What is an SEO migration?

An SEO migration is the work that protects a site's search traffic when its addresses, platform, design or domain change. It means recording the old site, redirecting every old address to its new one and checking the new site before and after launch.

How much do SEO migration services cost?

It depends on how many addresses the site has and how many are changing, so I quote each migration on scope. You get a fixed price before any work starts.

Will I lose traffic after a website migration?

Not necessarily. A migration that keeps its addresses can hold or even grow its traffic, because new sites are usually faster and better organised. Where addresses change, some movement is normal while Google reads the new site.

How long do rankings take to recover after a migration?

Often two to four weeks where the addresses stayed the same. Where they changed and the redirect map is good, allow one to three months. A decline that lasts longer has a specific cause, and it can be found.

How long should I keep 301 redirects?

Keep them for good. A 301 is the code for a permanent redirect, and Google's guidance is to keep one for at least a year. Old addresses live on in bookmarks and in links from other sites, and the rules cost almost nothing to keep.

My traffic dropped after a migration. Can you find out why?

Yes. The cause is nearly always a missed redirect, a noindex tag left on from staging, a template that hides content from Google or text cut during the rebuild. I start with the redirects, which is technical SEO work.

Do you handle Shopify and WordPress migrations?

Yes, both. A move to Shopify changes every category and product address, so the redirect map is most of the job. WordPress lets you keep the old addresses, which often removes most of the redirects. See Shopify SEO and WordPress SEO.

SEO migration services from one senior consultant

An SEO migration service keeps your Google rankings when a site is rebuilt, moved to a new platform or put on a new domain. It's for any business that gets enquiries or sales from search. I'm Will Sibley, one consultant, and I do the work myself. Each migration is quoted on scope, with a fixed price before I start.

Send me your site

I reply myself, usually within one working day.

Proof

Site migrations I've worked on

At The Telegraph I gave technical SEO and site migration support on one of the UK's largest sites. The checklist I use has been refined over dozens of migrations, some planned from the start and some rescued after launch.

Dozens

of site migrations behind the checklist I work through on every move

£42,658

raised by Bristol Community Sauna's crowdfunder, run from the WordPress site I rebuilt in May 2026

“Will is an exceptional SEO professional who collaborated seamlessly with teams across the newsroom to raise SEO standards and deliver measurable results. His expertise and innovative strategies were instrumental in driving The Telegraph's search visibility and organic growth across key target areas.”

Harry Clarkson-Bennett

SEO Director, The Telegraph

Read the Bristol Community Sauna case study

What's included

What my SEO migration service includes

Rankings are lost in a migration to a small set of mistakes, and every one of them can be checked in advance. These seven items are the checklist I work through, as part of my wider SEO work.

01
A record of the old site
Before the build starts I crawl the current site with Screaming Frog, which reads every page the way Google does. I also export your top pages and searches from Search Console and Google Analytics. The most useful part is a full list of every address the site has now, including old campaign pages and PDFs that still rank.
02
The redirect map
A redirect is a rule that sends visitors and Google from an old address to its new one. The redirect map is the spreadsheet that gives every old address its closest match on the new site. I check your top hundred pages by hand, because Google treats a page sent to the homepage as missing.
03
Old redirects carried across
Rules from earlier rebuilds are often lost when a new platform starts from a blank file. I carry them over and point each old address at its final home in one step.
04
Checks on the staging site
A staging site is the private copy of the new site where it's tested before launch. I crawl it and compare it with the record of the old one, so missing pages, changed titles and cut text show up early.
05
Launch-day checks
Staging sites carry a noindex tag, a line that tells Google to keep a page out of its results. Sites go live with it still in place often enough that it's first on my list. Then I test the redirects on live addresses and crawl the live site the same day.
06
Four weeks of monitoring
I read Search Console's indexing report every week for the first month and compare your top pages with the record, one by one. Some movement in the first two weeks is normal. A page still down after four to six weeks points to a missed redirect, a template fault or text that was cut.
07
Store migrations
A move to Shopify changes every sales address, because categories must sit under /collections/ and products under /products/. For a store I build the map from revenue downwards, so the pages that earn the most are mapped and checked first. See ecommerce SEO.

How it runs

How a site migration runs, from first look to four weeks after launch

01
Day 1
A first look and a fixed price
Send me the current address, where the site is moving to and the launch date. I reply with what the move involves and a fixed price for it.
02
Before launch
Record, redirect map and staging checks
I record the old site, write the redirect map and crawl the staging site against it. If the addresses can stay as they are, I'll say so, because that one decision removes most of the risk.
03
Launch day
Checks within hours
The noindex tag comes off and the redirects are tested on live addresses. The new sitemap, which is the list of pages you hand to Google, goes into Search Console. Faults found on day one are cheap to fix, so I crawl the live site that day.
04
Weeks 1 to 4
Monitoring
A weekly read of Search Console's indexing report and a comparison of your top pages against the record. If a page drops, I trace the cause and fix it, or write the fix up for your developer.

Price

What SEO migration services cost

Migrations are quoted on scope, and I send a fixed price before any work starts. A ten-page brochure site can have its redirect map written by hand in an afternoon. A store with 4,000 products can't, so the price follows the number of addresses and how many of them are changing.

What	Price	What it covers
Site migration	Fixed price, quoted on scope	The record of the old site, the redirect map, staging and launch-day checks, and four weeks of monitoring.
Migration rescue	Fixed price, quoted on scope	For a site that has already launched and lost traffic. I find the missed redirects, template faults and cut text, and rank the fixes.
Monthly SEO after launch	From £1,000 a month ($1,500)	Technical fixes, content and a monthly report once rankings have settled.

How to choose

Should you use an SEO migration agency or a consultant?

Use an agency if the move needs a large team working to one launch date, and a consultant if you need one senior person to own the redirect map and the checks. Sibley Digital is one consultant, me, so this table sets out when each is the better fit.

An agency is the better choice when	One consultant is the better choice when
You're moving several sites or country versions in the same month.	Your developers or web agency are doing the build and need someone senior checking it for search.
You need a studio of designers and developers to build a large new site as well.	You want the top hundred redirects checked by a person, one at a time.
The launch needs people on call overnight across several time zones.	You want whoever planned the move to be the one reading Search Console in week three.
Your buying process requires a supplier with a team behind it.	The site has already launched, traffic has dropped and nobody can say why.

Whoever you choose, ask to see the redirect map before launch, and ask who is watching Search Console a month later. If you run a web agency, I do this under your brand through my white-label service. If the new site hasn't been started, I can build it as well.

Questions

SEO migration questions

What is an SEO migration?: An SEO migration is the work that protects a site's search traffic when its addresses, platform, design or domain change. It means recording the old site, redirecting every old address to its new one and checking the new site before and after launch.
How much do SEO migration services cost?: It depends on how many addresses the site has and how many are changing, so I quote each migration on scope. You get a fixed price before any work starts.
Will I lose traffic after a website migration?: Not necessarily. A migration that keeps its addresses can hold or even grow its traffic, because new sites are usually faster and better organised. Where addresses change, some movement is normal while Google reads the new site.
How long do rankings take to recover after a migration?: Often two to four weeks where the addresses stayed the same. Where they changed and the redirect map is good, allow one to three months. A decline that lasts longer has a specific cause, and it can be found.
How long should I keep 301 redirects?: Keep them for good. A 301 is the code for a permanent redirect, and Google's guidance is to keep one for at least a year. Old addresses live on in bookmarks and in links from other sites, and the rules cost almost nothing to keep.
My traffic dropped after a migration. Can you find out why?: Yes. The cause is nearly always a missed redirect, a noindex tag left on from staging, a template that hides content from Google or text cut during the rebuild. I start with the redirects, which is technical SEO work.
Do you handle Shopify and WordPress migrations?: Yes, both. A move to Shopify changes every category and product address, so the redirect map is most of the job. WordPress lets you keep the old addresses, which often removes most of the redirects. See Shopify SEO and WordPress SEO.

Guides

Guides on Site migrations

Written from client work. All guides

Get in touch

Send me the site you're moving

Send me the current address, where the site is moving to and the launch date if there is one. I'll reply with what the move involves and a fixed price.

1I reply myself, usually within one working day.
2I look at your site and its search visibility before we speak.
3If I can help, I send a scope and a price. If I can't, I say so.

Or email will@sibleydigital.com. I work UK afternoons and the full US working day.

SEO migration services from one senior consultant

Site migrations I've worked on

What my SEO migration service includes

A record of the old site

The redirect map

Old redirects carried across

Checks on the staging site

Launch-day checks

Four weeks of monitoring

Store migrations

How a site migration runs, from first look to four weeks after launch

A first look and a fixed price

Record, redirect map and staging checks

Checks within hours

Monitoring