Changing agency or rebuilding a site is one of the moments when companies most often lose organic traffic built up over years — not because migration is inherently risky, but because it is often done without a plan.
Why migration is risky for SEO
Google indexes specific addresses, their content and the links pointing to them. When the structure of a site changes, when page addresses change, or when content that ranked well disappears, Google has to process all of it again. Without proper preparation, part of that process ends in lost rankings that then take months to rebuild.
A checklist before migration
- A full audit of the current URL structure and the pages that generate traffic
- A list of the phrases the site currently ranks for, together with its current positions
- An export of content, meta tags (title, description) and structured data
- A map of 301 redirects from old addresses to new ones — one to one, no exceptions
- A complete backup of the current site before any changes are made
The most common mistakes that cost traffic
- No 301 redirects — old addresses return a 404 error instead of leading to the new content
- Changing the URL structure without mapping old addresses to new ones
- Deleting or rewriting content that ranked well without preserving its substance
- Not submitting the new sitemap in Google Search Console after migration
- Changing the domain without using the change of address tool in Google Search Console
How we approach this at Veyron Digital
If you are moving to us from an existing site, we start by analysing what already works — we do not build a new site in isolation from what your Google visibility currently rests on. We point out the weak spots of the current site and prepare a migration plan with a complete redirect map before the old site disappears from the web.
How long it takes
The technical migration itself is usually one to three days of additional work in the project schedule. Recovering from any temporary ranking fluctuations — even with a well-executed migration, Google needs time to reprocess the site — usually takes two to six weeks, after which positions return to their previous level or exceed it.
Planning a change of agency or a rebuild? Write to us — we will analyse your current site and tell you plainly what the migration risk is in your case.