Migrating your website to a new ecommerce platform can temporarily impact search engine rankings, especially if your URL structure is changing. Following the steps below will help preserve your existing SEO value and minimize disruptions to organic traffic.
Before You Go Live
1. Create URL Redirects
If any page URLs are changing, create 301 redirects from your old URLs to their new destinations.
Redirects help search engines understand where content has moved and transfer ranking signals from the old URL to the new one.
Best Practices:
Redirect each page to the most relevant new page.
Avoid redirecting all pages to your homepage.
Avoid redirect chains (URL A → URL B → URL C).
Ensure redirects are active immediately when the new site launches.
Need help setting up redirects?
See our guide: Setting up URL Redirects
2. Export Important SEO Content
Before migration, make a copy of:
Page titles
Meta descriptions
Meta Titles
Blog content (if applicable)
Review your new site to ensure this content has been preserved.
After Launch
3. Submit Your Sitemap to Google
Your new site automatically generates a sitemap. Your sitemap URL depends on how your website is configured. Choose the one that matches your setup:
Full Website Cutover:
https://xyz.com/sitemap.xml
Reverse Proxy Setup:
https://xyz.com/menu-path/sitemap.xmlSubdomain Setup:
https://shop.xyz.com/sitemap.xml
Once your new website is live:
Log in to Google Search Console.
Navigate to Sitemaps.
Submit your new sitemap URL.
This helps Google discover and index your new URLs more quickly.
5. Monitor Google Search Console
For the first several weeks after launch, monitor Search Console for:
404 errors
Redirect errors
Pages not indexed
Crawl issues
Addressing these issues early can help reduce ranking fluctuations.
6. Update External Links Where Possible
If you control links that point to your website, update them to use the new URLs directly. Examples include:
Social media profiles
Email templates
Digital menus
Business listings
Partner websites
While redirects will continue to work, direct links provide the best experience for users and search engines.
What to Expect
If your domain name remains the same and redirects are configured correctly, most websites experience only temporary ranking fluctuations.
A typical timeline looks like:
Week 1–2: Google discovers redirects and new URLs.
Week 2–8: Rankings and traffic may fluctuate.
Month 2–3: Most SEO signals have transferred to the new URLs.
Month 3+: Traffic and rankings typically stabilize.
The exact timeline depends on factors such as website size, crawl frequency, and how many URLs have changed.
Summary
To minimize SEO impact during migration:
✅ Configure 301 redirects for all changed URLs - keep redirects active for at least 12 months, and preferably indefinitely, since old URLs may continue to receive traffic
✅ Preserve existing SEO content and metadata
✅ Submit your new sitemap to Google Search Console
✅ Monitor Search Console for errors after launch
✅ Update important external links where possible
Following these steps will give search engines the information they need to understand your new site structure and preserve as much existing SEO value as possible.