Website Transition Guide

Moving your website and preserving your Google rankings

Same addresses • Same content • A careful launch

A plain-English guide for business owners, boards, and staff. No web or Google experience needed.

If your website has years of history with Google, a rebuild can protect that history or throw it away. This guide shows what decides which one happens.

The goal is to preserve the rankings you already have. It is not to guarantee them. No one can guarantee where Google will show a page.

Start a Project Back to Website Design

The short version

Protect the history, then rebuild

Your website has history with Google. Over the years, Google has learned what each page on your site is about and has decided how high to show those pages when people search. That history is valuable, and it is what I am protecting.

Moving to a new website is like moving a store to a new building on the same street. If you carry over everything, keep the same address, and tell the post office and your customers where you went, people still find you. If you change the address without telling anyone, or leave half your inventory behind, people stop coming.

1. Measure first

Before touching anything, I record exactly how your site performs today so I can tell, afterward, whether anything changed.

2. Keep the same addresses

Every page keeps the same web address (URL) it has now. Where an address must change, I point the old one to the new one.

3. Keep the substance

The words, headings, and information that earn your rankings come across intact. I change how the site is built and how it looks, not what it says.

4. Test before it goes live

I check the new site against the old one, page by page, hidden from Google and the public.

5. Watch for 12 weeks

After launch, I monitor Google's reports closely and fix problems quickly.

Preserving rankings is the goal. Guaranteeing them is not possible.

These two ideas sound alike and are very different. This guide is about the first one.

What I commit to: preserving

Keeping everything Google already knows about your site intact, so your pages have the best chance to hold the positions they have earned. I commit to the process, and the process is measurable:

Measure your site before I touch it
Keep your page addresses the same, or forward them properly
Carry over the content and labels that earn your rankings
Test the new site against the old one before launch
Watch Google's reports for 12 weeks and fix problems fast
Report the before-and-after in plain language

What no one can promise: guaranteeing

A guarantee would mean controlling what Google does, and no one controls that. Google decides rankings, does not publish how, and keeps changing on its own, along with your competitors. So no one can honestly promise:

That a page will stay at a specific position
That rankings will rise after a move
That a dip will recover by a certain date
That there will be no ups and downs at all

Anyone who promises these is guessing. I will not, and I write that into the agreement so there are no surprises.

How Google works, in plain English

Three things Google does

You do not need to be technical to understand what is being protected. Google does three things, in this order.

1. Find

Google's software (called a "crawler" or "bot") visits web pages by following links, like a very fast visitor clicking every link it sees.

2. Remember

Google records what is on each page and stores it in a huge catalog. This catalog is called the "index."

3. Rank

When someone searches, Google picks pages from the catalog and decides the order to show them.

Think of a library. Google is the librarian. Each page of your site is a book. The librarian has read your books, filed them in the catalog, and knows which shelf to send people to when they ask a question. If you move the books without updating the catalog, the librarian sends people to an empty shelf.

Three things Google pays attention to

What	What it means	Why it matters in a move
Web addresses (URLs)	The address of a page, like `yoursite.org/our-services/`. Google's catalog is organized by these addresses. Each address has its own history and its own ranking.	If an address changes, Google treats it as a brand-new page and the old history is lost, unless I connect old to new.
Content	The words, headings, photos, and details on the page. Google reads these to decide what the page is about and which searches it should appear for.	Shorter or thinner pages give Google less to work with. Removing information that earned a ranking can lose that ranking.
Links from other sites	When another website links to yours (a news story, a partner, a directory), Google counts it a bit like a vote of confidence. These are called "backlinks."	Those links point to specific old addresses. If those addresses stop working, the votes are wasted.

Google also considers how fast your site loads, whether it works well on a phone, whether it is secure (the padlock in the browser), and how people behave when they land on it. These matter, but the three above are where moves usually go wrong.

What is Search Console?

Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that shows a site's owner how Google sees it: which searches bring people, which pages appear, and whether Google has had trouble reading anything. It is the single most important tool for a move. I use it to take the "before" picture and to watch the "after." You will be asked to give me access to it.

What is actually changing

WordPress today, a coded site tomorrow

Your current website is probably built on WordPress, a popular system that stores your pages in a database and builds them on demand when someone visits. It comes with an editing screen (the "dashboard") where staff can log in, change text, and add pages, and it often relies on many add-on programs called "plugins" for things like forms, calendars, and maps.

A coded website is different: the pages are written directly as ready-made files, with no database and no plugins. This is how this site, ptcreativeservices.com, is built.

	WordPress (today)	Coded site (the move)
Speed	Often slower; every page is assembled on demand, plus the weight of plugins.	Usually much faster; pages are ready to send.
Security	A common target for hackers; plugins and themes need constant updates.	Far fewer ways in; nothing to log into and break.
Ongoing upkeep	Regular updates, backups, and plugin checks.	Very little upkeep.
Who can edit it	Anyone with a login can change text and add pages.	Changes go through a developer (me). There is no staff dashboard.
Add-ons (forms, calendars, shops)	Plugins provide them.	Each one must be replaced with a coded version or an outside service.
Look and feel	Limited by the theme and plugins.	Fully custom.

The biggest practical difference

With a coded site, staff cannot just log in and change a page. If your organization posts news, events, or blog articles often, we need a plan for who does that and how fast. This is a real decision, not a detail, and it is covered under "Decisions to make before we start."

From Google's point of view, none of this matters on its own. Google does not care how a page was built. It cares that the page is still there, at the same address, saying the same things, and loading well.

How sites lose their Google standing

Seven mistakes that cost rankings

Almost every move that goes badly goes badly for one of these seven reasons. The whole process is designed to prevent them.

Page addresses change with no forwarding

What happens: Google and visitors hit "page not found." The page's history and the links pointing to it are lost.

How I prevent it: Keep addresses identical. Where one must change, set up a permanent forward (a "301 redirect") to the closest matching new page.

Content gets thinner

What happens: Pages that earned rankings now say less, so they fall below competitors.

How I prevent it: Carry over the words and headings on every ranking page. Save "tightening up" for later.

Hidden labels get lost

What happens: Titles, descriptions, headings, and image descriptions are what Google reads first. Without them, pages get described poorly in results.

How I prevent it: Record them before the move and copy them into the new pages.

The "do not show Google" switch stays on

What happens: While the new site is being built, it is hidden from Google on purpose. If that setting is left on at launch, the site disappears from search.

How I prevent it: A launch-day checklist item, double-checked after launch.

Menus and internal links change

What happens: Google uses your site's internal links to understand which pages matter most. A new structure can shift that.

How I prevent it: Keep the structure and navigation paths. Reorganize only after things settle.

The new site is slow, broken on phones, or sends wrong signals

What happens: Google may show it less, and visitors leave.

How I prevent it: Test on real devices and check speed before launch.

Too many changes at once

What happens: New design, new wording, new addresses, and a new domain all together. If rankings drop, nobody knows why.

How I prevent it: Change one thing at a time. Same domain, same addresses, same content, better build.

One thing at a time. If you change the address, the sign, the menu, and the staff on the same day, you will not know which one confused your customers. I do the move first, let it settle, and then improve things.

What to realistically expect

Hold what you have, then grow

Will rankings go up?

Not from the move itself. A new build can make a site faster and more secure, which helps a little, but the real goal of the move is to hold what you have. Improvements to rankings come afterward, from better content, clearer pages, and the cleanup work in Phase 5.

Will rankings dip?

Possibly, for a short time. When a site is rebuilt, Google has to come back and re-read every page, and it does not do that instantly. During this time, it is common to see rankings and visits bounce around.

Scenario	What usually happens
Done carefully: same addresses, same content, tested, monitored	A temporary wobble for roughly 2 to 8 weeks. A dip of about 5 to 20 percent in visits during that window is a common rule of thumb. Then, in most cases, recovery to where you were, though that is not guaranteed.
Addresses changed, with forwarding	Slower and bumpier. Recovery can take a few months, and some pages may not fully come back.
Addresses changed, no forwarding, or content dropped	Large and lasting losses. Some rankings may never return. This is the outcome the process is designed to avoid.

These ranges are general rules of thumb from experience across many site moves. They are not figures published by Google, and your results can differ.

Weeks 1–2

Google starts re-reading the site. Some movement is normal.

Weeks 3–8

The wobble settles for most sites. I compare against the "before" numbers.

Weeks 8–12

Most clean moves are back to normal. I fix stragglers.

After week 12

I begin the improvements that can actually grow results.

Preserving is the goal, not guaranteeing

My goal is to preserve your existing rankings: keep what Google already knows about your site intact so your pages can hold their positions. I do not guarantee them. The decisions are Google's, not mine, and Google does not publish how it ranks pages. Anyone who promises zero impact or a guaranteed position is guessing. I would rather be honest and give you a process that makes a bad outcome unlikely and fixable.

Smaller sites recover slower

Google visits large, busy sites very often and small, quiet sites less often. If your site does not change much, it may take Google longer to notice the new version. That is normal and does not mean something broke. I can ask Google to re-check the most important pages, which speeds things up.

A fair question to ask yourselves first

If the current site is performing well and is not causing problems, a move adds short-term risk with no ranking benefit. The reason to move should be a real one: the site is slow, keeps getting hacked, costs too much to maintain, or needs a major redesign. A redesign that stays inside WordPress is a lower-risk alternative to consider.

The plan, step by step

Six phases, three of them before anything goes live

The work happens in six phases. The first three happen before anything changes on your live website.

0
Discovery and the "before" picture
Typical time: 1–2 weeksNothing on your live site changes

I cannot protect what I have not measured. I record:
- Every page on the site: its address, title, description, headings, amount of text, and images. A site can easily have more pages than anyone remembers (old news posts, event pages, forgotten pages).
- How Google sees the site, from Search Console: what people search to find you, which pages get visits, and any current problems.
- Visitor numbers from Google Analytics, if it is set up and working.
- Current rankings for your most important search phrases.
- Which other sites link to you, and which of your pages they point to. These pages are the most important to protect.
- Your "money pages": the ones that bring in donations, calls, sign-ups, or sales.
- Everything the old site does quietly: forms, calendars, ticket sales, donation buttons, maps, newsletter sign-ups, tracking tools.
- A full backup of the current site. If anything goes wrong, this is how I go back.
You provide: access to Search Console, Analytics, and the website host and domain account.
1
Build the new site privately
Typical time: 3–8 weeks, depending on sizeHidden from Google

The new site is built on a private "staging" address that the public and Google cannot find. On it, I:
- Keep the same domain name. Changing the domain is a far riskier move, and I avoid it unless there is no choice.
- Keep every page address the same, down to small details like whether it ends in a slash.
- Bring over the content word for word on pages that rank, including the blog and news posts.
- Copy over the hidden labels: titles, descriptions, headings, image descriptions, and "structured data" (extra labels that help Google understand things like your organization, events, and addresses).
- Make sure it works on phones exactly as well as on computers, because Google judges your site mainly by its phone version.
- Replace every add-on. Each form, calendar, map, or checkout that WordPress plugins provided gets a new equivalent, tested end to end.
- Keep the same tracking, so your visit history stays continuous.
- Add the technical basics: a sitemap (a list of pages for Google), a friendly "page not found" page, and a secure connection (the padlock).
2
Test it against the old site
Typical time: 3–5 daysHidden from Google

This is the step that saves most moves. I run the same inventory on the new site and compare it with the old one, page by page. Every old address must be accounted for in one of two ways: it exists on the new site, or it forwards to a specific new page.

Old addressyoursite.org/old-page/
Permanent forward (301)"This page moved here."
New addressyoursite.org/new-page/

I also test every forward, every form, every phone link and button, and the site's speed on phones. You review and approve the private version before I go further.
3
Launch
One day, planned in advance

The new site replaces the old one. I pick a quiet weekday morning, not a Friday or a holiday, so any problem gets noticed and fixed quickly. The full checklist is in the next section. The old WordPress site stays backed up and available for at least 90 days.
4
Watch and fix
Weeks 1–12 after launch

I check Google's reports daily the first week and weekly after that. If Google reports a page it cannot find, I fix it the same day. At weeks 2, 4, 8, and 12 I compare the numbers to the "before" picture and give you a plain-language report. During this period I do not make other big changes to the site.
5
Improve
From about week 8 onward

Once things have settled, this is where results can actually grow: filling in missing page descriptions and image descriptions, merging duplicate pages, strengthening thin pages, adding new pages for services or locations people search for, and speeding things up further.

Launch day and after

The checklist, then 12 weeks of watching

Items are checked off one at a time, and the date and time of launch are written down so every later report can be compared to it.

Before going live

Full backup of the current site made again, the same day.
You have approved the private version in writing.
The list of old-address-to-new-address forwards has been tested with no errors, no loops, and no chains.
A quiet weekday morning has been chosen, and you know who to call if anything looks wrong.
If the domain's settings need to change, the "time to live" (how long other computers remember the old setting) was shortened a day or two ahead so the switch takes effect quickly.
Search Console ownership has been confirmed in a way that survives the move (a method that does not depend on WordPress).

Right after going live

The "hide from Google" setting from the private version is removed. I look at the live pages' source and at the site's robots.txt file to be sure.
The 50 most-visited old addresses and the most-linked-to pages all load correctly or forward correctly.
Both versions of the address (with and without "www") lead to the same single version.
The secure padlock shows on every page.
Forms, donation or payment buttons, phone numbers, maps, and calendars all work on a computer and a phone.
Tracking (Analytics, ad pixels, call tracking) is recording visits.
The new sitemap is submitted in Search Console, and Google is asked to re-check the homepage and the most important pages.
The website link on your Google Business Profile, social media profiles, email signatures, and online directories is confirmed correct.
The launch date and time are recorded.

The first 12 weeks

This is the part most people skip, and it is the part that protects you. Here is what I watch and why.

What I check	What it tells me
Google's "Pages" report	Which pages Google has and has not stored in its catalog, and why. This is where "page not found" or "blocked" warnings show up.
Google's "Performance" report	How many times people saw and clicked your pages in search, compared to the "before" picture.
Google's "Crawl stats"	How often Google is visiting, and whether anything is going wrong.
Your visitor numbers	Whether real people are still arriving, and whether they are completing the actions you care about (donations, calls, sign-ups).
Inbound links	If any page address changed, I ask the most important linking sites to update their link.

You receive a short written update at weeks 2, 4, 8, and 12. Each says what I saw, what I fixed, and whether anything needs a decision from you.

What you should do during this time

Do not ask for other large changes until the 12 weeks are up. Small, planned updates are fine; ask me first.
Tell me right away if you hear that a page, form, or link is not working.
Do not be alarmed by day-to-day ups and downs in the numbers. I look at trends over weeks, not single days.

Decisions and what I need

Settle these before we start

These questions shape the plan, the schedule, and the price. Having answers early avoids surprises.

Why are you moving? Speed, security, cost, design, or something else? The answer decides whether the move is worth the short-term risk.
Will the domain name stay the same? I strongly recommend yes.
Who will update the site after launch, and how often? Options include: (a) me, on a monthly care plan; (b) a trained person on your team working through a simple process I set up; (c) a different approach, such as keeping a small WordPress area for just news or events. This is the most important question for organizations that post frequently.
Which "extras" does the site depend on? Event calendars, ticket sales, online shops, donation tools, member logins, appointment booking, and similar features. Some convert easily. Some are better handled by an outside service. A few make a coded site the wrong choice.
Which pages matter most? The pages that bring in money, donations, calls, or key referrals.
Which old pages can retire? Some old pages are outdated (past events, old campaigns). Retiring them is possible, but each one needs to forward somewhere sensible. I recommend keeping everything through the move and tidying later.
Do you understand the goal is to preserve rankings, not guarantee them? I commit to the process and the reporting, not to a ranking result. I write that into the agreement so there are no surprises.

What I will need from you

Google Search Console access. You (or whoever set it up) add me as a user. It is free, and read-only access is enough to start. If no one has it set up, I will walk you through creating it. This is the most important item, because it holds the history.
Google Analytics access, if you have it. Older sites often have an outdated version that stopped recording in 2024. I will check and tell you.
Access to the website's hosting and the domain name account (where the web address is registered), and who controls each.
A WordPress login so I can export content and settings.
A list of people who can approve the private version and the launch date.
Details on tools the site uses: who handles donations and tickets, which email service handles the newsletter, and who gets form submissions.
A few of your own search phrases: "If someone were looking for us, what would they type?"

Please do not send passwords by plain email or text. I will set up a safe way to share access, usually by being added as a user so you never have to give out your own password.

When a move is the wrong idea

A coded site is a very good fit for many organizations. It is a poor fit if:

The site is an online store with many products, inventory, or an ongoing checkout system.
The site has member logins, private areas, or user accounts.
Staff need to publish or change content on their own, often, and there is no one on my side or yours to fill that role.
The site is working well and the only goal is a fresh look. A redesign inside WordPress carries less search risk.
A large, complex booking, ticketing, or events system is built into the site and cannot be handed to an outside service.

In these cases, I will say so plainly and suggest a better path. I would rather talk you out of a bad move than carry one out.

The Nitty Gritty

Common questions

Do you guarantee my Google rankings will stay the same?

No, and be cautious of anyone who does. My goal is to preserve your existing rankings by keeping what Google already knows about your site intact. I commit to the process: measuring before I start, keeping your page addresses, carrying over the content that earns your rankings, testing before launch, watching Google's reports for 12 weeks, and fixing problems fast. The result depends on Google, so I do not guarantee a ranking, a position, or a recovery date.

Will my site disappear from Google while the new one is being built?

No. Your current site stays live and unchanged the whole time. The new one is built privately on a separate, hidden address. Nothing public changes until launch day.

Will my Google reviews and Google Business Profile be affected?

Not by the move itself. Reviews and your business listing live on Google, not on your website. After launch, I confirm the website link on your business listing is correct.

What if something goes wrong at launch?

I keep a complete backup of the old site and a planned way to go back. Because I test heavily and launch at a quiet time, problems are usually found and fixed within hours.

What is a redirect, and why does everyone talk about it?

A redirect is a permanent forwarding notice on a web address: "This page has moved, go here instead." It tells both Google and visitors where the page went, and it passes along the old page's history and the value of links pointing to it. Without it, the old address just says "not found." The technical name for a permanent redirect is a 301.

How long do redirects need to stay in place?

At least a year, and ideally permanently. They cost nothing to keep, and old links on other websites can stay around for many years.

Does a faster website rank higher?

A little. Speed is one of many factors, and it works more like a tie-breaker between similar pages than a switch that lifts a site to the top. It matters more for visitors: fast sites keep people from leaving.

Will the new site show up in AI answer tools like ChatGPT or Google's AI summaries?

Those tools read pages much like Google does. Clear, real text on the page, accurate organization details, and the behind-the-scenes labels described in Phase 1 all help. A fast, plainly built site is generally easy for them to read.

Can I change my domain name at the same time?

I advise against it. Changing the domain is a much bigger move with a much higher risk. If a new domain is truly needed, it should be its own separate project with its own plan, not combined with a rebuild.

Why can't I add new pages and make other changes right after launch?

Because if rankings shift, we need to know it was the move and not a new change. Keeping the first 12 weeks quiet gives a clean reading. After that, I am free to improve things.

How will I know it worked?

I compare the "before" picture from Phase 0 with the numbers at weeks 2, 4, 8, and 12. You get a plain-language report each time.

Glossary

Terms in plain English

Analytics (Google Analytics): A free tool that counts visitors to your site and shows what they do there.
Backlink: A link to your site from another website. Google treats these a bit like votes of confidence.
Canonical: A label on a page that tells Google "this is the official address for this page," used to avoid confusion when the same content appears at more than one address.
Crawler (or bot): Google's automatic software that visits web pages and reads them.
Domain name: The main address of your website, like yourbusiness.org.
Hosting: The service that stores your website's files and delivers them to visitors.
Index (indexed): Google's catalog of pages. A page that is "indexed" is stored there and can appear in search results.
Meta description: The short summary under a page's title in search results.
noindex: A setting that tells Google "do not show this page in search." It is used on purpose for private work, and must be removed at launch.
Plugin: An add-on program for WordPress that adds a feature, such as a contact form or a calendar.
Ranking: The position your page appears in the list of search results.
Redirect (301): A permanent forwarding notice that sends visitors and Google from an old address to a new one.
robots.txt: A small file on a website that tells Google which areas it may and may not visit.
Schema (structured data): Extra behind-the-scenes labels that tell Google exactly what a page contains, such as an organization's name and address or an event's date.
Search Console: Google's free tool that shows a site owner how Google sees and ranks the site.
Sitemap: A list of all the pages on your site, given to Google to help it find everything.
Staging site: A private copy of the website used for building and testing, hidden from the public and from Google.
Title tag: The clickable headline of a page in search results.
URL: The full web address of one page, like yourbusiness.org/about/.
WordPress: A popular system for building websites, with a login dashboard for editing.

Thinking about a move?

Let's look at your site first

Tell me about your website and what you want from a new one. I will tell you honestly whether a move makes sense, and what it would take to preserve your existing rankings.