Tech

How to Recover from Ranking Drops After a Site Migration or HTTPS Change

Published

1 year ago

October 9, 2024

Migrating a website or switching from HTTP to HTTPS is a significant technical undertaking that, when done incorrectly, can lead to a noticeable drop in search engine rankings. The consequences of a poor migration plan or improper HTTPS implementation can include loss of organic traffic, lower rankings for key terms, and decreased visibility in search results. However, this doesn’t have to be permanent. With a well-structured recovery plan and consistent efforts, you can regain, and even improve, your previous rankings.

This guide will walk you through the key strategies and steps needed to recover from ranking drops after a site migration or HTTPS change.

Understanding Why Rankings Drop After a Migration
Conducting a Post-Migration Audit
Resolving Technical Issues: Redirects, Canonicals, and Broken Links
Optimizing for Speed and Performance
Updating Your XML Sitemap and Submitting it to Google
Addressing Content and Metadata Changes
Monitoring Backlink Profiles
Leveraging Google Search Console and Other Tools
Conducting a Reconsideration Campaign if Penalized
Conclusion: Patience and Persistence Pay Off

1. Understanding Why Rankings Drop After a Migration

Before diving into the recovery process, it’s important to understand why rankings dropped. A few common reasons include:

Redirect errors: Improper 301 redirects from old URLs to new ones can confuse search engines, resulting in ranking losses.
Broken links: If internal or external links break due to changes in URL structure, they can harm SEO.
HTTPS migration complications: Failing to fully implement HTTPS across all pages, resources, and elements can impact trust signals and cause dips in rankings.
Crawl issues: After a migration, search engine crawlers may take time to fully index the new site, leading to temporary drops.
Duplicate content: If proper canonicalization is not implemented, you may face duplicate content issues, which can negatively impact rankings.

Identifying the exact cause of the drop is essential before starting the recovery process.

2. Conducting a Post-Migration Audit

Once the migration is complete, a comprehensive audit of your website is critical. An SEO audit will help identify the technical issues that may have caused the rankings to drop.

Key steps to audit:

Check for Redirects: Ensure that 301 redirects are correctly implemented from all old URLs to their corresponding new URLs. Tools like Screaming Frog or Google Search Console can help check redirect chains.
Verify HTTPS Implementation: Use online tools such as SSL Labs or JitBit SSL checker to ensure all pages and resources (like images, CSS, JS files) load over HTTPS. Mixed content errors (when both HTTP and HTTPS content load on the same page) can cause SEO penalties.
Check Canonical Tags: Ensure that canonical tags are set correctly, especially if there are multiple variations of URLs (e.g., HTTP vs. HTTPS, www vs. non-www).
Crawl Errors: Use tools like Google Search Console to detect crawl errors. If the Googlebot has trouble crawling your new site, it can hurt your rankings.

By conducting this audit, you will have a clear picture of the issues affecting your site and can begin addressing them systematically.

3. Resolving Technical Issues: Redirects, Canonicals, and Broken Links

Technical SEO issues are a leading cause of post-migration ranking drops. Here’s how to address them:

301 Redirects

One of the most important tasks is ensuring all old URLs properly redirect to the new URLs using 301 redirects. A 301 redirect tells search engines that a page has permanently moved, allowing them to transfer ranking power from the old URL to the new one.

Check your server configuration: Use a .htaccess file for Apache servers or web.config for IIS servers to set up proper redirects.
Avoid redirect chains: If a page is redirected multiple times, it can slow down crawling and affect rankings. Make sure there’s only one redirection step between the old and new URLs.

Canonical Tags

Canonical tags tell search engines which version of a page is the “master” version to index. After migration, make sure the canonical tags point to the correct URLs. Improper canonicalization can cause search engines to index the wrong pages.

Fixing Broken Links

Broken links, both internal and external, can harm your website’s authority. Tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, or Google Search Console can help you identify and fix broken links across your site. Be sure to update any links pointing to old URLs.

4. Optimizing for Speed and Performance

After migration, the new site may experience slower load times due to factors such as changes in hosting, server configuration, or increased resource requirements. Page speed is a significant ranking factor, so optimizing site performance should be a priority.

Action steps:

Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to improve loading times for global visitors.
Compress images and leverage lazy loading to reduce page weight.
Minimize CSS, JavaScript, and HTML for faster page rendering.
Monitor server response time and work with your hosting provider if issues arise.

Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to monitor site speed and identify areas of improvement.

5. Updating Your XML Sitemap and Submitting it to Google

After migration, your XML sitemap must reflect the new URLs. A sitemap helps search engines crawl your site efficiently, so it’s essential to update and submit the new one through Google Search Console.

Steps:

Generate a new XML sitemap: Tools like Yoast or Screaming Frog can help you generate an updated sitemap.
Submit to Google Search Console: Once the sitemap is generated, submit it in Google Search Console under the ‘Sitemaps’ section.

This ensures that search engines are indexing the correct pages and helps them quickly adjust to the changes on your site.

6. Addressing Content and Metadata Changes

During migration, it’s possible that content or meta tags (such as title tags, meta descriptions, and alt tags) may be unintentionally altered or removed. Content plays a crucial role in rankings, so make sure it hasn’t been negatively affected during migration.

Review Title Tags and Meta Descriptions: Ensure these are optimized for target keywords and unique across all pages.
Check Structured Data Markup: Structured data such as schema can help with rich snippets and should be preserved after migration.

Consistency in on-page SEO elements helps retain relevance in search engine rankings.

7. Monitoring Backlink Profiles

When migrating a site or switching to HTTPS, it’s important to maintain the integrity of your backlink profile. This is especially crucial if there are changes in URL structure.

Update inbound links: Contact webmasters or use tools like Ahrefs to monitor and request updates to backlinks pointing to your old URLs.
Disavow toxic links: If your migration coincided with a penalty, consider using Google’s Disavow Tool to remove harmful links.

Keeping your backlink profile healthy will help preserve your site’s authority.

8. Leveraging Google Search Console and Other Tools

Google Search Console (GSC) is invaluable for diagnosing post-migration issues and monitoring recovery. Key areas to monitor include:

Index coverage: Check which pages have been indexed and ensure no important pages are blocked or omitted.
Crawl stats: Monitor how often Googlebot crawls your site, and if there’s a drop, troubleshoot accordingly.
Manual actions: Verify there are no manual penalties affecting your site.

Other tools, like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Screaming Frog, can also provide in-depth insights into your site’s SEO health.

9. Conducting a Reconsideration Campaign if Penalized

In the worst-case scenario, your site may have been penalized by Google, either due to poor migration practices or an accumulation of previous SEO issues. If you receive a manual penalty notification, follow these steps:

Review Google’s guidelines: Ensure your site complies with all of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.
Submit a reconsideration request: After fixing any issues, you can submit a reconsideration request through Google Search Console, explaining the actions you’ve taken to correct the problem.

Penalties are rare but can occur, especially if you’ve engaged in practices that violate Google’s terms, such as keyword stuffing or using thin content.

10. Conclusion: Patience and Persistence Pay Off

Recovering from ranking drops after a site migration or HTTPS switch requires a structured and methodical approach. While the immediate impact of migration can be discouraging, following the steps outlined in this guide will help you regain and eventually surpass your previous ranking performance.

Success in SEO is a long-term effort, so it’s important to be patient and regularly monitor progress. Use tools like Google Search Console, SEMrush, and Ahrefs to track improvements and stay proactive in maintaining your site’s health. Over time, search engines will adapt to the changes, and your site can emerge even stronger than before.