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Moving your website without losing your place on Google
A new website is a chance to do better in search. Here is how not to do worse.
A new website can do better in search than the old one. It can also undo years of work in an afternoon if the move is careless. The difference is mostly in a few unglamorous steps.
List what you have
Before anything changes, list every page on your current site and its address. Google Search Console shows which ones people actually find you through: those matter most.
Keep addresses, or redirect them
Where you can, keep each page's address the same. Where it must change, set up a permanent redirect from the old address to the new page that replaces it. Do not send everything to the home page: a redirect should land people where the old page did.
Keep what was working
Bring across the titles, descriptions and words of pages that already rank. A redesign is a good time to improve a page, but rewrite your best pages with care.
Check the details before launch
Every page should have a title and a description. Pictures should have descriptions. Internal links should go to the new addresses, not through redirects.
After launch
Submit the new sitemap in Search Console and watch for pages Google cannot find. Fix those quickly. Expect some movement for a few weeks while Google catches up.
Pick a quiet time
If you can, do not move the site in the week before your busiest season.
In Webseer
When we move a site to Webseer, we map every old address to its new page with redirects, check titles and descriptions before launch, and the Studio's search checks keep an eye on it afterwards.