WordPress sites change more often than most: new themes, new plugins, new hosts, permalink changes, and moves to or from other platforms. Each one can quietly break redirects, reset titles or lose structured data. WordPress migration SEO plans the change around what the site already earns, and checks everything before and after it goes live.
Most WordPress migrations break on permalinks and on a plugin nobody remembered was doing something important.
What WordPress migrations cover
WordPress migrations cover moving a site to WordPress from another platform, moving away from WordPress, changing the permalink structure, switching SEO plugins, moving hosts, and consolidating or merging WordPress sites. The SEO work covers URL mapping and redirects, carrying across SEO data such as titles, descriptions and schema, server and caching configuration, sitemaps and recovery tracking.
Common WordPress migration risks
| Change | What can go wrong |
|---|---|
| Permalink structure change | Every affected post and page gets a new URL, and old ones return errors without redirects |
| SEO plugin switch | Titles, descriptions, schema and redirect rules don’t all import correctly |
| Hosting move | Downtime, slower servers, lost SSL or server-level redirects, caching conflicts |
| Theme change | Headings, breadcrumbs and schema output change or disappear |
| Moving from another platform | Different URL patterns, lost content and missing redirects |
| Staging push | A “discourage search engines” setting or noindex going live |
Who it’s for
This suits businesses that are:
- moving onto WordPress from Wix, Squarespace, a custom build or another platform
- moving off WordPress to Shopify or elsewhere
- changing permalinks, theme or SEO plugin on an established site
- moving hosts or merging several WordPress sites into one
What’s included
- Baseline. Search Console, analytics and a crawl of the current site, including posts, pages, categories and media.
- URL mapping. Every URL that earns traffic or links mapped to its destination.
- SEO data transfer plan. Titles, descriptions, canonicals, schema, redirects and indexing settings, with plugin imports checked page by page.
- Server and caching review. Redirect rules, SSL, caching and speed on the new set-up.
- Staging checks. Indexing settings, redirects, templates and schema tested before launch.
- Launch and recovery tracking.
What you get
- A redirect map ready to implement
- An SEO data transfer checklist, verified after the move
- Staging sign-off before launch
- Recovery tracking until traffic settles
Example
For Evewell, a London fertility clinic rebuilding its WordPress site, the pre-migration audit produced a 207-URL redirect map and briefs for every stage of the build, including fixing an existing redirect that pointed to a page returning an error, and protecting a high-traffic page that sat outside the main site structure.
Limitations
Some movement in rankings is normal for a few weeks after a significant change. Plugin imports rarely carry everything across perfectly, which is why the transfer is checked page by page rather than trusted.
What this won’t solve
A migration protects existing visibility. Building a better WordPress site is covered by WordPress websites, and a redesign on the same set-up by redesigns and relaunches.
Talk to the person doing the work
There is no account manager here and no team to be handed to. If you get in touch, it is me who reads it, me who looks at your site, and me who does the work if we go ahead.
Get in touch, or start with a free assessment.
Engagement and price
There are no list prices here, and that is deliberate. What a piece of work costs depends on the state of the site, how much of it there is and what you actually need, none of which I know before looking at it.
So it starts with a free analysis. I look at your site, your Search Console and who you are really competing with, then come back with what I would do first and what it would cost to do. No obligation attached, and if the honest answer is that you do not need me yet, I will say so.
How the work gets done
The baseline and checks run through the site audit system, with recovery tracked in the Search Console audit tool. Every redirect and setting is reviewed by me. This service is part of site migrations. The site migration checklist and why sites lose traffic after a migration cover the wider subject.
FAQ
Will changing WordPress permalinks hurt SEO?
It can, if the old URLs aren’t redirected. Changing the permalink structure changes the address of every post or page it affects, so each old URL needs a 301 redirect to its new one, and internal links should be updated to point directly at the new URLs.
Does moving WordPress hosting affect rankings?
Moving host on the same domain doesn’t change URLs, so rankings shouldn’t be affected if the move goes cleanly. The risks are downtime, slower hosting, lost SSL settings, broken redirects in server configuration and caching problems. Checking speed, status codes and redirects straight after the move catches them.
How do I keep my SEO data when switching WordPress SEO plugins?
Most major WordPress SEO plugins, including Rank Math and Yoast, offer import tools that bring across titles, descriptions and other settings from the previous plugin. The import should be checked page by page afterwards, because schema, redirects and custom settings don’t always transfer exactly.
Planning a WordPress change?
Get in touch with what’s changing and when, or start with a free assessment.