Relaunch without a crash: how to save rankings through the move

A new site looks better, loads faster and feels more modern. Even so, traffic collapses after many relaunches. It is almost always down to the same points.

Redirect old addresses, do not delete them

Every page that existed before needs a destination. If a service no longer exists, redirect to the appropriate new page – not wholesale to the home page. A redirect list is created before the move, not afterwards.

Take content along, do not cut it

Short and modern does not mean little. If a well-performing page shrinks from 800 to 150 words, it disappears from search. Existing content is revised, tightened and supplemented – not thrown away.

Measure before going live

Watch for two weeks after going live

After the move we look into Search Console daily: errors, indexing, positions. Small problems in the first days cost little if fixed immediately – and a lot if they stay for three months.

The weeks before going live

Six weeks before: create a content inventory – every existing page with traffic figures and position. Four weeks before: build the redirect list. Two weeks before: test environment with password protection and noindex, click through all pages. One week before: measure loading times, check structured data, test forms.

On moving day

We go live early in the morning, never on a Friday afternoon. Right afterwards: submit the sitemap in Search Console, spot-check twenty redirects, test the form, check Analytics.

The two weeks afterwards

Traffic always fluctuates after a relaunch – that is normal and usually settles within four weeks. It becomes conspicuous if individual pages drop out of the index or errors appear in Search Console. We see both early because we look in daily.

When a relaunch is worth it at all

Age alone is not a reason. A relaunch pays off when the site works badly on the phone, when content can no longer be maintained in-house, when the technology no longer receives security updates or when the offer has changed. A new look alone is rarely worth the effort.