What is a website migration

Website migration is the process of making major changes to a website that can affect its structure, technology, design or URL structure. A website migration aims to improve performance or capabilities while keeping traffic, rankings and conversions stable.

In practice, a website migration can involve moving to a new CMS, switching from HTTP to HTTPS, changing domains, redesigning templates or restructuring URLs. For e-commerce and B2B sites, a well planned website migration is critical, because mistakes can lead to lost organic traffic, broken tracking and a drop in revenue.

Common types of website migration

The term website migration covers several scenarios that are high impact for SEO and analytics. Examples include moving from WordPress to Webflow, changing your domain name for a rebrand, or merging several microsites into one central platform. Each type of website migration requires its own checklist and risk assessment.

From a search perspective, the biggest risk in any website migration is losing the connection between old and new URLs. If redirects are missing or misconfigured, Google treats the new pages as fresh content and you lose accumulated authority. That is why technical SEO, content mapping and redirect planning should be part of every website migration project, not an afterthought.

Key steps in a website migration

  • Audit the current site, content, technical setup and traffic sources before any website migration starts.
  • Create a one to one URL mapping and set up 301 redirects from every important old URL to its new version.
  • Test the website migration in a staging environment, including forms, tracking, page speed and mobile behaviour.
  • Launch during a low traffic window and monitor logs, Search Console and analytics closely in the first days.
  • Run follow up SEO checks for indexation, rankings, internal links and broken pages after the website migration.

Together, these steps reduce risk and help your website migration protect or even improve visibility and conversions instead of hurting them.

Why website migration matters for growth teams

For growth minded teams, a website migration is not just an IT project. It is a chance to improve information architecture, conversion flows and technical foundations in one focused effort. When you combine a website migration with better UX, faster page speed and cleaner tracking, you set up your e-commerce or B2B site for stronger long term performance.

Because of the stakes, many Belgian and European companies work with an embedded specialist team for their website migration. At 6th Man Digital, for example, website migrations are often part of broader SEO services and audits, conversion focused website development or Webflow implementation projects. This integrated approach keeps design, development and SEO aligned, which is exactly what a successful website migration needs.