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Reference article · 12 sources · last reviewed 1 Oct 2026

Site migrations and SEO

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A site migration is any change to a website’s URLs, domain, protocol, hosting or structure large enough to affect how search engines crawl and index it. Google distinguishes moves with URL changes, such as a new domain or an HTTP-to-HTTPS switch, from moves without URL changes, such as a change of hosting provider [1][2]. Done well, signals transfer to the new URLs; done badly, pages can drop out of search [1].

IN SHORT
  • Map every old URL to its closest new equivalent before moving [1].
  • Use permanent server-side redirects and keep them for at least a year [1][4].
  • Update internal links, canonicals, hreflang and sitemaps to the new URLs [1][6][10].
  • For a new domain, also use Search Console’s Change of Address tool [3].

1Overview

Migrations are among the riskiest changes a site can make for search. Every ranking signal Google has associated with the old URLs needs a clear path to the new ones, and every reference to the old URLs needs updating [1].

Kind of moveExamplesMain requirement
With URL changesNew domain, http → https, new URL structureRedirect every old URL [1]
Without URL changesNew hosting or CDN, same URLsKeep the site working during the switch [2]

2Planning

  • Inventory all current URLs, including those that receive traffic or external links [1].
  • Build a mapping of each old URL to its closest new equivalent [1].
  • Prepare the new site’s robots.txt, sitemaps and canonicals in advance, and test on staging [1].
  • Make sure staging protections such as noindex or robots.txt blocks are removed before launch [11][12].

3Redirects

Google recommends permanent server-side redirects (301 or 308) from each old URL to its new URL [1][4]. Permanent redirects are a strong signal that the target should become canonical [4].

Redirects should go directly to the final URL in one hop; Googlebot follows up to 10 redirect hops before reporting an error [5].

KEY FACTKeep migration redirects for as long as possible: generally at least one year [1].

4Updating references

Alongside redirects, the site should stop pointing at its own old URLs. Google recommends updating [1]:

  • Internal links in navigation, content and templates [1].
  • Canonical tags, so each new page names itself [1][6].
  • Hreflang annotations, so clusters reference new URLs on both sides [10].
  • Sitemaps, listing the new URLs [1][7].

5Domain changes

When moving to a new domain, Google recommends verifying both properties in Search Console and submitting a Change of Address request after the redirects are live [1][3].

6Moves without URL changes

Moving hosting infrastructure without changing URLs needs no redirects. Google advises keeping both old and new hosting running during the switch and watching for a temporary dip in crawl rate as Googlebot adjusts [2].

7Monitoring

After a move, Google suggests watching for crawl errors and indexing changes. The Page indexing report shows which old and new URLs are indexed and why others are excluded [8]; the Crawl Stats report shows Googlebot’s request volume and response codes [9].

Some fluctuation in rankings is expected while Google recrawls and processes the new URLs [1].

8Common mistakes

MistakeConsequence
Redirecting all old URLs to the homepageSignals lost; may be treated as soft 404s [1][5]
Using temporary redirectsOld URLs may stay canonical [4]
Removing redirects after a few weeksLate-crawled URLs and old links break [1]
Leaving staging noindex in placeNew site excluded from search [11]

See also

References

  1. [1]“Site moves with URL changes”. Google Search Central. developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes
  2. [2]“Move a site with no URL changes”. Google Search Central. developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-no-url-changes
  3. [3]“Change of Address tool”. Search Console Help. support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9370220
  4. [4]“Redirects and Google Search”. Google Search Central. developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/301-redirects
  5. [5]“How HTTP status codes and network errors affect Google Search”. Google Search Central. developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/http-network-errors
  6. [6]“How to specify a canonical URL with rel="canonical" and other methods”. Google Search Central. developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/consolidate-duplicate-urls
  7. [7]“Build and submit a sitemap”. Google Search Central. developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/build-sitemap
  8. [8]“Page indexing report”. Search Console Help. support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7440203
  9. [9]“Crawl Stats report”. Search Console Help. support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9679690
  10. [10]“Tell Google about localized versions of your page”. Google Search Central. developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/localized-versions
  11. [11]“Block Search indexing with noindex”. Google Search Central. developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/block-indexing
  12. [12]“Introduction to robots.txt”. Google Search Central. developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/robots/intro
CITE THIS ARTICLEKalenux. (2026). Site migrations and SEO. In Kalenux SEO Guide. Last reviewed 1 Oct 2026. https://kalenux.com.tr/reference/site-migrations