SEO for website migrations: how agencies deliver it for clients

A website migration is any change that can break how Google finds and reads the pages a client already has: a new platform, a new domain, new URLs, a redesign or a new host. For an agency, the work comes down to a plan, a redirect map, a launch-day check and a period of watching, with the evidence held in accounts the client owns. This guide is written for agencies that deliver migrations for clients, including agencies that hand part of the work to a white label partner.

Agencies that hand migrations to a delivery partner use our white label SEO.

Five kinds of move, and what each puts at risk

Name the kind of move in the first call. It decides how much work there is and what to check first.

What Google says to do

Google publishes guides for moves with URL changes and for moves without. We read both on November 14, 2026. Neither page showed a last-updated date in the version we read, so check the pages again before you rely on a detail. The points that matter most for agency delivery:

• Use permanent redirects where you can, such as 301 and 308, and keep them for as long as possible. Google says generally at least one year.
• Decide where each old URL should redirect, then test the redirects before launch.
• Change one thing at a time. Google advises planning changes one after the other, so a redesign, a domain change and a content cull do not land together.
• For small and medium sites, move all URLs at once. Larger sites can move one section at a time.
• For a move with no URL change, lower the DNS TTL to a few hours at least a week ahead, as Google's hosting change guide suggests, remove any temporary blocks from the new copy, and expect a short drop in crawl rate right after launch.
• Use Search Console to monitor the move: sitemaps, the indexing reports and search queries.

Sources, read November 14, 2026: Google's guide to site moves with URL changes and its guide to moves without URL changes.

Scoping it, and what goes in the agreement

A migration is a bounded job with a before and an after, so it suits a written scope. Put these in it: the kind of move, the date of the content freeze, who builds the redirect map, who approves it, who talks to the developers, and what "done" means (for example, every old URL on the map returns the planned response, and the launch checks pass). Use the proposal template for the scope and the contract template for accounts, subcontractors and leaving. Report progress with the report template, and use the on-page change table in it for every title, heading and link that changed.

The redirect map

The map is a sheet with one row per old URL. Each old URL goes to the closest equivalent page, not to the home page, and every row gets a status after testing. A short example for a made-up company:

Rules we use. Point each row at its final destination so there are no chains of redirects. Keep query-string and trailing-slash variants in the sheet if they were ever linked. When no equivalent page exists, let the URL return 404 or 410 and note it, because a redirect to an unrelated page confuses people and search engines. Re-run the whole map after launch, since a developer's last-minute change can break a row. The redirect map generator builds the sheet, and the website migration audit checker helps you check a plan for gaps. Our SEO migration checklist has the longer list.

Launch-day checks

• robots.txt on the live site does not block the pages that matter, and no staging block or noindex tag came across.
• Canonical tags point at the new URLs.
• A sample from every kind of page redirects as the map says, in one hop.
• The new XML sitemap lists only live, indexable URLs and is submitted in Search Console. For a new domain, the new property is verified.
• Analytics and conversion tracking fire on the new pages, and a test inquiry arrives.
• Forms, checkout and phone links work, and the pages load at a speed the client would accept.

After launch

Watch Search Console weekly at first. Read the indexing reports for new errors, check which old URLs still get crawled, and compare clicks for the top pages against the baseline taken before launch. A dip right after a move is common, and nobody can promise how long it lasts, so agree on the review dates with the client beforehand and report what you see. Write down every fix with the date, in the same row format as the change table. For the client, the monthly report carries the same five numbers as before so the trend stays readable.

Handing delivery to a white label partner

An agency that sells migrations but does not run them can still keep control of the outcome. Send the partner the baseline crawl, the list of top pages by clicks from the client's Search Console, the freeze dates, the names of the client's developer and approver, and access added in the client's name. Ask for the redirect map and the launch-check log back as rows you can read, and review the map yourself before launch.

Our guides on how a reseller program works and comparing white label SEO programs cover what to settle with a partner before the first project, and white label web design for agencies applies when the move comes with a new build. For a worked example, the platform move case study shows how one was run, and the SaaS SEO migration guide covers the same job for software companies. If you would rather have a team run the move directly, see our SEO migration services.