## **🔎 Overview**

Moving your website to Shopify (or any new hosting platform) does not mean starting over in Search Atlas. Your account, project history, and keyword tracking can continue as normal. What matters is whether your **domain name stays the same** and whether your **page URLs stay the same**. This article walks you through what to do before, during, and after the move so you keep your rankings and data.

## **🧭 Step 1: Decide Which Migration Type You Have**

Your next steps depend on which of these applies to you:

- **Same domain, new platform:** You keep your domain (for example, yourbrand.com) and only change where the site is built and hosted. Your existing Search Atlas project can usually stay in place.
- **New domain:** Your website address changes. In this case, set up a new project in Search Atlas for the new domain and keep the old one for reference until your redirects have taken effect.

## **📋 Step 2: Before You Migrate**

Capture a baseline so you can compare results after the move.

1. Run a fresh **Site Audit** on your current site and save or export the results.
2. Export your current **keyword rankings** from your tracking project so you have a before-and-after comparison.
3. Make a list of your most important pages, such as your top traffic pages, service or product pages, and any pages that currently rank well.
4. Write down the page titles, meta descriptions, and headings on those key pages.
5. If you use OTTO SEO, note which optimizations you have deployed so you can confirm them after the move.

## **🔗 Step 3: Protect Your URLs During the Move**

Changing URLs is the most common cause of ranking drops after a migration. Shopify uses its own URL structure (for example, /products/ and /collections/), so some of your old URLs may change.

- Keep your old URLs wherever possible.
- For every URL that changes, create a **301 redirect** from the old address to the new one. In Shopify, you can do this under Online Store, Navigation, then URL Redirects.
- Redirect each old page to the most closely related new page, not just your home page.
- Carry over your page titles, meta descriptions, image alt text, and on-page content.
- Make sure your new store is not password-protected and is not blocking search engines when you go live.

## **⚙️ Step 4: Reconnect OTTO SEO and Other Tools**

OTTO SEO works by connecting to your website. When the website platform changes, that connection needs to be set up again on the new site.

- Open your project in Search Atlas and follow the OTTO installation instructions for your new platform.
- After reconnecting, confirm that your OTTO optimizations are showing on the live pages. Re-deploy any that are missing.
- If you use other connected tools, such as Google Search Console, Google Analytics, or Google Business Profile, check that each connection is still active. Reconnect any that show an error.

## **🚀 Step 5: After Your Site Goes Live**

1. Visit your most important pages and confirm they load correctly and old URLs redirect properly.
2. Run a new **Site Audit** in Search Atlas and look for broken links, missing titles or descriptions, redirect problems, and pages blocked from indexing.
3. Submit your new Shopify sitemap (usually yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml) in Google Search Console.
4. If your domain changed, use the Change of Address tool in Google Search Console.
5. Check your **keyword rankings** daily for the first two weeks, then weekly. Small movements are normal while search engines re-crawl your site.
6. Compare your new audit and rankings with the baseline you saved in Step 2.

## **⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid**

- **Skipping redirects:** Old URLs that lead to error pages lose their ranking value.
- **Leaving the site in test mode:** A password page or search-engine block will keep your pages out of search results.
- **Forgetting to reconnect OTTO:** Optimizations will not appear on the new site until the connection is re-established.
- **Creating a duplicate project unnecessarily:** If your domain is unchanged, keep your existing project so you do not lose history.
- **Changing too much at once:** Avoid redesigning your content and changing platforms at the same time if you can, so you can tell what caused any ranking change.

## **❓ Quick Answers**

- **Will I lose my Search Atlas data if I migrate?** No. Your account and historical data stay in Search Atlas. Only the connection to your website needs to be updated.
- **Do I need a new project?** Only if your domain name changes.
- **How long until rankings recover?** With correct redirects, many sites stabilize within a few weeks, though timing varies.

## **💬 Need Help?**

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to be instantly connected with a member of our team.