Free Migration Resource — 10-Part Series

Migrations Don’t Have to Destroy Rankings.Here’s How to Survive Every Type.

Domain migrations, platform switches, HTTPS moves, URL restructures, subdomain consolidations, international migrations — every migration type covered with the exact process that prevents avoidable ranking losses.

10 Episodes|Free to Access|Built for Agencies
Start with Episode 1 → Book a Free Strategy Call
About This Series

What the Series Covers

Site migrations are among the highest-risk events in a website’s lifecycle — and among the most preventable sources of ranking losses. Most migration disasters aren’t caused by the migration itself. They’re caused by skipped pre-migration audits, incomplete redirect maps, untested platform configurations, and no post-migration monitoring.

This series covers every migration type with the exact pre-migration, launch-day, and post-migration process required for each. Domain changes, platform migrations, HTTPS moves, URL restructures, subdomain consolidations, international migrations, e-commerce platform switches. One episode per migration type.

Target Audience

Built for Agencies Managing High-Stakes Migrations

Agency Owners

Win migration work by demonstrating a documented methodology before the project starts. Clients who have experienced a botched migration respond to agencies with a proven process.

SEO Managers

Get the exact pre-migration, launch-day, and post-migration process for every migration type — from domain changes to e-commerce platform switches to international restructures.

Technical SEOs

Build migration checklists that don’t depend on one person’s memory, redirect maps that start from live crawl data, and go/no-go frameworks that hold firm against client pressure.

Project Managers

Understand the SEO requirements at each migration phase well enough to coordinate developers, SEO leads, and clients — and to recognize when a migration is not ready to launch.

The Episodes

10 Migration Survival Guides

Series Progress0 of 10 completed
Episode 1
Ep 1Critical
Pre-Migration Audit

The Pre-Migration Audit: What to Capture Before You Touch Anything

The baseline data you'll desperately need if things go wrong.

A comprehensive baseline capture of the site's current state — traffic, rankings, backlink profile, indexed URLs, crawl data, structured data, and technical configuration. This baseline is the referen...

Badge: Migration Methodology

Pro Tip Preview: Export the top-100 converting URLs by revenue — not by traffic.

Open Episode 1 →
Episode 2
Ep 2Critical
Domain Changes

Domain Name Migrations

Moving from one domain to another without losing the authority you've built.

A domain migration executed correctly — with complete redirect mapping, Change of Address notification, and backlink reclamation — that limits organic traffic loss to 10–20% temporarily, with full rec...

Badge: Domain Migration

Pro Tip Preview: Never use the Change of Address tool until all redirects are in place and tested.

Open Episode 2 →
Episode 3
Ep 3Critical
CMS Platform Changes

Platform Migrations (WordPress to Shopify, etc.)

Switching CMS platforms without losing your rankings in the process.

A platform migration that preserves rankings by treating SEO configuration on the new platform as a first-class deliverable — not an afterthought. Every SEO setting configured in staging, every redire...

Badge: Platform Migration

Pro Tip Preview: Never configure SEO settings on a new platform for the first time on launch day.

Open Episode 3 →
Episode 4
Ep 4High
HTTPS Implementation

HTTPS Migrations

Moving from HTTP to HTTPS the right way — not the way that kills rankings.

A complete HTTP-to-HTTPS migration with no mixed content, no redirect chains, and all canonical tags and Search Console properties updated to reflect new HTTPS URLs — eliminating browser security warn...

Badge: HTTPS Migration

Pro Tip Preview: Mixed content is the most common HTTPS migration failure — test 10 page types, not just the homepage.

Open Episode 4 →
Episode 5
Ep 5Critical
URL Structure Changes

URL Structure Redesigns

Changing URL patterns across the site without destroying what's already ranking.

A URL structure redesign executed with a complete redirect map, simultaneous internal link updates, and immediate sitemap submission — preserving ranking authority across the new URL structure without...

Badge: URL Restructure

Pro Tip Preview: Update internal links simultaneously — never leave them for Phase 2.

Open Episode 5 →
Episode 6
Ep 6High
Subdomain to Subfolder

Subdomain to Subfolder Migrations

Moving from blog.domain.com to domain.com/blog/ to consolidate authority.

Authority consolidation — all organic performance from subdomain content transfers under the root domain, strengthening the root domain's topical authority and link equity. Subdomain-to-subfolder migr...

Badge: Subdomain Migration

Pro Tip Preview: Keep the subdomain hosting live with redirects for at least 6 months after migration.

Open Episode 6 →
Episode 7
Ep 7High
International & hreflang

International Site Migrations and hreflang

Restructuring multilingual and multi-regional sites without destroying international rankings.

An international migration with correct bidirectional hreflang implementation — ensuring Google shows the right language version to users in each market and that authority is correctly consolidated ac...

Badge: International Migration

Pro Tip Preview: hreflang errors are all-or-nothing — one missing return tag breaks the entire page cluster.

Open Episode 7 →
Episode 8
Ep 8Critical
E-Commerce Platforms

E-Commerce Platform Migrations

Moving a store from one platform to another without losing product rankings.

An e-commerce platform migration that preserves product and category rankings by treating schema configuration, Merchant Center feed migration, and faceted URL redirect handling as first-class deliver...

Badge: E-Commerce Migration

Pro Tip Preview: Freeze inventory and pricing changes during the 48 hours following migration.

Open Episode 8 →
Episode 9
Ep 9High
Recovery Monitoring

Post-Migration Monitoring and Recovery

What to watch for in the first 90 days after any migration.

A systematic 90-day monitoring process that catches missed redirects before they become permanent 404s, identifies indexation delays before they become ranking losses, and produces documented recovery...

Badge: Post-Migration Monitoring

Pro Tip Preview: Set up the client communication cadence before the migration launches — not after the traffic drops.

Open Episode 9 →
Episode 10
Ep 10High Opportunity
Agency Systems

Building a Migration Checklist and Client Process

Systematizing site migrations so nothing gets missed at 11pm before launch.

An agency-wide migration checklist and process system that eliminates dependence on any one person's memory, ensures consistent execution regardless of which team member manages the migration, and inc...

Badge: Agency Process — Series Finale

Pro Tip Preview: The go/no-go framework is the most valuable item in the migration process.

Open Episode 10 →
About Harper Media Group

Why We Built This Series

At Harper Media Group, we’ve managed site migrations across every type — domain rebrand, platform switch, HTTPS implementation, international restructure, e-commerce platform migration. We’ve seen every failure mode and every recovery path.

This series packages the exact process from that experience into one episode per migration type. The pre-migration steps that cannot be skipped, the launch-day sequence that prevents avoidable failures, and the post-migration monitoring that catches problems before they compound.

What Harper Media Group Delivers

  • Site Migration Strategy & Project Management
  • Pre-Migration Audit & Redirect Map Production
  • White-Label Technical SEO Audits
  • E-Commerce Platform Migration SEO
  • International Migration & hreflang Implementation
  • 90-Day Post-Migration Monitoring & Recovery
  • Structured Data & Schema Architecture

All delivered under your agency brand.