A new design, a faster platform, a better structure: all good reasons to rebuild a site. The bad surprise comes a month later when Google traffic has halved. It does not have to happen. Most losses come from a few avoidable mistakes.
Why rankings drop after a migration
- Old URLs return 404. Every link and every ranking that pointed there is lost.
- Good content was cut. The new design looks cleaner but says less.
- Titles and descriptions were reset to generic text.
- The site was left blocked. A test-mode "noindex" or a robots.txt block goes live.
- Language versions lost their hreflang tags.
The migration process we follow
- Inventory. List every page that exists, with its traffic and incoming links where data is available.
- URL map. For each old page decide the new address. Keep the same URL where possible; otherwise map to the closest equivalent.
- Content check. Keep or improve text that ranks. Do not throw away pages that bring visitors just because they look old.
- Build on a test address, closed from indexing.
- Launch day: set 301 redirects, remove test blocks, submit the new sitemap.
- After launch: monitor Search Console for errors and fix them quickly.
The URL map
| Old URL | New URL | Action |
|---|---|---|
| /index.php?page=about | /about/ | 301 redirect |
| /services.html | /services/ | 301 redirect |
| /promo-2022 | / | 301 to home or remove |
| /contact | /contact/ | keep, same content |
Every row matters. A forgotten page with good links is a forgotten source of traffic.
Changing the domain
Moving from an old domain to a new one, for example to a .am, adds risk. Keep the old domain registered and redirecting for a long time, use the address change tool in Google Search Console, update your Google Business Profile and social links. Do not let the old domain expire; someone else may buy it.
Multilingual migrations
If your old site had language versions, keep their structure or map each language separately. Mixing them up sends English searchers to Armenian pages and confuses search engines. New multilingual sites should use separate URLs and hreflang from the start; see website development.
Post-launch checklist
- Old URLs redirect with 301, not 302, and not in chains.
- No 404 errors for pages that had traffic.
- New sitemap submitted in Google Search Console and Yandex Webmaster.
- robots.txt does not block the site.
- Titles, descriptions and structured data present.
- Forms send leads (test it).
- https works for every version, including www.
When to call it a success
Traffic holds roughly steady, then grows as the faster, clearer site starts doing better. That is the realistic goal.
Cost
Migration is part of a new website project at Kinto: we include the URL map and redirects in the quote, which is fixed in the contract before work starts. SEO setup is $400; see pricing.
Next step
Planning a redesign? Send us your current site via the request form or on Telegram at @kinto_am and we will tell you what to protect. We reply within 15 minutes between 10:00 and 20:00.
Updated: 2026-10-12