# How do I migrate my store or website without losing SEO?

**Short answer:** Keep the same content, map every old URL to its new one, add 301 redirects for every URL that changes, and check Search Console after launch. Most traffic drops after a migration come from missing redirects, not from the new platform.

## Why rankings drop after a migration

Search engines rank individual URLs. If a product page moves from one address to another with no redirect, the old address returns a 404 and its rankings are lost. Platforms use different URL patterns, so a platform change almost always changes URLs. Shopify, for example, puts products under `/products/` and collections under `/collections/`, while WooCommerce defaults to `/product/` and `/product-category/`.

## The steps that protect rankings

- Crawl the old site and export every URL, including products, categories, posts, pages and images that get search traffic.
- Pull your top pages from Search Console and analytics, so you know which URLs matter most.
- Build a redirect map: each old URL to its closest new equivalent. Don't send everything to the homepage.
- Keep titles, headings, body content and meta descriptions the same at launch. Change the platform first and the content later, so you can tell which change affected rankings.
- Add the redirects as 301s on the new site, then test them before switching DNS.
- After launch, submit the new sitemap, watch Search Console's page indexing and 404 reports, and fix gaps as they appear.

## What else can break

- Internal links that still point to old URLs.
- Image URLs, which also carry search traffic for many stores.
- Structured data, such as product prices and reviews, that the old theme or an app provided.
- Customer accounts: passwords can't be exported between platforms, so plan a reset email.

## Related

- [Website & store migrations](https://www.designnairobi.agency/services/wordpress-migrations.md)
- [Global Atlanta case study](https://www.designnairobi.agency/case-studies/global-atlanta.md)

Author: Eric Mutema, Full Stack Developer: Websites, Stores, Apps & AI (https://www.designnairobi.agency/). Web page: https://www.designnairobi.agency/articles/migrate-store-without-losing-seo.html