How much does professional SEO migration cost?
SEO migration costs £3,000-£15,000 depending on site size, complexity, and migration type. Small sites (under 500 pages) typically cost £3k-£5k. E-commerce sites cost £5k-£10k. Enterprise migrations cost £10k-£15k+. Consider this: the average failed migration loses 30-50% traffic permanently. Recovering that traffic costs £20k-£50k plus 6-12 months of lost revenue. Prevention is dramatically cheaper than recovery.
How long does a properly planned SEO migration take?
Proper SEO migration takes 6-12 weeks depending on site complexity. Planning and mapping take 2-4 weeks. Implementation and testing take 2-4 weeks. Launch and monitoring take 2-4 weeks. This timeline protects your rankings. Rushed migrations (2-4 weeks total) cause mistakes that destroy traffic. The extra time invested upfront prevents 6-12 months of recovery work later.
Can I handle SEO migration myself or do I need an expert?
Simple migrations (HTTPS upgrades, minor redesigns) can be handled internally with careful planning. Complex migrations (platform changes, domain moves, major restructuring) require professional expertise. One redirect mistake, one technical error, one overlooked element can cause permanent ranking loss. Professionals have done hundreds of migrations and know every failure point. The investment in expertise prevents catastrophic mistakes.
Will my rankings drop during migration?
Properly executed migrations maintain rankings with 0-5% fluctuation. Rankings may fluctuate temporarily (1-4 weeks) as Google re-crawls and re-evaluates the site, but should stabilize at or above pre-migration levels. Poorly executed migrations lose 20-60% of traffic permanently. The difference is comprehensive planning, perfect execution, and continuous monitoring that catches issues before they compound.
What happens if something goes wrong during migration?
Professional migrations include rollback plans and immediate response protocols. If issues appear post-launch, we identify problems within hours, implement fixes immediately, and monitor continuously until resolved. Most issues caught quickly (first 48 hours) can be corrected with minimal impact. Issues that linger for weeks cause permanent damage. This is why continuous monitoring and expert oversight are non-negotiable during migration.
How do you handle migrations for large e-commerce sites?
E-commerce migrations are highest-risk because of product page volume, category structures, and revenue dependence. We map every product URL, preserve category hierarchies, implement faceted navigation SEO, maintain product schema, test checkout processes, and verify all technical elements. Staged rollout (testing with small product subset first) minimizes risk. Continuous monitoring catches issues before they affect revenue.
Do you provide ongoing support after migration?
Yes, post-migration support is included for 30-90 days depending on migration complexity. We monitor rankings, traffic, indexation, and technical health continuously. If issues emerge (ranking drops, crawl errors, indexation problems), we investigate immediately and implement corrections. Most migrations stabilize within 4-8 weeks, but we continue monitoring until performance confirms complete success.
What's the biggest mistake businesses make during migrations?
Rushing the process. Most failed migrations happen because businesses set arbitrary deadlines (site launch dates, seasonal events) that force rushed execution. Proper migration takes time—comprehensive planning, thorough testing, and careful monitoring can't be compressed without consequences. The second biggest mistake is treating SEO migration as checklist rather than strategic process requiring expertise. Both mistakes cause permanent traffic loss.
