What a website migration includes
We shape the engagement around the actual brief. The proposal identifies which of these deliverables are included, who supplies the inputs and how each one is accepted.
- URL and content inventory
- A 1:1 redirect map covering every old URL
- Content, metadata and media moved to the new CMS
- Forms, analytics, consent and integrations rebuilt and tested
- Staging crawl and launch-day checklist
- Search reviews at 30 and 60 days
- Handover of accounts, DNS and the redirect list
When to migrate, and when to redesign instead
Choose a migration when the site's content and structure still work but the platform, host or domain has to change: rising costs, unmaintained plugins, a slow builder or a new brand on a new domain. If the pages no longer explain your offer, choose Website redesign, which runs these same checks inside a new design. If you only need search fixes on the current platform, start with SEO.
How a migration runs: inventory, map, rehearse, switch, watch
We record everything the current site does before anything moves, then write the redirect map and the content model from that inventory. The new site is built and filled on a staging address that search engines are told not to index, so the old site keeps working until the switch.
Before launch we crawl staging with the full list of old URLs and fix every mismatch. Launch is a planned window: DNS or hosting switched, redirects live, sitemaps submitted, forms tested with real submissions and, for a domain change, a Change of Address filed in Search Console. At 30 and 60 days we compare indexing and search performance with the pre-launch baseline and fix what the data shows.
What gets inventoried before anything moves?
Everything that brings visitors or does work, not only the pages in the menu. Search traffic often lands on old blog posts, PDFs, filtered listings or pages nobody has edited in years. If a URL is missing from the inventory, it is missing from the redirect map, and its visitors and links end on an error page.
Each row gets a decision: keep, redirect permanently, merge into an equivalent page, or retire. It also records what the page depends on, such as a form destination, a booking widget, a tracking script or a media file, so the dependency moves with it.
- Every URL that answers, including PDFs, images and parameter URLs
- Search Console and analytics landing pages over at least a full year, so seasonal pages count
- Backlinks: which pages other sites link to
- Forms, their fields and where each submission goes
- Scripts and integrations: CRM, booking, chat, payments, analytics, consent
- Media and downloadable files with their current URLs
- CMS roles: who edits what, with which fields
How do redirects protect rankings and links?
Google's site-move documentation asks you to map every old URL to its new URL and serve permanent server-side redirects. A 301 or 308 status tells search engines a page has moved for good. Each old URL should point straight to its closest equivalent; Google advises short chains, ideally no more than three hops, and internal links updated so the site does not depend on redirects.
When a page has no real equivalent, it should answer 404 or 410. Google says not to redirect many old URLs to one irrelevant destination such as the new home page, and it drops URLs that return those codes from its index. Serve the site's normal not-found page with that status, so visitors who arrive from an old link still get navigation.
Google also says to keep redirects for as long as possible, generally at least one year, and to file a Change of Address in Search Console when the domain or subdomain changes. It warns to expect temporary ranking fluctuation; a small to medium-sized site can take a few weeks for most pages to move. The work keeps losses to that settling period, without avoidable ones from missing redirects or broken pages.
What breaks when you leave WordPress, Webflow, Wix, Framer, Squarespace or Shopify?
Every platform stores content its own way, so exports and redirect setup differ. Hosted builders such as Wix, Webflow, Framer and Squarespace run your site on their own servers, so the move is a rebuild fed by whatever content each one lets you export.
On our default stack, Astro on Cloudflare with a headless CMS, pages are delivered as HTML, redirects are server-side 301s or 308s, and editors get fields for titles, descriptions and alt text. When a store needs Shopify's checkout and apps, or a team relies on WordPress plugins it knows, we move to WordPress or Shopify with the same checks.
| Moving from | What typically breaks | What we plan for |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress | Shortcodes and page-builder markup; SEO titles stored by plugins outside the post body; image URLs under /wp-content/uploads/; category, tag, author and feed URLs; form plugins. | WordPress's export writes posts, pages, custom fields, categories, tags and users to an XML file. We map plugin metadata to CMS fields, rehost media and redirect archives that still get traffic. |
| Webflow | Webflow hosts the site. CMS collections export as CSV, but image and file fields export as links to the Webflow project, which Webflow notes break if the project is deleted. | Download every asset before cancelling the plan, rewrite those links, and rebuild interactions, forms and links between collections. |
| Wix | Wix states that its architecture does not support external hosting, so the site cannot move to another host as it is. | Rebuild from the live site and exportable content, collect media, confirm where the domain is registered and redirect every page. |
| Framer | Framer does not offer HTML export for self-hosting; layouts and animations depend on its platform. | Recreate templates and motion, move CMS content into the new model, and keep slugs and metadata. |
| Squarespace | Its export writes some content to a WordPress-format XML file and excludes store pages, product blocks and video blocks; only one blog page exports. | Plan store data separately, rehost images and map every collection URL. |
| Shopify (to or from) | Fixed paths such as /products/ and /collections/; redirects only work on URLs that no longer load a page; customer accounts and orders need their own plan. | Moving in: a complete product and collection redirect list, which Shopify accepts in bulk from a CSV file. Moving out: those fixed paths mapped to the new structure. |
What moves besides the URLs, and when is it checked?
A URL can redirect correctly and still lose what made it rank or convert. These items are easy to drop when content travels by export file or by hand, so each is checked on the new templates before launch.
Launch does not close the scope: missed URLs show up in the data weeks later, so the reviews in the table are part of the project.
- Titles, meta descriptions and headings, including plugin-stored ones
- Canonical tags pointing to each new URL, and hreflang updated in every language
- Structured data such as Organization, Article, Product or LocalBusiness
- Image URLs, alt text and downloadable files
- Forms and the destination of every submission
- Analytics events, conversions and the consent banner that controls them
- CMS roles, so editors can publish the day after launch
| When | What we check | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Before the switch | Old URL list crawled against staging: each returns 200, one redirect to a 200, or a deliberate 404 or 410 | Chains, loops, mass redirects to the home page |
| Launch day | Redirects live, new sitemap submitted, staging noindex removed, forms and analytics tested, Change of Address filed for domain moves | A form that reaches nobody; a leftover site-wide noindex |
| First week | Search Console page indexing, server 404 logs, top landing pages by hand | Old URLs missing from the inventory |
| Day 30 | Indexed pages, clicks and impressions by page against the baseline | Pages losing impressions well beyond the overall fluctuation |
| Day 60 | Gaps fixed, redirect list documented, review date set before any redirect is removed | Redirects lost in a hosting, plugin or DNS change |
Questions before you choose
Will I lose Google rankings when I migrate my website?
Some movement is normal: Google's site-move documentation says to expect temporary ranking fluctuation during a move. The work prevents avoidable loss, such as missing redirects, pages sent to the home page, dropped metadata or a leftover staging noindex. Nobody can guarantee rankings, but we show you the baseline, the redirect map and the post-launch comparison.
How long does a website migration take?
It depends on the number of URLs, how content can leave the old platform, the integrations and how quickly approvals come back. After the switch, Google says a small to medium-sized site can take a few weeks for most pages to move, so the plan includes reviews at 30 and 60 days.
Can you migrate my site without redesigning it?
Yes. A like-for-like migration keeps pages, content and URLs as close as the new platform allows. It is often the safer first step, because changing platform and design at once makes it hard to tell which change moved your traffic. If you also want a new design, Website redesign covers both in one plan.
What do you need from me to start?
Admin access to the current CMS or builder, domain registrar and DNS, hosting, Search Console and analytics, plus the form, CRM, email and payment tools connected to the site. A backlink export helps if you use an SEO tool. We also need someone who can approve redirect decisions for pages with business or legal weight, such as policies or product pages.
What does a website migration cost?
The price depends on the number of URLs and templates, how content leaves the old platform (export file, API or manual rebuild), integrations, languages, store data and whether the design changes. A 40-page site with a clean export is a different job from a bilingual store with thousands of product URLs. Dardo's website projects start at USD 5,000, and the proposal itemizes the migration scope.
What happens to my old hosting and domain?
Keep the domain: it carries your links, and after a domain change the old one should keep serving redirects for at least the year Google generally recommends. Cancel the old hosting or builder plan only once the new site answers every URL, you hold a full export and backup, and no redirect depends on it. The handover lists each cancellation date so nothing renews or lapses by surprise.
Who owns the new site, and what is not included?
You do. The code repository, hosting, CMS, domain and analytics stay in your company's name, and the handover includes the redirect map so any developer can maintain it. Unless scoped, a migration does not include writing new content, a new design or ongoing SEO work after the 60-day review.
Sources & further reading
Sources behind this page, with further detail from the original publishers.
- Google Search Central: Site moves with URL changesdevelopers.google.com
- Google Search Central: Redirects and Google Searchdevelopers.google.com
- Google Search Console Help: Change of Address toolsupport.google.com
- Google Crawling Infrastructure: HTTP status codesdevelopers.google.com
- WordPress documentation: Tools Export screenwordpress.org
- Webflow: Export CMS content as a CSVwebflow.com
- Wix Help Center: Exporting or embedding your Wix site elsewheresupport.wix.com
- Framer Help: Can I export my website to HTML and self-host it?framer.com
- Squarespace Help Center: Exporting your sitesupport.squarespace.com
- Shopify Help Center: Creating and managing URL redirectshelp.shopify.com