A Wix migration is mostly a mechanical job. Keep the same addresses (URLs) where you can, move the rest with clean redirects, and avoid telling search engines “don’t index this.” That’s the core.

People get distracted by design and plugins. Understandable. But on launch day, SEO behaves like a drivetrain: small misalignment, big vibration.

Start With URL Slugs, Not “SEO Apps”

Matching legacy URL paths is the lowest-risk SEO move because it preserves identity without translation.

Before you touch titles or schema, decide how each old path maps to a Wix path. If you can keep /services/roof-repair as-is, do it. If you can’t, document the change and treat it as a redirect requirement, not a “we’ll remember later” note.

Are 301 Redirects Automatic on Wix?

Some redirects can be created automatically when you change a page’s URL, but you should never assume every content type is covered.

Treat “automatic” as “helpful when it happens,” not as a migration plan. Verify with tests: old URL returns a single-hop permanent redirect, lands on the correct page, and the destination returns a clean 200. If any step fails, handle it manually.

The Redirect Manager Is Your Workbench

The redirect manager is where migrations live because it’s where old traffic is either recovered or lost.

Use one-to-one mappings. Avoid “everything goes to the homepage” redirects unless the old page truly has no equivalent. Also watch for stacking rules that create chains: http→https, non-www→www, slash normalization, and then your content redirect on top. One hop is the goal.

Page Indexing Toggles Can Kill Traffic Fast

If a key page is set to not be indexable, rankings don’t “dip.” The page simply stops competing.

During migration, check indexing settings on your money pages first: service pages, top blog posts, and any page that historically brought organic leads. Accidental noindex is one of the cleanest ways to lose traffic without obvious errors.

Default Titles and Descriptions Are Baselines

Default SEO fields are fine for brand-new sites, but migrations need continuity.

For top landing pages, carry over the practical meaning: page topic, primary intent, and core modifiers. You can rewrite later. Right now, your job is to avoid turning a proven “pricing” page into an “about us” page with a new title that no longer matches what people search.

Under the Hood

Search engines don’t reward effort; they reward consistent signals.

A permanent redirect that lands on a different intent page is a relevance reset, not a preservation step. Redirect chains slow consolidation because crawlers spend requests on intermediate hops. Soft-404 pages (a “not found” message that still returns 200) can stay indexed and waste crawl attention. Internal links pointing to redirected URLs teach bots to take detours repeatedly. Canonical and redirect targets should agree, otherwise you’re sending mixed directions.

A Minimal Launch Checklist

If you only do a handful of checks, make them the ones that prevent irreversible damage.

Confirm your top old URLs resolve correctly, your redirects are single-hop, important pages are indexable, internal links point directly to final URLs, and your sitemap reflects the pages you actually want indexed. Then watch errors and coverage for the next couple of weeks and fix patterns, not individual one-offs.