Moving Your Care Website Without Losing Google Rankings or Referrals
A step by step plan for rebuilding a home care or allied health website while keeping your rankings, referral forms and phone enquiries working.
That fear is reasonable. A rebuild can lose rankings and referrals, but almost never because of the new design. It happens because old web addresses stop working, forms send to an inbox nobody checks, or tracking breaks and nobody notices for a month.
All of that can be planned for. This is the plan we use when we move a care provider from an old website to a new one, in the order we use it.
Before you move: write down everything that works today
The most important work happens before anything is built. You are making a list of every way people currently find you and reach you, so none of it is lost.
Every page address. Crawl the old site and export every URL, including old blog posts and PDFs. Your sitemap is a start, but it often misses pages.
Your top pages. In Google Search Console, export the pages and search terms that bring in the most clicks over the last 12 months. These are the pages you cannot afford to lose.
Every form and where it sends. Contact, referral, careers, callback. Write down who receives each one today. Referral forms from GPs and hospitals matter most.
Phone numbers and click-to-call links. Check every number on the site is current.
Links from other websites. Directory listings, My Aged Care, partner sites, Google Business Profile. Note which pages they point to.
Tracking. Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, ad pixels and any conversion goals.
Third-party tools. Live chat, booking widgets, job boards, newsletter signups. Note who owns each account and who pays for it.
Who holds the domain and DNS. Often it is the old developer. Get access confirmed before you set a launch date, or launch day will slip.
Keep all of this in one spreadsheet. It becomes your checklist on launch day.
The move itself, step by step
Keep what ranks. A rebuild is not the time to delete your best pages. Carry the content of your top pages across, then improve it. Keep the same topic and the same main heading where you can.
Keep good addresses. If an old address is clear, such as /services/home-nursing, keep it. Only change addresses that are genuinely messy.
Build a redirect map. For every old address that changes, list the new address it should go to. Each old page goes to its closest match, not to the homepage. Google's guidance is to use permanent (301) redirects and point straight to the final page, with no chains.
Rewrite the page titles and descriptions. Each page gets a title that says what it is and where you work, such as “Home Nursing in Western Sydney”. This is a chance to improve, not just copy.
Add structured data. Tell search engines you are a local healthcare business with an address, hours, service area and phone number. AI tools read this too.
Rebuild every form and test it. Send a real test through each form and confirm the right person receives it. Referral forms get a test from outside your organisation.
Set up tracking before launch. Install analytics and tag manager on the new site, with form submissions and phone clicks counted as conversions. Otherwise you cannot tell whether the new site is working.
Launch in a quiet window. Switch the domain early in a weekday, not on a Friday afternoon. Keep the old site available, but out of search, for a few weeks in case you need to check something.
Turn on the redirects at the moment of launch. Then test the top 20 old addresses yourself. Each one should land on the right new page.
Submit the new sitemap. In Google Search Console, submit the new sitemap and remove the old one.
After launch: the first 30 days
Expect some movement in search results. Google says that for a medium-sized site it can take a few weeks or more to start showing the new addresses. A short dip is normal. A dip that keeps going is a sign something is broken.
Day 1: Every form sends to the right inbox. Phone links dial. Live chat works. Redirects for the top 20 pages land correctly.
Week 1: Check Search Console for "page not found" errors. Add a redirect for any old address still getting visits.
Week 2: Analytics shows form submissions and phone clicks. Compare enquiries with the same weeks last year.
Week 4: Check clicks and rankings for your top 10 search terms against your before list. Update directory listings and Google Business Profile links to the new addresses.
Keep the redirects in place for at least a year. Google recommends a year at minimum, and there is no harm in keeping them for good.
FAQ
Will I lose my Google rankings if I rebuild my website?
You may see a short dip while Google finds the new pages. With every old address redirected to its closest new page and your best content carried across, rankings usually settle within weeks. Lasting losses come from missing redirects and deleted pages.
What is a 301 redirect?
An instruction that tells browsers and Google a page has moved for good. Visitors using an old link land on the new page, and Google carries the old page's ranking across.
Do I need to change my domain name?
No, and for most providers you shouldn't. Keeping the same domain is the simplest and safest move.
Can I move a hand-coded website to Framer or another builder?
Yes. The content is rebuilt in the new platform, then the domain is switched over. Framer lets you set redirects in the site settings, so old addresses keep working.
How long does a care website migration take?
For a provider with 10 to 30 pages, plan on four to seven weeks from kickoff to launch. Most of the delay comes from content approvals and getting access to the domain, not the build.
What happens to referrals during the switch?
Nothing, if the forms are rebuilt and tested before launch. Test every referral form from outside your organisation on launch day.
A new site should bring in more, not start again
A rebuild done properly keeps everything that works today and fixes what doesn't. Your team can finally update the site themselves, and families find a clearer path to calling you.
Bettermade designs and builds websites for home care, nursing and allied health providers, including the move from your old site. If you are weighing up a rebuild, book a 30 minute chat and we will walk through what your move would involve.
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We take on a small number of projects at a time, so every client works with both founders. Tell us what you're working on and we'll reply within two business days.
