Emergency audit after a broken migration
A local services business lost 45% of traffic in 30 days after migrating to a new platform. The emergency audit found 8,400 broken redirects, lost schema and a GBP desync. The remediation recovered traffic to 112% of baseline.
- Niche
- Local services
- Platform
- WordPress → Webflow (recovery)
- Timeframe
- 7-day audit + 75-day remediation
Challenge
A local service business ran a WordPress → Webflow migration with a different developer. In 30 days they lost 45% of organic traffic, Maps position dropped from #1 to #9. Calls collapsed. They came in a panic and wanted diagnosis first - what exactly is broken and what's the priority for fixing it.
What I did
Review of the old sitemap vs. the new - 8,400 URLs with no redirects. GSC showed mass de-indexing. Schema gone. GBP linking to 404 pages. I documented every issue with priority (P0-P3) and an estimated time-to-fix. I ran the remediation personally on this one - redirect map in .htaccess + Webflow, schema restoration on 50 key pages, GBP resync, NAP check across directories, pre-optimization of the 20 most important URLs.
- Crawl of the old sitemap vs. the new - 8,400 URLs with no redirects or 404
- GSC error diagnosis: 60% of the index was wiped within 30 days post-migration
- Recommendation: complete redirect map with .htaccess + Webflow native redirects, phased rollout
- Schema restoration: LocalBusiness + Service + FAQ schema lost in the migration
- Google Business Profile resync, URL update, NAP check across 40+ directories
- Content priority: 20 highest-historical-traffic pages re-optimized for the new URL structure
- Day-30 + day-60 follow-ups: traffic on a recovery curve, last fixes shipped
Results
In 75 days organic traffic recovered to 112% of pre-migration baseline - we not only recovered, we ended higher. Maps position #9 → #1 for the primary search. Calls returned to normal within 6 weeks. Lesson for future migrations: audit BEFORE launch, not after.
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Let's talk
First, let's see if we're a good fit.
A 30-minute call, just me and you. You tell me about your store, your goals, and where you feel stuck. I tell you how I'd approach it. No slides, no pitch. If it feels right on both sides, the next step is a real SEO audit and a plan built around your store.
- You share, I show you the pathYou tell me about the business - catalogue, goals, numbers, what you've already tried. Inside the call I tell you how I'd scale you: which channels work for your case, which don't, and the order I'd run them in.
- If it's a fit, I audit your storeIf we both feel good after the call, the next step is a real audit of your store and a plan for the next 90 days. If not, no hard feelings.
- You always talk to meI work solo - no account managers in between, no junior handovers. Six years on Shopify, WooCommerce and custom ecommerce builds, and the person on the call is the person doing the work afterwards.
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