A website redesign can improve trust, speed and conversions. It can also remove pages that already rank, change valuable URLs and break the links that bring customers to your site. The visual design may be new, but Google still needs a clear path from the old website to the new one.

An SEO migration plan connects those two versions. It records what currently works, maps every important URL and checks the new website before it replaces the old one.

Before design work begins

Record the current benchmark

Export at least the previous 12 months of organic landing-page data from Google Search Console and analytics. Record enquiries, calls, form submissions and revenue where tracking is available. Save current rankings for priority services and locations.

This benchmark separates normal seasonal movement from a migration problem. It also identifies pages that deserve special care even if they look outdated.

Crawl and inventory the old website

Create a list of indexable URLs, page titles, headings, canonical tags, meta descriptions, status codes and internal links. Combine the crawl with URLs found in Search Console, analytics, XML sitemaps and backlink tools.

Do not assume the navigation contains every valuable page. An older article or campaign page may still attract links and qualified visitors.

Decide what stays, merges or goes

Give every old URL one destination:

• Keep it at the same URL when the purpose remains unchanged.
• Move it to a new URL only when there is a clear structural reason.
• Merge overlapping pages into the most relevant replacement.
• Return a genuine 404 or 410 when content has no useful replacement.
• Sending every removed page to the homepage creates a poor user experience and can be treated as a soft 404. Redirect each valuable old page to the closest equivalent.

Build the new site without losing relevance

Preserve the content that earns visibility

A shorter page is not automatically a better page. Retain the useful service details, locations, evidence, FAQs and internal links that answer the searcher’s question. Improve weak copy, but do not remove relevant content merely to make the design look cleaner.

Keep important on-page signals

Transfer or deliberately improve page titles, headings, image alt text, canonical tags and structured data. Confirm that contact details, service areas and business identity remain consistent.

Map redirects before launch

Prepare a spreadsheet with each old URL and its final destination. Use permanent server-side redirects for permanent moves. Google identifies permanent redirects such as 301 and 308 as strong signals that the new URL should become canonical.

Avoid chains such as old page to temporary page to final page. Redirect directly to the final live destination.

Technical checks before launch

Use a staging environment that search engines cannot index, but do not accidentally carry its blocking settings into production. Before launch, check:

• HTTPS, preferred hostname and one consistent canonical version
• mobile navigation, forms, phone links and conversion tracking
• robots.txt and page-level indexing directives
• XML sitemap URLs and canonical tags
• structured data validity
• broken internal links and missing images
• page speed and Core Web Vitals on representative templates
• redirects for every moved or consolidated priority URL

Back up the current website and DNS settings. Agree on who can roll back the launch if a critical fault appears.

What to do immediately after launch

Crawl the live website as a search engine would. Confirm that important pages return 200, old URLs return the intended redirect and blocked staging rules are gone. Submit the new XML sitemap in Search Console and inspect several priority URLs.

Watch indexing, organic landing pages, enquiries, server errors and redirect failures daily during the first week, then weekly while the site settles. Fix mistakes based on impact: revenue pages, widely linked URLs and crawling barriers come first.

If the domain changes, follow Google’s site-move guidance and use the relevant Search Console process. Keep redirects in place for as long as practical. Do not remove them simply because the new site has been live for a few months.

A redesign should improve conversion as well as appearance

Protecting rankings is only half the job. The new site should make the next step obvious, load well on mobile and give visitors enough evidence to act. Test calls to action, form completion, navigation and lead quality against the pre-launch benchmark.

Planning a redesign? Ask Arashk to audit your current URLs, search visibility and conversion tracking before development begins.