Why most migrations lose traffic
A migration to Shopify never fails on launch day. It fails in the weeks and months after, when nobody's looking. Usually because of this:
- Old URLs aren't redirected, so every page Google ranked now leads to an error
- Internal links that told Google which pages mattered are broken or not rebuilt for Shopify's structure
- Thin or duplicate pages created by Shopify showing the same product on multiple URLs (/collections/x/products/y)
- Language tags lost or broken on multi-market stores, so the wrong country version ranks or they compete with each other
- Category & product content is trimmed, templated, or lost, so ranking pages lose what they ranked on
None of it shows at launch. The rankings slide over time, the organic orders thin out, and by the time it reaches the quarterly sales report, the traffic's dried up.
With our Migration plan, you get:
Complete data migration
Store built and set up
SEO intact
How we protect your store during a migration
- Map everything you have. We crawl your current site and pull every URL, ranking and page from Analytics, Search Console and Ahrefs into one master list. That list is what we check against at every stage, so nothing gets lost in the move.
- Migrate the data. Products, collections, customers, orders and content are moved across to Shopify. This comes first because everything else is built on top of it, so it has to be right before anything gets designed.
- Plan the structure. We set the collection and product structure and the URL plan around the data that's now in place. This is where we decide how the store is organised, so it makes sense to buyers and to Google.
- Build the store. The theme is built and the store laid out on top of the migrated data. You see it taking shape on a private staging store, not on your live site.
- Preserve rankings and links. Every old URL is mapped to its match on Shopify, and titles, descriptions and internal links are carried across. This is the step most migrations skip, and it's the one that keeps your rankings.
- Test before launch. We crawl the staging store and check it against the master list from step one. Anything missing, broken or unmapped is found and fixed before a single customer sees it.
- Launch and watch. The store goes live, and then we watch rankings, traffic and revenue closely. If anything slips, we catch it early and fix it fast, while it still matters.
Migrating to Shopify from your platform
WooCommerce
Every product and blog URL changes on Shopify. We map your /product/ and /shop/ URLs across so your content and rankings come with you.
Adobe Commerce (Magento)
Large catalogues and deep category trees, handled. We move the full product set and map the old .html URLs so the pages that rank don't drop.
Webflow
Design-led Webflow sites often use custom URL structures and CMS collections. We move the content and redirect the URLs so your rankings hold.
WordPress
Usually a content site adding its first shop. We move your existing pages and posts across, keep the URLs and rankings intact, and build your store on Shopify from there.
BigCommerce
A like-for-like move, but the URL structure differs. We redirect your product and category pages so nothing slips in the change.
Others
Wix, Squarespace, PrestaShop, OpenCart, or a custom build. If it holds products and content, we can move a store off it. Tell us what you're on.
How we moved GotVape.com off Magento without losing a thing
Got Vape came to us running four separate stores on Magento: gotvape.com, exxusvape.com, sutravape.com and wulfmods.com. We moved all four to Shopify Plus, kept their rankings intact across every site, and built them a fifth store from scratch, gotvapewholesale.com, along the way.
It was a big migration with plenty that could have gone wrong. Nothing did. We planned the structure, mapped every URL, and protected the SEO at each step. Throughout it all, we kept them in the loop, so they always knew what was happening and never had to chase us for an update.
Why work with us
SEO from day one, not after launch
Most agencies treat search as an afterthought. We plan the migration around protecting your rankings from the first step, because that's the part that keeps your sales.
One team for the whole move
Most stores hire a developer to move the store and an SEO agency to protect the rankings, then watch them point fingers when traffic drops. With us it's one team handling both, start to finish.
Shopify SEO is all we do
We're in Shopify every day, not a full-service shop that migrates now and then. Knowing the platform this well is how we spot where a migration goes wrong and keep your rankings through the move.
Who we do this for
We migrate all kinds of stores, but we know the watersports and marine markets better than most. Years working with these businesses means we understand how they sell, what their customers search for, and where a migration puts their rankings at risk.
Not in these markets? The same care goes into every move, whatever you sell.
Thinking about moving to Shopify?
Book a call and we'll look at your current store, your search traffic, and what a clean move to Shopify looks like for you. No pressure, no obligation.
Questions and answers
Will I lose my Google rankings when I move to Shopify?
Not if the move is handled properly. Rankings drop when old URLs aren't redirected, content gets stripped, or the store structure changes without anyone mapping it. We plan for all of that from the start, so the pages that rank keep ranking. Shopify doesn't cost you rankings. A careless migration does.
How long does a migration take?
Most take four to eight weeks, depending on the size of the store, the number of products, and the platform you're moving from. A small store with a few hundred products is quicker. A large catalogue on Magento with years of content takes longer. We give you a realistic timeline before we start, not a guess.
What happens to my products, customers and orders?
They all come across. Products, collections, customers, orders and content are migrated in full, checked against the original, so nothing is left behind. Your order history and customer accounts move with you.
Will my store go down during the move?
No. We build the new store on a private staging site while your current store keeps selling. Nothing changes for your customers until the new store is tested and ready. The switch itself is quick.
My URLs will change on Shopify. What happens to the old ones?
Shopify uses its own URL structure, so most addresses do change, blog posts especially. We map every old URL to its match on Shopify with a redirect, so old links still work, your rankings carry over, and anyone clicking an old result lands in the right place.
How much does a migration cost?
Migrations start from €6,000 for a store with around 100 products. The figure moves with the size and complexity of the store and the platform you're on. We give you a fixed price on a call once we've seen what's involved, so there are no surprises later.
Can you fix a migration that's already lost rankings?
Yes. If you've already moved to Shopify and your traffic dropped, we can find what broke, missing redirects, lost content, broken internal links, and put it right. The sooner it's looked at, the more of the ranking you get back.
