Deutsch
Types of migration

Website migration

Also known as: site migration, SEO migration, site move

In SEO, a website migration is any major change in which a website’s domain, URL structure, protocol, platform, or hosting changes. The goal is that search engines and visitors find the content at its new location and that rankings and traffic carry over as far as possible. Outside SEO, the term also covers moving a site’s files and database to a new host.

At a glance

Type
change of domain, URLs, protocol, platform or hosting
Redirects
server-side and permanent (301 or 308), straight to the target
Keep redirects
as long as possible, generally at least 1 year
Duration for medium-sized sites
a few weeks or more
Docs
Site moves with URL changes

Last checked:

What types of migration are there?

Google distinguishes two cases. In a move without URL changes, only the infrastructure changes, for example the hosting provider or a CDN, and every address stays the same. Google notes that Googlebot’s crawl rate may dip briefly after such a move. In a move with URL changes, the addresses change, for example through a new domain, a switch from HTTP to HTTPS, or new paths. A CMS change or a relaunch often combines several of these changes with a new design.

What does Google recommend?

  • Map every old URL to the matching new URL.
  • Use server-side permanent redirects with status code 301 or 308 and avoid chains of several redirects.
  • Keep the redirects as long as possible, generally at least one year.
  • Don’t redirect many old URLs to a single unrelated target such as the home page. Google may treat that as a soft 404.
  • Use the Change of Address tool in Search Console only when moving to another domain or subdomain.
  • Submit an XML sitemap with the new URLs and make sure the new site isn’t blocked by noindex or robots.txt.

Google says it temporarily crawls more after a move, so the new server needs enough capacity.

Redirect chain and direct redirectTop: /old reaches the target via two intermediate URLs, three redirects and four requests. Bottom: /old redirects straight to the target, two requests.Chain: 3 redirects, 4 requests/old/products/old/p/new-2019/target/200 OK301301301Direct: 1 redirect, 2 requests/old/target/200 OK301Chains build up after several relaunches when old rules are never pointed at the current URL.
Every hop in a chain is a separate request. Google’s crawlers follow up to 10 redirect hops; Google still recommends redirecting straight to the final destination. Sources: Google Search Central: HTTP status codes, network and DNS errors; Google Search Central: Site moves with URL changes.

Example

Excerpt from a URL mapping for a store that changes both domain and URL structure:

Old URL New URL Status
http://shop.example.com/category.php?id=12 https://www.example.com/cargo-bikes/ 301
http://shop.example.com/item.php?id=4711 https://www.example.com/cargo-bikes/longtail-20/ 301
http://shop.example.com/terms.html https://www.example.com/terms/ 301

Checklist

These points follow Google’s guide “Site moves with URL changes.”

  • Both the old and the new site are verified in Search Console, including all variants (for example with and without www).
  • The important old URLs are collected, for example from sitemaps, server logs, and analytics.
  • Every old URL is mapped to a matching new URL.
  • Content that doesn’t move returns 404 or 410 on the new site.
  • Every new URL has a self-referencing canonical, and hreflang annotations point to the new URLs.
  • Internal links point to the new URLs.
  • Redirects are server-side, permanent (301 or 308), and go straight to the final destination.
  • noindex and robots.txt blocks that were only needed for the move are removed.
  • A sample of redirects has been tested with the URL Inspection tool.
  • For a new domain or subdomain, the Change of Address request is submitted in Search Console.
  • Sitemaps list the new URLs.
  • The new server has enough capacity for the temporarily heavier crawling.
  • The redirects stay in place for at least one year.

Common mistakes

Google lists these mistakes in its site move guide. They can prevent the new site from being fully indexed.

  • Blocks left in place. noindex or robots.txt blocks from the preparation phase go live with the site.
  • Redirects to nowhere. Google says it frequently sees redirects to URLs that don’t exist on the new site.
  • Sitemaps not updated. The sitemaps still list the old URLs.
  • Insufficient server capacity. After a move, Google crawls the new site more heavily than usual.

FAQ

What does website migration mean? Moving a website to a new domain, URL structure, protocol, platform, or host. For SEO the critical part is everything that changes URLs.

How long does it take for rankings to settle after a migration? Google says a small to medium-sized website can take a few weeks for most pages to move in its index. Larger sites take longer, and ranking fluctuations during that time are expected.

How can SEO losses be avoided? There is no guarantee. The main levers are a complete URL mapping, permanent redirects, and checking the new site before and after launch.

More on the searchVIU blog

Sources

  1. Site moves with URL changes – Google Search Central (last updated 2026-08-20)developers.google.com
  2. Changing web hosting and SEO (site move without URL changes) – Google Search Central (last updated 2025-12-10)developers.google.com
  3. Redirects and Google Search – Google Search Central (last updated 2026-04-14)developers.google.com

Last updated: