How to move your website without losing your Google rankings

You can move your website to a new designer, a new platform or a new host without losing your place on Google. The sites that drop after a move almost always drop for the same reason: the old page addresses stopped working, and nobody told Google where they went.

Here’s how to avoid that, whether you’re leaving Wix, GoDaddy, Squarespace or an agency you’ve stopped hearing from.

Why sites lose rankings when they move

Google ranks pages, not websites. Each page on your current site has its own address, like yourbusiness.co.uk/kitchen-fitting, and over time Google learns what that page is about and how much to trust it. Links from other sites point at those addresses too.

When a new site goes live with different addresses, all of that points at pages that no longer exist. Google sees a page not found, and the ranking that page earned goes with it. It can take months to build back, and some of it never comes back.

Moving a website is safe. Moving it without redirects is what costs you.

Before you move: make a list

Before anything changes, write down every page your current site has. There are three easy ways to find them:

1. 01
   Your sitemap. Most sites have one at yourbusiness.co.uk/sitemap.xml. It lists the pages the site wants Google to know about.
2. 02
   Google Search Console. If you have it set up, the Pages report shows every page Google has indexed, and the Performance report shows which ones actually bring in visitors.
3. 03
   A site search. Type site:yourbusiness.co.uk into Google. It’s not a complete list, but it shows what Google has.

Mark the pages that matter most: the ones people find you through, and any that other websites link to. Those are the ones to protect.

During the move: redirect every old address

A redirect is an instruction on the server that says “this page has moved permanently, it’s now here”. Google follows it and passes most of what the old page had earned to the new one. The type you want is a 301, which means permanent.

• Match like for like. The old kitchen fitting page should redirect to the new kitchen fitting page, not to the home page. Sending everything to the home page is the most common mistake, and Google treats it much like a page that’s gone.
• Keep addresses the same where you can. If the new site can use the same addresses as the old one, do that. It’s the safest move of all.
• Don’t forget the extras. Old blog posts, PDF downloads and pages that are no longer in the menu still get visits and links.

If you’re changing your domain name as well, say from a .com to a .co.uk, every old address needs to redirect to its match on the new domain, and you should use the change of address tool in Search Console.

Keep what’s working

A move is a good time to improve things, but don’t throw away what Google already likes:

• Page titles and headings. If a page ranks well, keep its title and main heading close to what they were.
• The words. You can rewrite and improve, but keep the page about the same thing. A page that ranks for “boiler repair Dolgellau” should still be about boiler repair in Dolgellau.
• Your Google Business Profile. Update the website link if the address changes, and nothing else needs to move.

After you move: check it worked

The first two weeks after launch are when problems show up, and they’re quick to fix if you look:

• Try a handful of your old addresses in a browser. Each one should land on the right new page.
• Submit the new sitemap in Search Console.
• Watch the Pages report for “not found” errors and redirect anything you missed.
• Check your Google Business Profile, social profiles and any directory listings point at the right addresses.

A small dip for a week or two is normal while Google catches up. A big drop that doesn’t recover usually means missing redirects, and the not found report will show you which.

Who owns your old site matters

Before you move, make sure you control your domain name. If your old designer or website builder registered it in their name, sort that out first, because you can’t redirect anything from a domain you don’t control. I’ve written about that in who owns my website domain?

How I handle moves

When I rebuild a site, the list of old addresses and the redirects are part of the job, not an extra. I keep addresses the same where it makes sense, redirect the rest page by page, and check Search Console after launch. Moving your hosting to me is free, including the site and up to three mailboxes. If your current site is in a bad way, website rescue is often the first step.