Move Your WebsiteWithout Losing Your Rankings
Most people don't leave their platform because they want a new website. They leave because nobody can edit the one they've got, the developer stopped answering, or the bill went up again. What stops them is the fear of wrecking what they've built in Google.
That fear is reasonable. A careless migration does lose rankings, and it can take months to recover. But it's lost for one specific, avoidable reason: the old page addresses stop working and nobody tells Google where the pages went. Handle that properly and your rankings move with you.
How a migration runs
- 1
Inventory what you have
Every page, post, form, product and web address on your current site. Most migrations that go wrong go wrong because something wasn't on this list.
- 2
Decide what's worth keeping
Not everything should come across. Services you no longer sell, duplicate pages, posts about a conference from 2014. I'll tell you which is which.
- 3
Rebuild on the new platform
Your content, your brand, laid out properly. Page builders don't transfer between platforms, so the design is recreated — usually an improvement.
- 4
Write the redirect map
Every old address points at its new home. This is the step that protects your rankings, and it's the step most people skip.
- 5
Test before anything goes live
Forms, phone links, payments, booking, email. I check what actually happens when someone fills in your contact form, not just that it looks right.
- 6
Switch the domain over
Usually at a quiet time for your business. Your existing site stays up the whole time it's being built, so you're never offline.
- 7
Watch it afterwards
For a few weeks Google is re-reading your site. I check Search Console and fix what surfaces. That's part of the job, not an extra.
What moves, and what gets rebuilt
The honest version, and it's roughly the same whichever platform you're coming from.
Moves across
- Your written content, in full
- Images and video, usually needing re-cropping
- Blog posts with their original dates, on most platforms
- Your domain name and any email on it
- Your Google rankings, if the redirects are done properly
Has to be rebuilt
- The design — templates are locked to their platform
- Forms, and wherever their submissions go
- Anything custom: booking, members areas, calculators
- Automations and email sequences tied to the old site
Lost unless planned for
- Comments on blog posts
- Old redirect rules already on the previous site
- Anything living inside a plugin's own database
Where I move sites from
- WordPress to Wix — the most common move I do
- Squarespace to Wix
- GoDaddy Website Builder to Wix
- Weebly, Webs and other builders winding down
- Custom-built sites where the original developer is gone
- Sites built with an AI tool that stalled before launch
Where I move them to
Wix for a business website you'll want to edit yourself afterwards. I'm a Wix Legend Partner, which is Wix's top partner tier.
A custom application when what you actually need is software — portals, bookings, dashboards — rather than pages.
And sometimes neither. If the right answer is a platform I don't build on, I'll tell you that on the call. I'd rather lose a project than take one I can't do well.
Common questions
Will I lose my Google rankings?
Not if the redirects are done properly. A redirect tells Google a page has permanently moved and where it went, so the value it built up transfers. Expect some movement for a few weeks while Google re-reads the site — that settles. What causes lasting damage is moving with no redirects at all.
How long is my site down?
It isn't. The new site is built and tested separately while your current one stays live. The switch itself takes minutes.
Can I keep my domain name and email?
Yes. Your domain is yours regardless of who built your site, and email on your domain keeps working. I handle the settings so nothing stops arriving mid-move.
What if I don't have logins for my old site?
Common, and usually solvable. Control of the domain is the piece that genuinely matters, and there's a recovery process for it. Tell me what you do and don't have access to and I'll tell you where you stand before you commit to anything.
Can I edit the new site myself afterwards?
Yes, and that's deliberate. Text, images, prices, hours, new posts — all yours. I'll walk you through it before handover.
Do I have to move my blog too?
No, but you usually should. Old posts are often quietly bringing in a good share of your search traffic. I'll show you which ones actually earn their keep before we decide.