A redesign should lift your brand and your organic performance, not reset it. At BoomSprint, we build migration into the plan from day one, using interactive prototypes, modular design systems, and an SEO-first build so stakeholders align early and rankings stay steady. Consider this your playbook for preserving and growing visibility when you launch a new site.
Map every URL and redirect with precision
Start by crawling the current site and exporting every indexable URL, plus media, PDFs, and key JS and CSS files. A crawler like the SEO Spider is ideal for this task, and its migration tutorial shows how to benchmark, compare staging to production, and audit chain issues efficiently, as the Screaming Frog team explains in their site migration guide.
Build a one-to-one redirect map and implement permanent 301 or 308 server-side redirects. Google’s site move documentation recommends server-side permanent redirects and explicitly notes that 301, 302 and other server-side redirects do not cause loss of PageRank. Google’s redirect guidance also advises avoiding chains and keeping them as short as possible. While Google can follow up to 10 hops, their doc recommends redirecting directly to the final target and ideally keeping chains under 3 to 5.
Plan for longevity. Google advises keeping redirects in place for at least a year so all signals consolidate on the new URLs, and to submit updated sitemaps to speed up discovery. If you are changing domains, use the Change of Address tool in Search Console.
Ecommerce migrations often involve high-volume SKU changes. If you are on Shopify, the platform’s URL redirect features make it easy to import, manage and bulk edit 301s, as the Shopify Help Center explains. If you are replatforming to Shopify, you can set the foundation for growth with Shopify.
Preserve content parity and intent
A new design should not mean new content intent on already ranking pages. Keep the core copy, headings, internal linking, and metadata equivalent to the old pages where you rely on existing rankings. Google’s mobile-first indexing guidance stresses that desktop and mobile content should be the same and that parity helps the two versions rank for the same keywords, as stated in Google’s mobile-first best practices. If you hide or significantly trim content, you risk drops or soft 404-like interpretations.
Use your prototypes and CMS to align on content early. BoomSprint’s modular systems make it simple to keep the message consistent while elevating layout and interaction. If you are refreshing copy, follow practical on-page advice like our guide on how to write content that ranks on Google and maintain keyword intent.
Structured data that survives the move
Structured data should be carried over, field-for-field, on the new URLs. Google’s general policies require that markup accurately reflects on-page content and uses supported formats, with JSON-LD recommended, as outlined in the General structured data guidelines. Google’s mobile-first doc also states that structured data must be present on both desktop and mobile versions, with correct URLs, and prioritizes keeping Breadcrumb, Product and VideoObject markup aligned across versions, per Google’s guidance.
Validate before and after launch using Google’s Rich Results Test, then spot-check with the URL Inspection tool in Search Console. Keep the same schema types and required properties to preserve eligibility for rich results.
Technical hygiene and QA checklist
Crawl the staging site and compare to production. Identify removed pages, changed titles, altered canonical tags, robots directives, and hreflang. The Screaming Frog tutorial shows how to do side-by-side comparisons and change detection for titles, word count and internal links in their migration walkthrough.
Remove temporary noindex and robots.txt blocks at go-live. Google lists forgetting to remove noindex or blocks as a common migration mistake, and recommends verifying with the URL Inspection tool.
Return correct status codes. When content is truly gone without a replacement, send 410 Gone instead of 404 to communicate permanence, as the MDN documentation for 410 explains.
Update canonical and internal links to the new URLs, and submit new sitemaps while removing the old ones, per Google’s site move guidance.
Check Core Web Vitals after launch. In 2024, Interaction to Next Paint replaced FID as a Core Web Vital. The web.dev team announced the change and timeline in their post on INP’s rollout, noting it became a Core Web Vital on March 12, 2024, as detailed on web.dev. Address responsiveness bottlenecks early to protect conversions during and after launch.
Monitor like a pro after launch
Expect some fluctuation. Google notes that medium sites usually stabilize within a few weeks and that fluctuations are normal while crawling and indexing catch up, as stated in the site move overview. Track both properties in Search Console. Watch Index Coverage, Sitemaps indexed counts, and the Performance report to confirm traffic shifts from old URLs to new.
Audit redirects at scale. Crawl your list of old URLs and export chains, loops, temporary hops, and non-indexable targets. Fix anything that does not resolve to a relevant, indexable destination. The approach described by Screaming Frog’s redirect auditing process is a practical template for this task.
Proactively update high-value external links. Google recommends updating major referring links, social profiles and ad landing pages to reduce reliance on redirects and improve user experience, as described in Google’s documentation.
How BoomSprint delivers zero-drama migrations
We ship premium redesigns in weeks, not months, with SEO baked in. Our process begins with discovery and UX strategy, then interactive prototypes that lock alignment before build. During development we implement modular design systems and an intuitive CMS so your team can edit content and images without developers. We validate redirects, structured data, and performance in a dedicated QA phase, then onboard your team with tailored workshops and video tutorials.
Explore our services and see how design, development and SEO move in sync.
Review conversion-focused work like Space, Nova, Sonic and Solar.
Level up with related reads from our blog, including why responsive web design is critical, 10 elements for engagement, and the importance of content in driving traffic.
If your roadmap includes a platform change, we have deep Shopify experience and can plan URL structures, redirects and theme performance from the outset. For teams moving to Shopify, start with Shopify, and we will handle the rest.
Ready to migrate with confidence and add some magic to your brand’s digital presence? Let’s talk about your timeline and goals on our contact page, or get a feel for scope on our pricing page. You will get a polished site and the SEO momentum to match.
