SEO Migration Services

A website migration is any change big enough that Google has to relearn your site. New platform, new URL structure, new domain, several sites merged into one, or a move to a headless frontend. Replatforming is the most common type and usually the riskiest, because URLs, templates and tracking all change at once.

We look after the search side of that change:

• URL mapping and redirects - every indexed URL, PDF and subdomain mapped to its closest new equivalent, with rules your developers can actually implement.
• Templates and rendering - checking that categories, products and content pages render for search engines and AI crawlers, not just for browsers.
• International and canonical signals - hreflang, canonicals and market targeting set before launch rather than patched afterwards.
• Content and on-page - titles, headings and copy carried across (and improved) on the pages that earn the revenue.
• Tracking - GA4, Search Console and ecommerce events working from day one, so you can see exactly what the migration did.
• Launch and recovery - on call at go-live, then watching rankings, crawl errors and revenue pages for the weeks after.

Every platform has its own SEO blind spots, URL quirks, and technical constraints. Our role is to understand how search engines and AI-powered experiences see your stack, then build a migration plan that fits how your platform actually works.

We’ve worked across most major CMS and ecommerce setups, including some fairly messy custom builds. Recent migrations have involved moves to:

Shopify and Shopify Plus

Shopify sets your URL structure for you, with fixed /products/ and /collections/ paths, so almost every URL changes on the way in. The redirect map does most of the work, and because Shopify's built-in redirects can't handle patterns, big catalogues often need rules at the CDN as well. We also clean up the duplicate product paths that collections create and set up Markets and hreflang for stores selling overseas. More on Shopify migrations.

WordPress and headless builds

Moving off WordPress, or onto a headless CMS with a JavaScript frontend, changes how your pages are rendered. Search engines and AI crawlers only see what the server sends them, so we work with your developers on server-side rendering or static generation to make sure content, links and metadata are in the HTML on first load. We also carry across the plugin-generated pieces that are easy to lose: SEO titles, schema, XML sitemaps and redirects.

Magento, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and Neto

Older ecommerce platforms leave behind .html suffixes, deep category paths and faceted URLs that have picked up years of links. We work out which ones carry traffic and authority, map them carefully, and decide which filter and parameter pages deserve a home on the new site.

Enterprise and composable platforms

Enterprise builds on Adobe Experience Manager, or composable stacks like commercetools, spread one website across a CMS, a commerce engine, search and a separate frontend. SEO tends to fall through the gaps between them. We define how URLs, canonicals, structured data and sitemaps get generated across each system, and map the long tail of PDFs and subdomains these sites collect. More on commercetools SEO.

Domain changes and restructures

Changing domain, moving a market from a subfolder to a subdomain or merging several sites into one is close to starting again in Google's eyes. We plan the redirects, Search Console change of address, hreflang and internal links so authority transfers to the new structure instead of leaking away. Our international SEO guide covers the subfolder, subdomain and ccTLD trade-offs.

No two migrations are the same, but the ones that go well follow the same shape. We scale each step to your timeline and your team.

1. Scope and baseline. We agree what success looks like and capture where you are now: traffic, revenue, top landing pages and the rankings you can't afford to lose.
2. Audit the current site. A full crawl, plus Search Console, analytics and backlink data, tells us which URLs and templates carry the weight, and which technical problems to leave behind.
3. Map URLs and redirects. Every old URL gets a new home, with edge cases like parameters, faceted navigation, PDFs and subdomains covered. Rules are written so your developers can implement them without guesswork.
4. Shape the new templates. We review architecture, internal linking, metadata and structured data while the build is still cheap to change.
5. Test staging. We crawl the staging site, check redirects, canonicals, hreflang, robots rules and tracking, and raise tickets with clear acceptance criteria.
6. Launch and monitor. We're on call at go-live, then track rankings, crawl errors and revenue pages against the baseline until things settle. Our post-launch guide covers what's normal in the first fortnight.

We work inside your existing setup, whether that's Slack, Teams, Jira or Asana, and join stand-ups when it helps. Your developers stay in charge of the build. They just get the SEO context early enough to avoid rework.

• Penfolds US: Salesforce Commerce Cloud (subfolder) to Shopify (subdomain)
• Ingenia Holidays: WordPress to Headless CMS
• Hostplus: Custom built to Adobe Experience Manager
• Posse, St Agni, Spell, Coco and Lola, LSKD: Move to Shopify Plus

Website migrations are rarely small. They bring together marketing, product, IT, agencies, and boards, and often run alongside broader rebrand or growth programs. That’s why brands tend to call us in for the bigger moves.

We’ve supported migrations for organisations of all sizes, including:

These projects range from multi-country ecommerce builds to large, content-heavy sites with complex stakeholder and development teams.

The most successful migrations occur when SEO & AI is integrated into the development process from the very first sprint. We operate as an extension of your team, ensuring SEO requirements are met proactively rather than reactively.

• Join project stand-ups and sprint planning where helpful to provide real-time SEO context.
• Work inside your existing channels (Slack, Teams, email, Jira, Asana) for efficient communication.
• Provide clear, developer-friendly tickets with specific examples and acceptance criteria.
• Review templates and components early—not just waiting for the final "finished site."
• Act as a second set of eyes on site performance, accessibility, and crawlability during the build.

Your developers remain in full control of the build, but they have the SEO context needed to avoid wasting time re-doing work or fixing critical issues after the site goes live.

Our scope adjusts to suit your platform and goals, though there are common themes across most migrations. The focus is preserving what already works, fixing what holds you back, and giving the new site a cleaner base to grow from.

Technical and structure

Technical stability is non-negotiable. We focus on the parts of your setup that influence how easily search engines can crawl, understand, and index the new site.

• Redirects and URL mapping
• Indexing and crawl issues
• Canonical tags, and hreflang
• Page load and Core Web Vitals
• Site architecture and navigation
• Template structure (collections, PDP, blog, location, etc.)
• HTML and XML sitemaps
• Internal link structure

Content and relevance

Content sends the strongest signals about what each page should rank for. During a migration, we tidy up duplication, improve targeting, and make sure key pages stay aligned with demand.

• Keyword and topic research for the new structure
• On-page optimisation (titles, meta descriptions, headings)
• Content consolidation to reduce duplication
• Content gap analysis for key journeys and markets
• Image alt text and media optimisation

Authority and tracking

Protecting hard-won authority and clean data is just as important as URLs and content. We make sure you don’t lose visibility or measurement along the way.

• Backlink profile review and risk assessment
• Preservation of high-value links and pages
• Analytics, goals, events, and ecommerce tracking
• Baseline and post-launch reporting