Traffic almost always drops after a new site for technical reasons, not because of the design. Google can't find the old pages any more, or can't tell the new ones apart.
Three causes come up every time:
A property website has it harder than an ordinary site. You have hundreds of property pages, and they come and go. Properties get sold or let. And your estate agency CRM often decides what the address of a property page looks like.
If you move your website and want to keep your SEO, first record what you have. What you don't measure, you can't compare afterwards.
Sort out four things beforehand:
That baseline seems unnecessary. But it's the only way to show after the switch whether everything went well.
Every old URL gets a permanent redirect to the page that fits best. Google recommends server-side permanent redirects (301 or 308), straight to the final destination, with no detours.
For a property website, that means three kinds of redirects:
| Old page | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| Property page of a property still for sale or to let | The new page of the same property. |
| Property page of a sold or let property | The new page of that property if it still exists, otherwise a page with similar listings, such as "apartment for sale in Hasselt". |
| Ordinary pages and blog posts | The new version of that page. |
Don't send everything to your homepage. Google explicitly says not to send many old URLs to one page that has nothing to do with them. If there's really no suitable page, the old URL returns a 404 or 410.
Your CRM helps with property pages. The property reference is often part of the old address. With that reference, you match old to new for hundreds of properties at once, instead of one by one.
Keep your redirects for a long time. Google recommends as long as possible, generally at least a year.
Keep your domain name if you can. Most links to your site then keep working, and the switch is simpler.
If a third party holds your domain name, you need access to change the settings. Sort that out well before going live. It's often the step that takes longest.
In Search Console, you do three things:
Update your internal links to the new URLs too. Every new page gets a canonical tag that points to itself. If you run ads, send them to the new pages.
A website on Habbi goes live within 2 to 4 weeks. During that time, the build and the preparation for the switch run side by side.
Roughly, it looks like this:
Switching is partly included. A large content migration is not. On All-in, migration is included with an annual contract.
After going live, keep a close eye on Search Console. Google itself says to expect temporary fluctuations in your rankings.
Look mainly at three things:
A warning about old URLs in your sitemap that redirect is normal. Google says so itself. For a small to medium-sized site, it takes a few weeks for most pages to move. Then compare with your baseline.
Read also
- [Switching to Habbi](https://salamander.be/en/en/product/switching) - [What a property website costs](https://salamander.be/en/en/knowledge-base/estate-agent-website-cost) - [Switching CRM](https://salamander.be/en/en/knowledge-base/switching-crm-website) - [Getting found in Google and AI](https://salamander.be/en/en/knowledge-base/estate-agent-found-google-ai) - [Google Search Central, Site Moves and Migrations](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes) Contents Written by Bram Van Langendonck Founder · CEO Founded Salamander with Yannick, and Frederiek joined shortly after. Talks to estate agents every week about their website, their leads and their CRM, and turns that into Habbi. Written by · Dries Janssen · Chief Product Dries Janssen Chief Product Decides how Habbi looks and works. Follows how Google and AI assistants read websites, and turns that into estate agency sites that get found. All articles - Why traffic drops after a new site - Before you switch: what to record - Redirects for properties, sold properties and old pages - Domain name, Search Console and analytics - The timeline: 2 to 4 weeks on Habbi - The first weeks after go-live [All articles](https://salamander.be/en/knowledge-base) ## Frequently asked questions On switching without losing Google rankings. Your question not here? Call us, or book a demo. [Call Tijs +32 11 19 18 25](tel:+3211191825) Call Tijs - **Does my domain name have to move?**: No. It's best to keep your own domain name. With Habbi, the domain name stays yours; Salamander is only registered as the technical contact. - **What happens to sold properties?**: If the property page still exists on your new site, redirect the old URL there. Otherwise, redirect to similar listings, or let the old URL return a 404 or 410. - **How long does it take?**: A website on Habbi goes live within 2 to 4 weeks. After that, according to Google, it takes a few weeks for most pages of a small to medium-sized site to move. - **What's included in the switch?**: Switching to Habbi is partly included. A large content migration is not. On All-in, migration is included with an annual contract. Two weeks from kick-off to launch, with no gap in your visibility. Goes with this See the building block ## Keep reading. - What does a website for an estate agency in Belgium cost? - Website on subscription or buy it outright: the maths for estate agents - Getting found as an estate agent in Google and AI: the guide ## Bekijk hoe een overstap naar Habbi verloopt, van je oude URL's tot de livegang.  Plan een demo, online of bij jou op kantoor, overal in Vlaanderen. [Demo boeken](https://salamander.be/en/demo) [+32 11 19 18 25](tel:+3211191825) - Maandelijks opzegbaar - Geen opstartkost --- Source: https://salamander.be/en/knowledge-base/switching-estate-agency-website Real estate website by Salamander: https://salamander.be