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Move an existing website to your new site

Move without breaking the links people already use

A new website does not mean starting from zero. Other sites may already link to your old pages, people may have bookmarked them, and search engines may know and rank those URLs. During a migration, the goal is to make sure anyone opening an old address reaches the right new page, while preserving as much of the SEO value you've already built up as possible.

The process below takes you from the initial audit through to the checks after launch. You can do every step manually, but you do not have to click through everything one item at a time.

You do not have to do the whole migration manually. If you work with an AI assistant through MCP, several migration steps can be prepared through conversation: creating pages and blocks, updating content and SEO data, adding redirects, and working with navigation and images. You describe what you want, the assistant prepares the changes, and you approve them before they go live. See how MCP works.

The 5 steps of a website migration

The same process works whether you do it manually or with an AI assistant — the important thing is not to leave old URLs with nowhere useful to go.

  1. Audit the old website

    Collect the important old URLs. Good starting points are /sitemap.xml, the Pages report in Google Search Console and your analytics. Mark which pages will stay, which will be merged and which will disappear.

  2. Move the content and SEO data

    Create the new pages and articles, upload images with ALT text, and carry over important SEO titles and descriptions. See Create a new page, Page settings and Site-wide SEO settings.

  3. Keep URLs where you can

    If a page can keep the same address, use the same slug. When the new URL has to change, create a 301 redirect from the old address to the most relevant new page. Do not automatically redirect everything to the homepage.

  4. Launch the new website

    Keep search-engine indexing disabled while the migration is still in progress. Connect your own domain, then turn indexing back on when the site goes live and submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console. See Connect your own domain for the domain steps.

  5. Check the first few weeks

    Test old URLs, watch for 404s and redirect hits, and keep an eye on Google Search Console. Some fluctuation after a migration can be normal, so keep fixing missed redirects and other issues as you find them.

The best redirect is the one you do not need. Keep the old URL wherever possible by using the same slug on the new page. If that is not possible, redirect the old address to the most relevant new page with a 301. For the manual setup, see Manage redirects.

What can you hand off to an AI assistant?

With MCP, you can do more than ask for advice: many of the actual website changes can be prepared through conversation and then submitted for your approval.

Content

Pages and articles

Prepare new pages and articles, or changes to existing content.

Structure

Blocks

Create, edit, remove and reorder blocks while building the new pages.

Search

SEO data

Prepare changes to titles, descriptions and other supported page-level SEO settings.

Migration

Redirects

Add and update 301 redirects from old URLs to the right new addresses.

Navigation

Menu

Add, edit and arrange main-menu items to match the new site structure.

Media

Images

Work with the media library and prepare card and block images for the new content.

WEBSITE MIGRATION

You do not have to click through every step one by one.

Work manually, or use an AI assistant through MCP. If you'd rather prepare the changes through conversation, see how MCP works.

MCP for your website →Manage redirects