Before the move
Capture the existing URLs and available Search Console or analytics data. Identify important landing pages, indexing rules and external links. Mark data gaps rather than assuming all pages have equal value.
03 / Content & SEO
Preserve the connections
people rely on.
Plan for how content is found, linked, understood and maintained. Search continuity is part of the migration scope from the beginning.
Content continuity
Protect meaning before moving bytes.
Titles, body copy and images are visible. Relationships, alternative text, publication dates, language variants and asset references are easier to miss.
We define which source fields matter, how they map to the destination and what checks show that the transfer is correct. A redesign or content cleanup gets its own rules and review.
- Keep stable source identifiers for reconciliation
- Map embedded media and document references
- Preserve dates when they describe real publication history
- Review taxonomy, related content and language connections
- Record deliberate transformations and exclusions
URL decisions
Every important path needs a destination.
Preserve existing URLs where suitable. Where the structure changes, create a relevant mapping instead of directing unrelated pages to the homepage.
| Source decision | Destination treatment | Review before launch |
|---|---|---|
| Keep | Retain the page and its path | Status, canonical and internal links |
| Rewrite | Retain the intent with revised content | Relevance, metadata and links |
| Merge | Consolidate into a relevant destination | Content coverage and page-specific redirects |
| Replace | Provide a new equivalent experience | Destination relevance and redirect behaviour |
| Retire | Remove only after a deliberate decision | Traffic, external links and dependencies |
The search workstream
Plan. Test. Observe.
On the destination
Review titles, descriptions, canonicals, language signals, internal links and structured data. Rebuild the information people need, with clear headings and useful answers.
At launch
Check redirects, HTTP status codes, production indexing settings and the final sitemap. Ensure temporary noindex rules do not accidentally follow the site into production.
After launch
Monitor crawl errors, indexing and the available search and conversion data. Search visibility may fluctuate during a move; checks and observation guide the next actions.
Search & answer engines
Clear content remains the foundation.
A new CMS is an opportunity to make the content model clearer: useful page titles, direct answers, consistent entities and relationships, and structured data that matches the visible page.
These are concrete implementation tasks. Rankings, traffic and inclusion in AI-generated answers are outcomes to observe, not promises to build into a migration quote.
A useful reference
Google’s site-move guidance explains URL mapping, redirects and monitoring. We use it as a reference when planning the search workstream.
Start with a conversation
Your next CMS.
A clearer way forward.
Bring us the site you have and the challenges you want to leave behind. We’ll start with the right questions.