Migration is one of those services where quotes differ tenfold, and usually not because someone is trying to overcharge. What differs is what people mean by the word. For one it is copying files to another server; for another it is rewriting all content into a new platform with a redirect map. Here are three realistic scenarios with prices, and where traffic usually gets lost.
A hosting change costs €150–400 and leaves SEO untouched. A platform migration runs €800–3,000, scaling almost directly with page count. Traffic is almost always lost to missing 301 redirects rather than the migration itself. With redirects done properly, rankings recover within 2–6 weeks.
First scenario: a hosting change only. Same site, new server. Second: a platform migration, from Wix or Squarespace to WordPress, or from WordPress to a custom build. Content moves, but structure and templates are rebuilt. Third: migration plus restructuring, where URLs and copy change too. Price grows in exactly that order. Before asking for a quote, say which of the three you need, or you will be comparing numbers that are not comparable.
The cheapest option. Files and database move to a new server, DNS is switched, everything is verified and SSL renewed. The site does not change, URLs do not change, SEO is untouched. A few hours of work, so €150–400 in Lithuania. One common mistake: shutting the old hosting down too early. DNS changes take up to 48 hours to propagate, so the old server should stay alive for a couple of days.
This is a real project. Content has to move, the design has to be rebuilt on the new platform, forms, integrations and analytics have to be reconnected, and most importantly an old-to-new URL map has to be written. Price scales almost directly with page count: twenty pages is a day, two hundred is several weeks. Typically €800–3,000. If someone offers €300 for a two-hundred-page migration, there will be no redirects, and that means lost traffic.
Almost always in the redirects. If the old URL was /services/web-design and the new one is /web-design with no 301 between them, Google sees a dead page and every ranking and link pointing at it goes nowhere. The second common mistake is forgetting to redirect image and PDF URLs. The third is migrating with a leftover noindex tag from the staging site. These sound minor, but they are exactly why traffic sometimes halves after a migration.
Four things. A full list of old URLs, taken from Google Search Console or the sitemap. A backup that someone has actually restored from, not just created. Access credentials: domain registrar, old and new hosting, analytics. And a list of what must work on day one: forms, payments, search, language switching. That list is what you check first after the move.
With redirects done properly, Google reads the new structure within two to six weeks, and rankings usually return to the previous level or improve slightly if the site got faster. A short dip in the first weeks is normal and does not indicate a mistake. If traffic is still lower after two months, the problem is nearly always redirects or an indexing block, and that is verifiable in half a day in Search Console.
We look at your current site and say honestly whether changing hosting is enough or a migration is genuinely worth it. The answer is often cheaper than expected.
If the migration will mean a new site anyway, it is worth looking at how we build websites.
No, provided 301 redirects map old URLs to new ones. A short dip in the first weeks is normal, and after 2–6 weeks rankings return or improve slightly if the site got faster. Traffic is lost when redirects are missing.
Usually yes. Content can be copied from the live site, older versions are kept by web.archive.org, and the list of old URLs comes from Google Search Console or the sitemap. Difficulty only arises when the domain is registered in the developer's name.
A hosting change is a few hours plus up to 48 hours for DNS to propagate. A platform migration depends on page count: twenty pages is about a day, two hundred is several weeks.