SEO Migration & Redirect Setup

Service Scope

SEO Migration & Redirect Setup is a fixed-scope technical SEO service designed to help protect organic search visibility when an existing website is moved, rebuilt, restructured, or transferred to a different platform or domain.

The service covers one primary website migration and up to 150 priority existing URLs.

The objective is to preserve important SEO signals, create appropriate redirect relationships, reduce broken URLs, maintain search engine accessibility, and help the new website replace the previous version as cleanly as possible.

Migration SEO Review

Before redirect implementation begins, we review the existing website and planned migration to identify the SEO elements that should be preserved.

The review may include:

• Existing website URLs
• High-value organic landing pages
• Current page hierarchy
• Important service or product pages
• Existing metadata
• Canonical tags
• Internal links
• XML sitemap
• Robots.txt
• Indexed pages
• Existing redirects
• Search engine visibility
• Existing technical SEO settings

Where available, Google Search Console and analytics data may be used to identify priority pages that require additional attention during migration.

URL Inventory

We create or review an inventory of important URLs from the existing website.

The inventory may include:

• Homepage
• Service pages
• Product pages
• Collection or category pages
• Landing pages
• Blog articles
• Resource pages
• Location pages
• Contact pages
• High-traffic organic pages
• High-value conversion pages
• Other indexed or strategically important URLs

The purpose is to identify which existing URLs must remain unchanged, redirect to new destinations, or be intentionally retired.

URL Mapping

Old URLs are mapped to the most appropriate destination URLs on the new website.

Each redirect should point to a page that closely matches the purpose and content of the original URL whenever a suitable replacement exists.

Mapping may include:

• Old page to equivalent new page
• Old product to replacement product
• Old service to new service page
• Old category to new category
• Old article to updated article
• Old location page to replacement location page
• Retired page to the most relevant alternative

Redirecting large numbers of unrelated URLs directly to the homepage is avoided unless the homepage is genuinely the most appropriate replacement.

301 Redirect Setup

Approved permanent redirects are configured using 301 redirects or the appropriate permanent redirect mechanism supported by the website platform.

Implementation may include:

• Individual URL redirects
• Changed page slugs
• Changed folder structures
• Product URL changes
• Collection or category URL changes
• Blog URL changes
• Location page changes
• Removed page destinations
• Domain migration redirects where technically supported

The goal is to send users and search engines from retired URLs to the most relevant live destinations.

Redirect Chain Review

Existing and newly configured redirects are reviewed for unnecessary redirect chains.

For example, an old URL should ideally redirect directly to the final destination rather than passing through several intermediate URLs.

The review may identify:

• Multiple-step redirects
• Legacy redirect chains
• Redirected destination URLs
• Old migration rules
• Conflicting redirect rules
• Redirect loops

Reasonable corrections are implemented within the approved migration scope.

Broken URL Prevention

We review priority website pathways to reduce the number of broken links created during migration.

The review may include:

• Internal links pointing to old URLs
• Navigation links
• Footer links
• Button destinations
• Image links
• Blog links
• Product links
• Collection links
• Location links
• Important conversion paths

Where practical, internal links are updated to point directly to final URLs instead of relying on redirects.

Metadata Preservation

Important on-page SEO elements are reviewed to determine whether they have been transferred correctly to the new website.

The review may include:

• SEO titles
• Meta descriptions
• H1 headings
• Page copy
• Image alt text
• Structured content
• Primary keyword relevance
• Page intent
• Important content sections

The objective is to avoid unnecessary loss of optimized page information during migration.

This service does not include complete rewriting or optimization of every migrated page.

Canonical Validation

Canonical tags are reviewed during migration to ensure that important new URLs are not accidentally pointing toward old, staging, duplicate, or incorrect destinations.

The review may include:

• Self-referencing canonicals
• Old-domain canonicals
• Staging-domain canonicals
• Duplicate page canonicals
• Product canonicals
• Category canonicals
• HTTP and HTTPS consistency
• WWW and non-WWW consistency

Incorrect canonical signals affecting priority pages are corrected where supported.

Indexing Directive Review

We review page-level indexing controls to help prevent important migrated pages from being unintentionally excluded from search engines.

The review may include:

• Noindex directives
• Index directives
• Meta robots tags
• X-Robots-Tag observations
• CMS visibility settings
• Password protection
• Staging environment restrictions
• Search visibility settings

A common migration risk is accidentally carrying staging-site restrictions into the live website, so indexing controls are reviewed before or immediately after launch.

Robots.txt Review

The new website’s robots.txt configuration is reviewed for restrictions that may interfere with crawling.

The review may include:

• Search engine accessibility
• Important blocked directories
• Staging directives
• Sitemap references
• Platform-generated restrictions
• Duplicate directives
• Crawl rules affecting priority content

Necessary corrections are implemented where the website platform allows them.

XML Sitemap Migration

We review the XML sitemap for the new website and confirm that it represents the correct live URLs.

Work may include:

• New sitemap identification
• Sitemap accessibility
• Live URL validation
• Old URL observations
• Redirected URL observations
• Non-indexable URL observations
• Search engine submission
• Sitemap status validation

Where appropriate, the new sitemap may be submitted through Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.

Internal Linking Review

Priority internal links are reviewed to make sure the new website connects important pages correctly.

The review may include:

• Main navigation
• Footer links
• Contextual links
• Product or service relationships
• Category links
• Blog links
• Location links
• Breadcrumb paths
• Calls to action

Important internal links should normally point directly to live destination URLs rather than old URLs that redirect.

Structured Data Preservation

Where the existing website uses important structured data, we review whether relevant markup remains available after migration.

The review may include applicable markup such as:

• Organization
• LocalBusiness
• Product
• Service
• Breadcrumb
• Article
• Website
• Other existing structured data

Basic migration-related corrections may be completed where appropriate.

Extensive schema redevelopment may require the separate Schema Markup & Structured Data Setup service.

Domain Migration Review

When the migration includes changing the primary domain, additional SEO considerations are reviewed.

These may include:

• Old-domain redirects
• New-domain accessibility
• HTTPS configuration
• WWW consistency
• Canonical URLs
• Internal links
• XML sitemaps
• Search Console properties
• External link considerations
• Important business profile links

Domain migrations carry additional SEO risk and require both domains to remain accessible for proper redirect implementation.

Platform Migration Review

The service may support migrations between website platforms such as moving from one CMS or e-commerce system to another.

Examples may include:

• Shopify migrations
• WordPress migrations
• Website builder migrations
• Custom CMS migrations
• E-commerce platform migrations

We focus specifically on SEO migration requirements.

The actual transfer of website design, products, databases, customer accounts, orders, applications, or backend functionality is not included unless separately scoped.

Google Search Console Migration Validation

Where access is available, Google Search Console is reviewed before and after migration.

The review may include:

• Existing search performance
• Important organic landing pages
• Indexing reports
• Sitemap status
• Priority URL inspection
• Canonical observations
• Crawl and indexing issues
• New property configuration when needed
• Post-launch indexing observations

For domain migrations, appropriate Search Console migration-related settings may be reviewed when applicable to the specific migration.

Bing Webmaster Tools Validation

Where available, Bing Webmaster Tools may also be reviewed to support the migration.

The review may include:

• Website verification
• Sitemap submission
• URL indexing observations
• Priority URL inspection
• Crawl issues
• New-domain configuration where applicable

This provides additional visibility into how the migrated website is being processed outside Google.

Pre-Launch Validation

Where project timing allows access to the new website before launch, we perform an SEO-focused pre-launch review.

Validation may include:

• Redirect preparation
• Priority URL mapping
• Metadata
• Canonicals
• Indexing directives
• Robots.txt
• XML sitemap
• Internal links
• Important page accessibility
• Structured data observations
• Staging environment controls

Issues identified before launch are prioritized to reduce avoidable migration problems.

Post-Launch Validation

After the migrated website becomes publicly available, we review the implementation to confirm that important SEO migration elements are functioning.

Validation may include:

• Old URL redirects
• Redirect destinations
• Broken URLs
• Redirect chains
• Canonical tags
• Indexing directives
• Robots.txt
• XML sitemap
• Priority internal links
• Important landing pages
• Search Console accessibility
• Bing Webmaster Tools accessibility where available

Priority migration issues identified during the agreed validation period are documented and corrected where they fall within scope.

Redirect Testing

Configured redirects are tested to confirm that important old URLs reach the correct final destinations.

Testing may include:

• Response status
• Destination URL
• Redirect loops
• Redirect chains
• Broken destinations
• HTTP to HTTPS behavior
• Domain variations
• Priority page paths

The objective is to provide clean, direct transitions from old URLs to their intended replacements.

Migration Monitoring Review

Initial post-launch search engine signals are reviewed where sufficient data becomes available during the project period.

Observations may include:

• Indexing changes
• New URL discovery
• Old URL removal
• Search Console warnings
• Crawl errors
• Sitemap processing
• Priority page visibility

Search engines may require days or weeks to fully process a major migration, so not every migration outcome can be confirmed immediately after launch.

Deliverables

The completed service includes:

• SEO migration review for one website
• Migration coverage for up to 150 priority existing URLs
• Existing URL inventory
• Old-to-new URL mapping
• 301 redirect plan
• Redirect implementation within supported scope
• Redirect chain and loop review
• Broken URL prevention review
• Metadata preservation review
• Canonical validation
• Indexing directive review
• Robots.txt review
• XML sitemap migration review
• Internal linking review
• Structured data preservation observations
• Domain migration review when applicable
• Google Search Console migration validation
• Bing Webmaster Tools validation when available
• Pre-launch SEO validation when access is available
• Post-launch validation
• Redirect testing
• Initial migration monitoring observations
• Final migration summary and remaining recommendations

Client Requirements

The client must provide access to both the existing website and the new website environment when available.

Depending on the migration, required access may include:

• Current website CMS
• New website CMS
• Shopify administration
• Theme or template files
• Domain registrar
• DNS provider
• Hosting environment
• Redirect configuration
• Google Search Console
• Bing Webmaster Tools
• Existing analytics
• Staging website

The client or website development team must provide the final new URL structure before redirect mapping can be completed.

The client must also notify KizilCo before major URL, domain, navigation, or launch-date changes that affect the approved migration plan.

Scope Boundaries

This service focuses specifically on preserving SEO signals and configuring redirects during one website migration.

It does not include complete website development, website design, database migration, product migration, customer account migration, email migration, hosting migration, DNS administration beyond migration-related requirements, complete content rewriting, full on-page SEO optimization, full keyword research, backlink acquisition, digital PR, paid advertising, or ongoing SEO management.

The fixed scope covers up to 150 priority existing URLs. Larger websites, complex enterprise migrations, multilingual websites, international SEO migrations, large e-commerce catalogs, extensive faceted navigation, or migrations involving thousands of URLs may require custom scope.

Website migrations can create temporary fluctuations in crawling, indexing, organic traffic, and rankings even when technically implemented correctly.

Search engines ultimately control crawling, indexing, canonical selection, and rankings.

The service is designed to reduce preventable SEO migration problems but cannot guarantee that rankings, traffic, indexing levels, leads, or revenue will remain unchanged after migration.