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Website migration that keeps your rankings.

Moving to a new CMS, platform or domain is when most websites lose traffic. We plan every URL, redirect and piece of content before anything moves, then watch the numbers closely after launch.

  1. Before

    Every URL mapped before the move

  2. Staging

    Redirects tested on staging

  3. Launch

    Metadata and structured data carried over

  4. After

    Search Console watched after launch

See a relaunch we delivered

Planning a migration?

Tell us what you're moving from and to. We'll come back with the risks, a plan and what it would take.

What's changing?
Rough budget (optional)

Global
brand experience.

  • Louis-Dreyfus Foundation
  • Desucla
  • London Museum
  • Black Brick
  • Healthscope
  • Cupello
  • Enness Global
  • ACE Aquatec
  • JTI
  • Netacea

What is website migration?

Website migration is any significant change to a website's platform, structure, design or domain that can affect how search engines find and rank it. Moving from WordPress to a headless CMS, merging two sites and switching domain all count. Done well, rankings hold steady or improve. Done badly, pages drop out of Google and enquiries go with them.

Last reviewed 25 October 2026 by the Rubik Digital team.

  • Platform

    Moving to a new CMS or e-commerce system, such as WordPress to Strapi.

  • Domain

    Changing domain, merging sites or moving sections between subdomains.

  • Structure

    Reorganising URLs, navigation and content as part of a redesign.

  • Hosting

    Moving servers or hosting providers, often alongside other changes.

Years in business
15+
Global brands
50+
Industry sectors
13+

What keeps people up at night.

How we fix it

We crawl the current site, record every URL that earns traffic or links, and map each one to its new home before anything moves.

Our migration checklist.

Every migration we run works through the same list, whatever the platform. Nothing is left to memory on launch day.

  1. Full crawl of the current site

    Every URL, title, description, canonical and status code recorded, so nothing goes missing in the move.

  2. Traffic and backlink benchmark

    Search Console, analytics and backlink data captured to show which pages matter most.

  3. URL mapping

    Every old URL matched to its closest new equivalent, page by page. No blanket redirects to the homepage.

  4. Redirect plan

    Permanent 301 redirects written, tested on staging and checked for chains and loops.

  5. Content and metadata

    Copy, images, titles, descriptions and structured data carried across intact.

  6. Staging review

    The new site crawled before launch to catch broken links, missing pages and stray noindex tags.

  7. Launch-day checks

    Redirects, sitemaps, robots.txt, analytics and Search Console verified as soon as the site goes live.

  8. Post-launch monitoring

    Rankings, traffic, crawl errors and indexing watched closely after launch, with fixes made fast.

A relaunch that kept climbing.

We redesigned and relaunched the Brooklands Interiors website. These are the results published in the case study.

Interior Design · Design · Development

Luxury Interiors

A refined digital experience designed to attract luxury-focused audiences and generate qualified enquiries for high-end interior collections.

Organic clicks increase
+346%
Organic clicks increase
Search impressions
+1,917%
Search impressions
Qualified leads growth
+120%
Qualified leads growth
Read the Luxury Interiors case study

Five steps, no surprises.

The work happens before launch day. By the time we switch over, every URL, redirect and check has been agreed and tested.

Start a project

  1. Audit

    Benchmark what you have.

    Crawl, traffic and backlink data captured, so we know exactly what has to survive the move.

  2. Map

    Plan every URL.

    Old and new URLs matched one by one, with redirects, content changes and risks agreed before the build.

  3. Migrate

    Move it on staging.

    Content and metadata moved, redirects in place, and the new site crawled and tested before anyone sees it.

  4. Launch

    Switch over carefully.

    Go live in a quiet window, then verify redirects, sitemaps, tracking and Search Console the same day.

  5. Monitor

    Watch and fix.

    Rankings, traffic and crawl errors tracked after launch, with anything that slips fixed quickly.

What separates a safe migration from a risky one?

Most traffic lost after a relaunch comes down to the same few shortcuts. Here's where they happen.

A rushed migration

URLs

Old URLs left to 404, or all sent to the homepage

How we migrate

URLs

Every URL mapped to its closest new equivalent

Redirects

Added after launch, once traffic has already dropped

Redirects

Written and tested on staging before launch

Content

Copied across without titles, descriptions or structured data

Content

Moved with metadata, images and internal links intact

Launch

Switched over and left to settle

Launch

Verified the same day, with a rollback plan ready

Afterwards

Problems spotted weeks later in the traffic report

Afterwards

Search Console and rankings watched closely from day one

How much does a website migration cost?

It depends on how many pages and URLs are moving, how much the platform or structure changes, and how much content needs reworking on the way. A like-for-like move is far simpler than a redesign, new platform and new domain at once. We scope it after crawling your current site, so the price reflects what's really there.

Get a fixed proposal

What moves the price

  • Pages and URLs

    More URLs means more mapping, redirects and checking, especially on large or older sites.

    Effect on budget: High

  • Platform change

    Moving between systems means rebuilding templates and converting content between formats.

    Effect on budget: High

  • New structure

    New URLs and navigation are often worth it, but every changed URL needs a mapped redirect.

    Effect on budget: Medium

  • Content clean-up

    Merging, rewriting or pruning thin pages during the move adds editorial time.

    Effect on budget: Medium

  • Domain change

    Adds Search Console and backlink work, but little build time on its own.

    Effect on budget: Low

Why trust Rubik?

We build on WordPress, Concrete CMS, Shopify and headless platforms, and treat search as part of the move.

Talk to the team

  1. SEO and development in one team.

    The people mapping your URLs work alongside the people building the site, so search is never handed over at the end.

  2. Nothing moves without a map.

    Every URL, redirect and content change is agreed in writing before launch.

  3. Tested before it's live.

    We crawl the staging site the way Google will, so problems are fixed before visitors or search engines see them.

  4. We stay for the aftermath.

    Monitoring carries on after launch, and anything that slips gets fixed quickly.

What our clients say

Expert guidance and flawless execution. Our go‑to agency for all things digital.”
Nic CooperStrategy Director

Website Migration Questions,
answered.

What people usually ask us before a project starts. If yours isn't here, ask it in the form and someone senior will reply.

Ask the team

Some movement for a few weeks is normal while Google recrawls the new site. Lasting losses usually come from missing redirects, lost content or changed metadata. With every URL mapped, redirects tested and content moved intact, rankings should settle at the same level or better.

Further reading.

All insights

Related services

Start a conversation

Moving your website? Let's map it first.

Tell us what you're moving from and to. We'll come back with the risks we can see, a plan and an honest view of what it would take.

Tell us about your project.

A few lines is plenty — no brief required.

What are you planning?