Legacy migrations without losing SEO

The problem

The legacy stack works, but every change takes longer than it should, hiring for it is getting harder, and the design no longer matches the product. A rewrite sounds tempting, but the site earns its traffic from search, and a failed launch can wipe out years of rankings overnight.

How I approach it

• Map before moving: every URL, every template, every integration. Nothing gets switched until we know what it replaces.
• Incremental cut-over: the new stack serves one section at a time, behind redirects, while the old one keeps serving the rest. Each step can be rolled back.
• SEO as a release criterion: server-side rendering, redirects for every old URL, and a daily eye on Search Console and server logs while each step goes live.
• A pace that doesn’t stop the roadmap: several releases a week, code-first API contracts, and every database change shipped as a versioned migration.

What it looks like

Usually a fixed-scope project with a defined end state, or a longer fractional engagement where I lead the migration with your team. I led this exact kind of migration for a 100+ city travel guide: around 100,000 URLs and 8 million monthly search impressions.

Case study

• InYourPocket

  Moving a 100+ city travel guide from Symfony to Next.js without losing search traffic

  I led the redesign and migration of an SEO-heavy European city guide (around 100,000 URLs, 8M monthly search impressions) from Symfony to Next.js and NestJS, step by step behind redirects. Search rankings improved after launch.

Questions

Can't we just rewrite it?

You can, but a big-bang rewrite freezes features for months and launches everything at once, including every mistake. Moving section by section keeps the business running and makes every step reversible.

How do you protect search rankings?

Every old URL is mapped and redirected, the new pages render on the server, and Search Console and server logs are watched daily during each step, so problems are fixed in hours, not discovered a quarter later.

Which stacks do you work with?

On the legacy side mostly PHP (Symfony, Laravel, Drupal) and older Node.js. On the new side TypeScript with Next.js and NestJS, or Python with Django.

Remote-first, working in EU time zones (CET). On-site visits by arrangement.

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