Website rebuilds and migrations

A planned move from an ageing or limiting website to a faster, maintainable modern build, with content, URLs, redirects, and existing search visibility handled carefully.

Improve the website without discarding its value

What this means

The biggest concern in a website rebuild is often whether changing the design, platform, or URLs will damage existing Google visibility. No migration is risk-free, but a careful audit, URL plan, redirect strategy, and post-launch review can preserve important signals while improving the website around them.

Why it matters

  • Replace outdated technology or restrictive platforms
  • Preserve important URLs, content, links, and search signals
  • Improve performance, usability, accessibility, and maintainability
  • Create a clearer content structure for future search growth

A redesign is also a technical migration

Search engines and customers may already rely on existing page addresses, content, metadata, internal links, and external links. Removing or changing them without a plan can create broken journeys and lost visibility.

Simply copying every old page is not the answer either. A rebuild should identify content that performs, content that needs improvement, duplicated pages, obsolete information, and gaps in the customer journey.

Preserve what works, improve what does not

We inventory the existing site and map old URLs to their most relevant destination on the new website. Where an address changes, we implement permanent HTTP 301 or 308 redirects rather than sending every removed page to the homepage.

Important headings, metadata, copy, media, structured information, and internal links are reviewed during migration. Before and after launch, we check redirects, crawlability, canonical URLs, sitemaps, broken links, and key pages. Search performance can fluctuate after a launch, so monitoring and prompt correction matter.

What is included

  • Existing website, content, analytics, and search review where access is available
  • Content inventory and old-to-new URL mapping
  • Permanent 301 or 308 redirect implementation
  • New website design and development as scoped
  • Pre-launch crawl, metadata, canonical, sitemap, and broken-link checks
  • Post-launch redirect, indexing, and key-page verification

How we approach it

  • Audit

    We review current URLs, content, search data, links, technology, and known customer journeys.

  • Map

    Each important old URL is retained or assigned a relevant permanent redirect.

  • Launch and verify

    We crawl and test the new website, then monitor key migration signals after launch.

Frequently asked questions

Will rebuilding our website make us lose Google rankings?

A migration can cause temporary movement, and nobody can guarantee unchanged rankings. Preserving valuable content and URLs, using relevant permanent redirects, and checking the site carefully before and after launch substantially reduces avoidable risk.

What happens to old page URLs?

Useful URLs can be retained. When a URL must change, we map it to the most relevant new page with a permanent HTTP 301 or 308 redirect. Pages without a genuine replacement may correctly return a 404 or 410 response.

Can you migrate content from WordPress, Squarespace, or another CMS?

Usually. The method depends on the platform, available exports or APIs, content quality, and the amount of restructuring required. We assess this before quoting the migration.

Plan your website migration

Send us your current website and explain what needs to change. We will identify the content, URLs, and search considerations that need protecting.