Will I lose my Google ranking if I change my website?

It’s one of the first things owners ask us when they’re thinking about a new website: “I’m on the first page of Google at the moment. Will I lose that?”

It’s a fair worry. Most of us have heard of a business whose enquiries dried up after a new site went live. But it isn’t the new website that causes it. It’s the way the move is done. Done carefully, you keep what you’ve built up, and a faster, clearer site is a chance to do better.

The short answer

You shouldn’t lose your ranking, as long as Google can find your new pages and understand they replace the old ones.

What you should expect is a little movement while that happens. Google says plainly that during a move you can expect temporary fluctuation in where your site appears, and that “a site’s rankings will settle down over time”. For a small website, Google says it can take a few weeks for most pages to move across.

Why some sites drop after a new website

The trouble usually comes from one of these:

• Old pages stop working. Your old site’s pages have addresses that Google, other websites and people’s bookmarks all point to. If the new site uses different addresses and nothing connects them, those visitors land on an error page, and Google drops the old pages without anything to replace them.
• Everything is sent to the home page. It’s tempting to point every old address at the new home page. Google advises against it: it confuses visitors, and Google may treat those pages as missing.
• Content that brought people in is cut. If a page about “loft conversions in Halesworth” (an example) was bringing in enquiries, and the new site has nothing about it, there’s nothing left for Google to show.
• The new site is hidden from Google by mistake. Sites are often built behind a setting that tells Google to keep away while they’re unfinished. If that’s left on at launch, the site can disappear from search.
• Several big changes at once. A new design, new addresses and a new web address all on the same day make it harder to tell what’s helped and what’s hurt. Google suggests changing one thing at a time where you can.

What a careful move looks like

1. List every page on your old site

Before anything changes, list every page the old site has, especially the ones that bring visitors. Your old site’s sitemap, and Google Search Console if you have it, show what Google knows about.

2. Point each old address at its new page

For every old page, decide which new page replaces it, and set up a permanent redirect from one to the other. Anyone, and Google, following the old address is then taken straight to the right new page.

Google recommends permanent redirects (known as 301 redirects) for a move, and says they don’t lose you ranking: “301 and other permanent redirects don’t cause a loss in PageRank.” It also recommends keeping them in place for at least a year, and for visitors’ sake, for good.

When we moved a dog trainer’s website from WordPress this week, every page that had a home on the new site kept working: the old booking page now opens the new contact page, and the old news posts open the news page. Nobody following an old link hits an error.

3. Keep what’s working

Keep the pages and the wording that bring in enquiries, even if you tidy them up. A new design is a chance to improve them, not to start from nothing.

4. Check the new site is open to Google

At launch, make sure nothing tells Google to stay away, and that your sitemap lists the new pages. Then update your Google Business Profile with the new web address if it changed.

5. Watch for a few weeks

Search Console shows how Google is picking up the new pages, and any old addresses that now show an error. Fix those as they appear.

If you’re changing your web address too

Moving to a new domain, say from an old business name to a new one, needs a little more care. On top of the redirects, Google’s Change of Address tool in Search Console tells it about the move directly. You only need it when the domain itself changes, not for a new design on the same address.

Keep the old domain registered and redirecting for at least a year, too. Google says it will keep showing the old addresses now and then for a while, and that this fades without you doing anything.

If only the host is changing

If you’re keeping the same web address and the same page addresses, and just moving to a new host, visitors and Google won’t see any change. Google says it may visit your site a little less for a few days straight after the move, then pick up again.

Next step

If you’re thinking about a new website but worried about Google, tell us your current address. We’ll look at what’s bringing you visitors now, and plan the move so every page that matters keeps working.