Website Migration — Action Required

Fix Your SEO Migration.
Before It Gets Worse.

A plain-language look at how the recovery works. The exact method is part of the client deliverable.

Why this is urgent Every week without this fix, Google continues treating yourname.com and yourbrand.ca as two separate websites competing with each other. Your years of SEO work are stranded on a domain you no longer use.
Anonymized sampleThis is a redacted copy of a real client deliverable. Identifying details and the exact, step-by-step configuration have been withheld. The complete guide is built and handed off per engagement.
On this page
What actually went wrong 01 The fix, in outline 02 What happens if you wait 03 What we handle next 04
01

What actually went wrong

When the new site launched on a brand-new address, Google saw a website with zero history. None of the ranking built up over the years carried over on its own. All of it stayed behind on the old address, doing nothing.

What is stranded on the old address right now Every search ranking built up over time. Every link pointing at the old address (press, directories, mentions). The authority Google assigned it. The search history tied to the old site.

The longer the two stay disconnected, the more that stranded value fades, while the new site keeps starting from scratch. There is a correct, established way to carry almost all of it across. Done right, it recovers the bulk of what was built; done wrong, it can make the loss permanent. That is the fix this guide is about, and the part worth handing to someone who has done it before.

02

The Fix, in Outline

Here is the shape of the work. The specific method, settings, and the order they have to run in are the deliverable, so they are withheld here.

1
Audit what is at stake
We map exactly what is carrying the years of ranking history, and what has to be protected before anything is changed.
🔒 What we audit, and how: provided to client
2
Choose the right approach
There are a few valid paths depending on how the original setup was built, and picking the correct one is most of the battle.
🔒 Which path, and why: provided to client
3
Execute it cleanly, in the right order
The fix is applied precisely so search engines treat the move as authoritative and lasting, not a temporary patch.
🔒 The exact configuration, and the order it must run in: provided to client
4
Verify, then let it settle
Once it is live, we confirm everything behaves as intended and allow time for the change to take hold across the web.
🔒 Verification method and timing: provided to client
Why this is worth handing off Picking the right path and executing it cleanly, in the correct order, is exactly the part you do not want to guess at — a misstep can permanently lose the very ranking you are trying to rescue.
03

What happens if you keep waiting

Split authority — ongoing Google's trust score is divided between two domains. Neither site ranks as strongly as a unified domain would. Every new backlink to yourbrand.ca doesn't stack with the old domain's history.
Domain expiry risk If yourname.com lapses at renewal time and you haven't set up the fix, the domain could be purchased by a third party. You would permanently lose all backlinks and authority tied to it — and it cannot be recovered.
Missed attribution from your recent award and press coverage Any mentions, links, or coverage from that event pointing to yourname.com are delivering zero benefit to yourbrand.ca until the fix is in place.
Compounding delay penalty The longer Google indexes yourbrand.ca as a new, standalone site, the longer the transition takes even after the fix goes live. Implementing it now means faster recovery.
04

What we handle next, once the core fix is live

The core fix is the urgent part. These follow-ups lock in the recovery. The how is part of the engagement.

Tell Google about the new domain directly Instead of waiting for Google to discover the new site, we signal it deliberately so it starts crawling and trusting the new domain sooner.
Formally register the move with Google There is a way to tell Google a site has permanently relocated, which meaningfully speeds up how fast the old domain's authority transfers across.
Reclaim the strongest existing links We find where the old domain was linked from (directories, press, listings) and update the highest-value ones to point at the new domain directly.
Preserve any high-performing pages If specific old pages ranked well, they get individual attention so their authority is not lost in the move.
Protect the old domain through the transition The old domain stays registered and controlled until the new one has fully absorbed the traffic and authority, so nothing slips through the cracks.
Prepared by DerNexus Solutions. An anonymized sample of a real client deliverable.