your developer must get right first.
- Personal to your site, never shared
- No sales call needed
- Reply within 24 hours
The photo on this page is a custom AI-generated illustration, not a real client or event. Diagrams and sample numbers are labelled illustrations; case study screenshots are real.