Specialized work
for a specific moment.
Every service here is designed around the migration window. The weeks before launch and the weeks after are where rankings are won or lost.
Redirect Architecture
When a URL changes, every piece of link equity and ranking signal attached to the old address needs a clear path to the new one. A redirect map is that path. Without one, that equity evaporates.
The redirect mapping process starts with a complete crawl of the existing site. Every URL that has organic visibility, backlinks, or internal link weight gets identified. Then each one receives a deliberate destination on the new platform.
Redirect chains get collapsed. Temporary redirects get converted to permanent ones. Destination pages are checked for relevance match. The final deliverable is a structured document your development team can implement directly, organized by priority and implementation method.
- Full crawl and URL inventory
- Page-level mapping with destination rationale
- Chain consolidation and loop detection
- Implementation brief formatted for developer handoff
- Post-implementation verification crawl
Indexing Surveillance
Search engines do not process site changes instantly. After a migration, crawlers return to the site over days and weeks, making decisions about what to index and how to rank it. This window is active and requires attention.
Indexing surveillance means checking coverage reports, monitoring crawl error logs, reviewing sitemap processing status, and watching for unexpected drops in indexed page counts. Problems get flagged when they appear, not discovered weeks later.
The monitoring schedule is defined at the start of the engagement and runs for a specified period after launch. Each review cycle produces a written status update documenting what was checked and what, if anything, requires action.
- Coverage report analysis and trend tracking
- Crawl error log review
- Sitemap processing status monitoring
- Index count change alerts
- Written status updates on defined schedule
Pre-Launch Issue Detection
The staging environment is the last chance to catch problems before they affect real search performance. A pre-launch review checks the staging site against the audit findings and the redirect specification.
Common issues found at this stage include redirect implementations that do not match the specification, canonical tags pointing at staging domains, noindex directives on pages that should be indexed, and missing or malformed XML sitemaps.
Each issue found in staging is documented with a description and a recommended fix. The review happens close enough to launch that issues can be addressed before go-live without disrupting the development timeline.
- Redirect implementation verification
- Canonical tag audit on staging
- Robots.txt and meta robots review
- Sitemap validation
- Internal link structure spot-check
- Structured issue report with fix guidance
Migration Documentation
A migration is a moment in time. The documentation that comes from it is permanent. Every project produces a complete record of what was done, why, and what the results were.
This serves a practical purpose beyond the project itself. When questions arise about why a URL maps to a particular destination, the decision rationale is there. When a future team member inherits the site, the migration history is accessible. When a subsequent migration happens, the previous one is a reference point.
- Pre-migration audit report
- Redirect mapping document with rationale notes
- Pre-launch review findings
- Post-launch monitoring log
- Final project summary
Broken Link Remediation
Post-migration link breakage is common. External sites linking to old URLs that were not redirected. Internal links updated to the new structure but pointing at paths that do not exist. Pages that were merged but whose internal references were not updated.
Remediation begins with a systematic crawl to identify all broken link instances. Internal links get corrected in the CMS. External link opportunities where outreach is practical get documented. The remediation log tracks each item from identification through resolution.
Have a migration coming up?
Reach out to discuss the scope and timing. The earlier the process starts relative to your launch date, the more thorough the preparation can be.
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