How to Fix a Botched Site Migration and Recover Traffic
SEO rescue operation for INTERTOP
Client
INTERTOP
Niche
Fashion
Service
SEO Optimization
Tools
Ahrefs
Google Analytics
Google Search Console
Serpstat
SE Ranking
Client
INTERTOP is one of the largest fashion retailers in Ukraine and a multibrand online marketplace that brings together top global and local brands in clothing, footwear, accessories, and cosmetics. The company is known for its carefully curated selection and strong focus on the needs of the modern consumer.
Task
Initial Data
The strategic goal of the business was to migrate the website from traditional SEO-friendly URLs to Deep Links — links that, when clicked, open the corresponding page directly in the mobile app (if installed on the user's device). Given the central role of the mobile app in INTERTOP's business model, this decision was fully justified.
However, during our initial audit — conducted after DGTL-HOUSE joined the project — we identified several critical oversights. Many foundational actions that should have been implemented in close collaboration between the SEO team and the IT department were either neglected or executed with serious errors. Some essential technical tasks required for a successful migration were never assigned at all.
A major red flag was the lack of a structured roadmap — no clear action plan with defined stages, timelines, or responsibilities. Additionally, we discovered severe issues in the redirect map: redirects were improperly configured, often pointing to irrelevant pages, causing 301 redirect chains and "URL glueing" that confused search engines.
These factors became the primary reasons for the dramatic 51% drop in organic traffic following the migration.
Solution
Following the audit, it became clear that stabilizing the situation required immediate and well-coordinated action. The first step was to develop a new, detailed migration Roadmap, which we aligned with INTERTOP's IT and marketing teams. This allowed us to set clear technical priorities and synchronize the actions of all involved teams.
Right after the plan was approved, our specialists outlined over 15 technical tasks, which were handed off to INTERTOP's IT team. The collaboration was highly efficient: the client's team was deeply involved, creating a powerful synergy that accelerated progress far beyond the typical timeline.
Key actions included:
Thanks to this approach, we observed positive momentum within just the first few weeks — rankings began to recover, and organic traffic started climbing again.
Result
Visual Trend: How Organic Traffic Changed Throughout the Project
The chart below illustrates the overall trend of organic traffic from Google during the key phases before, during, and after the flawed site migration. It clearly highlights three crucial stages:
- Stable Phase — until the end of May, while the site was still operating on the old URLs
- Sharp Decline — starting in early June, following the incorrect migration, which caused traffic to drop by nearly 50%.
- Gradual Recovery — after our team stepped in starting in July and implemented the roadmap. By September, we successfully restored all lost rankings.
These numbers reflected a decent presence in the visible segment of search results but also highlighted substantial room for improvement. The main objective was not just to maintain positions but to push competitors out and elevate as many queries as possible into the Top 1.
Baseline: Traffic Before Migration (k = 1)
This chart captures the state of organic traffic as of May 26, 2023 — the last day before the deployment of the new URLs. We use this day as the baseline (coefficient k = 1) for all subsequent comparisons and visualizations.
At this point, traffic reflected the results of a stable SEO strategy developed over previous months and represented the site's normal performance before any changes to the URL structure. The following charts will illustrate how traffic changed after the launch of the new links — and which measures helped bring it back.
Lowest Point After Migration: Traffic Dropped by –51% (k = 0.49)
On June 9, 2023, we recorded the lowest level of organic traffic following the flawed migration — compared to the baseline (May 26), traffic had dropped by –51%, corresponding to a coefficient of k = 0.49. This sharp decline had a significant negative impact on business metrics and search visibility. It was at this critical point that INTERTOP decided to engage our team for an emergency recovery and stabilization effort.
Traffic Fully Recovered — and Even Surpassed
As of September 17, organic traffic not only returned to pre-migration levels — it increased by an additional 5%. This means we successfully compensated for the initial 51% traffic loss, stabilized the project, and reignited growth. Compared to the lowest point after the migration, traffic has grown by more than 115%.
Conclusion
An incorrect website migration to new URLs, carried out by the previous agency, led to a 51% loss in organic traffic. However, thanks to the close collaboration between the DGTL-HOUSE SEO team and INTERTOP's technical team, we not only stabilized the situation in a short time but fully restored traffic to its previous level within just 2.5 months — and eventually exceeded it by 5%.
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