When transitioning from one website to another, SEO preservation is the process of ensuring that the hard-earned value of your current site's SEO—such as rankings, traffic, and backlinks—is effectively transferred to the new site. Whether you’re redesigning and restructuring your company’s website, selling your domain to a new owner, merging with another company and compiling both websites together on a new domain, or simply moving your business to a new domain, careful planning and execution are essential.

Here’s an overview of the steps involved:

1. Review the Current Website’s Sitemap

Begin by auditing the structure of your existing site. Create a type of site map that outlines all the pages and how they’re connected. This gives you a clear view of:

• Which pages are generating the most traffic.
• Which pages are relevant to your services.

This step is important for identifying what you need to protect and preserve during the transition.

2. Identify SEO Value for Key Pages

For each page, determine:

• The primary keywords it ranks for.
• The types of users it attracts.
• Any unique content or long-tail keywords that provide value (e.g., specific blog posts or niche service pages).

This helps you prioritize which pages must be recreated or redirected and which may no longer be relevant.

3. Review the New Website’s Structure

Audit the new site’s sitemap or proposed structure. Ensure that it has:

• Pages that match the old site’s content and keyword focus.
• A logical structure that aligns with your business goals.
• Space for any essential content you’re carrying over from the old site.

This ensures the new site is ready to receive the SEO value you’re transferring from key pages, even if the new structure isn’t the same.

4. Plan Redirects and Content Recreation

With the old and new site structures in hand:

• Decide which pages from the old site will redirect to equivalent pages on the new site.
• Plan which pages need to be recreated on the new site if straight redirects aren’t possible.
• Address unique cases like blog posts or niche pages. These might need special redirects or content updates to preserve their long-tail keyword value.

5. Execute the Transition Plan

Once the plan is in place:

• Set up 301 redirects from old URLs to new ones to guide both users and search engines.
• Test redirects to ensure they work as intended.
• Recreate or update any essential content that cannot be redirected.
• In cases where old content is being migrated into a new site design, don’t forget to update on-page, internal links.

Remember, redirects are not instant fixes. It may take weeks or months for search engines to recognize and adjust to the changes.

6. Communicate Changes to Your Audience

When transitioning your website, keeping your audience informed is key to maintaining trust and engagement. Here are some simple suggestions to communicate the change:

• Add Notifications to Your Old Website: Before the transition, use banners or pop-ups to inform visitors about the upcoming change. If applicable, include links to the new site and details about what’s changing.
• Leverage Email and Social Media: Announce the transition to your subscribers and followers. Share the timeline, benefits of the new site, and encourage them to explore it.
• Provide Support: Offer an FAQ page or a contact option for questions. This reassures users and helps them navigate the change.
• Stay Consistent: Use the same branding across platforms to show continuity and build confidence in your new site. Add a small, temporary banner or a note on the About page regarding the change from the old site to the new site so that visitors have an explanation if they’ve arrived on the new site unexpectedly.

Clear communication ensures a smooth transition for your users and helps maintain their trust during this process.

7. Keep Redirects in Place for at Least a Year

Search engines and users may still attempt to access your old URLs for months after the transition. Backlinks from others may also continue to send visitors to old URLs. Keeping redirects active for at least a year ensures that you’re not losing traffic or confusing users during the adjustment period. It provides time to reach out to users and website owners to inform them of necessary changes to their bookmarks, backlinks, and more.

8. Understand the Challenge

SEO preservation is not an easy process—it requires careful planning and a deep understanding of both your old and new sites. Mistakes, or skipping SEO preservation entirely, can lead to lost rankings, traffic, or even sales. Partnering with SEO experts, like SilverServers, can help ensure a smoother process and better results.

Reach out today to start planning your SEO preservation.

Additional FAQs About SEO Preservation

Q: Is SEO preservation necessary for a design or structural update on the same domain?
A: Yes. While the process is simpler when staying on the same domain, SEO preservation is still important. The key steps—such as auditing your current site structure, ensuring redirects for any removed or changed pages, and preserving on-page optimizations—still apply. However, instead of setting temporary redirects for a year, you can keep your URLs live indefinitely at no extra cost, ensuring seamless user experience and search engine continuity.

Q: What happens to my backlinks during this process?
A: Backlinks still point to your old site’s pages. Redirecting those pages to the new site ensures that this link equity is passed along and continues to benefit your rankings.

Q: Can I do SEO preservation myself?
A: Yes. However, it’s a complex task requiring technical expertise. Working with an SEO provider who is experienced in technical SEO ensures better outcomes.

Q: Will my new website retain the same rankings as my old one?
A: Not necessarily. Even with proper SEO preservation, rankings can fluctuate during the transition, especially in highly competitive spaces and when a domain name is being changed. However, following best practices can help minimize the impact.

Q: What happens if I don’t preserve SEO during a site transition?
A: Without proper SEO preservation, you risk losing all the traffic, rankings, and authority your old site had built. Search engines will treat your new site as starting from scratch, which can take years to rebuild.

Q: Should I preserve SEO if I’m shutting down or selling my business?
A: Yes. Whether because of future business owners interested in the website’s value or helping your business community keep connected to the value you provide on your website, we always recommend SEO preservation efforts before shutting down any website. Read more in our article about what shutting down your website means for your domain and SEO.

Q: Are all pages worth preserving during a transition?
A: Not always. Pages with little or no SEO value (e.g., outdated or irrelevant content) may not need to be preserved. An audit helps identify which pages are worth redirecting, recreating, or retiring.

Q: Can I preserve SEO if I’m merging two websites?
A: Yes. It requires the same steps, but it’s more complex. You’ll need to carefully map old URLs from both sites to the new site, manage content duplication issues, and ensure that backlinks from both old sites are redirected properly.

Find more in the SEO Tips section of our blog!