Moving from WordPress to HTML without losing the SEO basics

Changing the technology behind a website does not automatically improve its search visibility. The important work is preserving useful content and URLs while making the new site easy to crawl and use.

Make a URL inventory before switching

Combine your old sitemap, important pages from Search Console and any URLs linked from campaigns or other websites. Include portfolio entries, images, downloads and contact routes. Mark each URL as kept, replaced with an equivalent or intentionally removed.

Keep the old paths wherever practical. If a page moves, use a permanent server redirect to the closest relevant replacement. Redirecting every missing page to the homepage creates a confusing journey and can obscure migration problems.

Check more than the homepage

Open representative service pages, projects and contact pages directly, rather than relying only on navigation from the homepage. Test trailing slashes, old links and genuine missing pages. A missing page should return an appropriate not-found response, not a successful response containing unrelated content.

Carry over the information search engines use

• Review unique page titles and descriptions.
• Confirm canonical URLs point to the intended live pages.
• Update internal links to avoid unnecessary redirect chains.
• Check image paths, meaningful alternative text and downloads.
• Publish a sitemap containing the intended public URLs.

Recheck tracking and lead handling

A static contact interface may look like a form while only opening an email draft. Confirm how enquiries actually reach the business. Test advertising tags, consent choices and genuine completion events independently of the visual layout.

Keep a reversible release

Back up files, database and server configuration before a migration. Preserve unrelated applications hosted on the same account. Keep a record of what changed and how to roll it back. A backup is much more useful when restoration has a clear procedure.

After launch, monitor Search Console indexing and search performance alongside server errors and received enquiries. Compare equivalent periods and annotate the launch date. Expect measurement noise; investigate clear broken paths before drawing conclusions from short-term ranking movements.

Reference: Google’s guidance for site moves with URL changes.