Website migration
Changing where the site lives. The name can stay. The inbox should keep working. Rankings are not promised.
What does Website migration mean?
Moving a website from one host, builder, or address to another without losing the pages people already use, the mail, or the links you cannot edit.
Also called: site move, replatform
What moves, and what is rebuilt
Words, photos, and the domain can move. A Wix, Squarespace, or GoDaddy layout generally cannot be lifted out as a working design. You rebuild the pages on the new host, then point the domain name. Calling that a simple export is how weekends disappear.
The guides off Wix, off Squarespace, and off GoDaddy put the same sequence in the order that keeps mail alive: access, copy, list of old URLs, build while the old site is up, point the domain, redirect, update the profile, test, then cancel.
The pieces people forget
Mail records, described under DNS and business email. The Google Business Profile website field. Advertisements and Instagram links aimed at old paths. A redirect for each old path you still need. A backup of the new site once it is the live one.
Redirects protect rankings as far as a redirect can. They do not promise the new pages will hold the same positions. Say that to yourself before a vendor says it for you in brighter language.
How we run one
If the replacement is an Artol site, the rebuild is the usual offer: $0 down and $249/mo hosting, fully custom, written and launched by us, live in less than a week once we have the facts. 12-month ownership terms: 12 months of hosting at $249/mo, then month to month. Leave earlier and the remaining hosting or a buyout of the build is due.
Stores and large multi-section rebuilds are outside that offer and go through packages. Bring the registrar login to the first call. The launch checklist is the last mile of the migration, not a different project.
An example
A hair salon on Squarespace had a booking link in every caption. The new site used a cleaner path. During the move they kept Squarespace paid, copied the service list, redirected the old booking path, and only then dropped the old plan. The captions kept working because the redirect did.
Questions we get asked
Can you migrate the site over a weekend without me?
We still need the logins, the facts that must not be copied wrong, and a person to approve the draft. The building can be fast. A missing registrar login stops the clock.
Should I buy a new domain for a fresh start?
Only if the old name is wrong for the business. Otherwise keep the name and migrate under it. A new name throws away recognition and any indexed history you had.
