Why a migration is dangerous
To a search engine a page = a URL. The address changed — for Yandex and Google it is a new page with zero history, and the old one, which accumulated positions and links, returns a 404. The typical result of a sloppy migration: minus 30–70% of search traffic, recovery in months. The good news: with a careful move using 301 redirects, the loss is 5–10% for a couple of weeks, then full recovery.
Three kinds of migration — three levels of risk
- Changing hosting (the domain and URLs are the same) — minimal risk. The main thing is not to break anything and not lose speed.
- Changing the CMS or a redesign — medium risk: URLs, meta tags and structure often change unnoticed.
- Changing the domain — maximum risk, the whole link history is re-attributed to the new address over months.
The main tool: a URL map and 301 redirects
The basis of any migration is a mapping table: each old URL → new URL.
- Export all pages of the old site: from the sitemap, Webmaster, a crawler (Screaming Frog).
- For each, specify the new address. Not “everything to the homepage” — that kills the positions of inner pages; Google treats a mass redirect to the homepage as a soft 404.
- Set up 301 redirects (permanent, not 302) page by page.
- Reduce redirect chains (old → intermediate → new) to a single hop.
Migration checklist
Before
- A full backup: files + database.
- Record current positions and traffic (something to compare against).
- Compile the URL map and prepare the redirects.
- Test-drive the new site on a test subdomain closed from indexing.
At the moment
- Migrate overnight on a Tuesday–Wednesday, not at the season’s peak.
- Check that the indexing ban did not migrate: the classic — a test robots.txt with
Disallow: /goes to production and the site drops out of the results. - Check meta tags, canonicals, sitemap.xml — everything points to the new addresses.
- The SSL certificate is installed, the site works over HTTPS without errors.
After
- In Yandex Webmaster — “Site move” (for a domain change), in Google Search Console — “Change of address”.
- Submit the new sitemap to both webmaster tools.
- Crawl the site: broken links, redirect chains, 404s.
- Update the address everywhere: maps, directories, social media, email signatures, ads.
- For 2–4 weeks check Webmaster and analytics daily: indexing errors, traffic dynamics.
Common mistakes
- Turning off the old domain after a month. Redirects from the old domain should live for at least a year, better — always: renewing the domain is cheaper than losing link weight.
- Migrating and changing everything at once: domain + design + structure + text. If something goes wrong, you will not understand what exactly. Change in stages.
- Forgetting about subdomains, images and files — links point to them too.
- Not checking forms, the cart and payment on the new hosting.
Takeaway
A site migration is like moving apartments: the process itself is simple, but without an inventory something is bound to get lost. A URL map, page-by-page 301s, a robots.txt check and a month of monitoring — that is the whole secret. Planning a migration or already lost traffic after one — we’ll help.
