Migrating your firm's old website without losing rankings or clients

Your website is a few years old. It looks dated, it's slow, and on a phone it falls apart. You know it's time to renew it… but something holds you back, and it's a reasonable fear: «what if changing it makes me lose what I already have on Google and I stop showing up?».

It's a good question, and the short answer is yes, you can change it without losing anything — if it's done properly. Here's how.

In short: a good migration isn't 'wipe it and start from scratch'. You keep the addresses that already rank, redirect what changes, and tell Google. Done this way, you get a brand-new site without losing clients.

Why it's scary (and why that fear is healthy)

If you've had your site for years, people find you on Google without you realising. Changing it carelessly can break that: links that stop working, pages that vanish, and suddenly you drop in the results. The fear is healthy because, done badly, it really happens.

What's kept and what's redirected

The key is that what works isn't thrown away. Whatever already ranks is kept or moved carefully:

• Your page addresses: if one changes, an automatic note sends whoever arrives —and Google— to the new one. That's a redirect: the 'we've moved here' sign.
• The content that already brings visits: not deleted, but improved and better organised.
• Your domain: it stays the same, and that's a big part of what Google already recognises.

The process, step by step

1. Inventory: list what you have and, above all, which pages bring you visits.
2. Moving map: each old address pointed to its equivalent on the new site.
3. Build the new site better: fast, clear and made for mobile.
4. Publish with the redirects in place from minute one, not afterwards.
5. Tell Google, and keep an eye for a few weeks that everything stays in place.

A real case

An accounting firm in Alcorcón had an eight-year-old website: slow and dated, but still bringing in the odd client from Google. We migrated it keeping its addresses and with the redirects properly set. It didn't lose rankings —and the new site loads far faster and looks right on a phone.

A good migration is moving house without losing your address: the people who knew you still find you.

Signs it's time to migrate

• It's slow to load, especially on a phone.
• It doesn't look right on mobile.
• You can't update it yourself and no one maintains it.
• The browser warns that it's 'not secure'.

If two or more sound familiar, it's time — and it can be done without losing anything. Here's how I approach websites for accounting firms.