Website migration with a URL map before the domain moves

Who needs a migration

You need this when the site has to leave where it is. Common reasons: the host is closing or expensive, the old builder cannot be edited, you are moving a brochure site onto WordPress, or a shop is moving between WooCommerce and Shopify. You do not need a migration project to change a headline. That is maintenance.

You also do not need us to "migrate" a site that has five pages and no history worth keeping. Rebuilding those pages cleanly can be faster. We will say which one it is after we see the URL list. The decision is about content you would hate to lose, not about loyalty to a platform.

What is included

The core deliverable is a URL map: every old address that receives visits or links, and the new address that should replace it. Redirects are part of the launch, not a follow-up we hope to remember. We move the pages, images, and products named in the scope. We do not promise to recreate a decade of blog drafts that were never linked.

Forms are reconnected and tested. Analytics are pointed at the new site if you want analytics and tracking in the same project. Search Console is your property. We can tell you what to submit. We cannot log into Google as you unless you grant access.

Email on the domain is called out before DNS changes. Moving a website must not delete mail. If mail is on a different host, we leave those records alone. If we are not sure, we stop and ask. This is the same care we expect on our own domain, and it is why the cutover plan is a checklist rather than a single button.

The sequence we actually follow

1. Export the URL list from the current site and from Search Console if you have it.
2. Mark each URL: keep, merge, or retire. Retired URLs still need a sensible redirect, not a silent delete.
3. Build the new site on a temporary address and review it there. Prices for a new marketing site still follow the public ladder on pricing: $99, $150, $200, $250, $300 by page count. Migration labour is the map, the redirects, and the content move, quoted beside that ladder when a rebuild is involved.
4. Test forms, checkout if there is a shop, and a sample of redirects.
5. Change DNS in a window you chose, then recheck the live domain the same day.

We do not flip DNS because the design looks finished while the redirect file is still a spreadsheet on someone's desktop.

Problems that hurt after a move

The biggest one is a redesign that changes every URL slug for style, with no redirects. Rankings you already earned can drop because Google is sent to a 404. Read signs you need a redesign before you treat a move as a chance to rename everything. Improve titles. Keep the addresses that already match how people search, unless there is a real duplicate to merge.

The second problem is content pasted without the images, the PDF menu, or the staff names. We inventory those assets in the map. If a file is missing, you will see the gap before launch, not after a customer complains.

The third problem is a shop move that forgets tax, shipping, or the payment account. Product CSV import is not a finished store. WooCommerce development and Shopify development cover the store-specific checks. A category guide for small catalogs is here.

What we will not claim

We will not promise that traffic will be identical the week after a move. Search engines recrawl on their own schedule. We will promise a map, working redirects for the URLs we listed, and a same-day check. If a URL was not on the list because it was blocked from us, we cannot redirect what we never saw.

Cutover day, in practice

Pick a window when someone on your side can answer the phone. We change DNS, then we open the homepage, one deep link from the map, the form, and a retired URL that should redirect. If mail is on another host, we send a test message to your address after the change. If any of those fail, we roll the DNS note back when the provider allows a fast undo, and we tell you which check failed. The map stays the source of truth either way.

Related work

Care after the move is website maintenance. A slow new theme is speed optimization. Start with the current domain and a rough page count at contact.