Moving your online store without losing sales or Google rankings

You can move your online store to a new one without losing sales or your place on Google. This move is often called a migration. The steps are the same whether you are leaving Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix or another platform, and whether the new store is on a platform or custom-built. The danger is a rushed switch: missing products, broken links and customers who cannot log in.

Three things keep you safe. Check your data after you move it. Send every old web address to its new one with 301 redirects (a permanent forwarding rule that Google understands). And keep your old store open until the new one is fully tested.

Almost everything can come with you. The usual exception is your customers' passwords. If you are still deciding where to move, read our comparison of ready-made platforms and custom stores first.

What moves to your new store, and what does not

Most data moves as a CSV file (a simple spreadsheet file) or with a migration tool, which copies the data from your old store for you. If your new store is custom-built, your developer usually imports the data.

Also bring across which customers agreed to receive marketing. Then plan how to honour active discount codes and gift card balances.

Before you start: prepare your old store

Do these five things before you move anything.

1. List every web address on your old store. Start with its sitemap, a file that lists your pages (often at yourstore.ae/sitemap.xml). Put every address in one spreadsheet: this becomes your redirect map.
2. Note your best pages. Google Search Console, Google's free tool for site owners, shows which pages get the most clicks from Google. Export the last 12 months, and note which pages bring the most sales.
3. Back up everything. Export products, customers and orders as CSV files, and save your images and blog posts.
4. List what your store does today. Write down payment methods, delivery prices, discount codes, apps, customer emails and custom features like gift wrapping. The new store should do all of it, unless you decide to drop something.
5. Pick a quiet time. For many UAE stores, the busiest weeks are White Friday and Black Friday in late November, the Dubai Shopping Festival and the weeks before Ramadan and Eid.

How to migrate your online store, step by step

Follow these steps in order: redirects and tests come before the domain switch.

1. Set up the new store where only you can see it

Build the new store at a private test address, or behind a password, so only you and whoever builds it can see it. Your old store keeps selling while you work. Keep Google out of the test store too, so it does not find two copies of your shop.

Give whoever builds it your list of what the old store does. For a custom store, that list is the start of its scope (the written list of pages and features to build). If you sell in Arabic, make sure the new store supports right-to-left pages. Our guide to building an Arabic and English online store covers the rest.

2. Import your products

Export your products as a CSV file. Most platforms, including Shopify and WooCommerce, can do this. Then import the file into the new store, or give it to your developer. If you use a migration tool, check what it moves before you pay for it.

Keep the end of each product's web address the same where you can. If a product's old address was /product/black-linen-abaya/, end the new one with black-linen-abaya too. Your redirects are then simple. On a custom store, the developer decides how addresses look, so they can often keep your old ones exactly.

Then check your best sellers one by one:

• Variants: every size and colour is there, with the right price and stock.
• Photos: all images are there, in the right order.
• Prices: if you are registered for VAT, prices shown to shoppers must include it.
• Arabic text: it displays properly, with no broken characters.

3. Import your customers and past orders

Customer names, emails, phone numbers and addresses move by CSV file or migration tool. Passwords are saved in a scrambled form that no one can read, and they usually cannot move, so each customer sets a new one at their first login. Send a short email before the switch, so this does not look like a fault.

Past orders usually need a migration tool or a developer. They are worth moving: you keep your sales history and each customer's record of what they bought.

4. Rebuild your pages, policies and blog

Recreate your About, Contact, FAQ and delivery pages. Add your returns, privacy and terms policies: our guide to writing a return and refund policy includes a template.

Move blog posts with their titles, text and images, and note each new address in your spreadsheet as you go. Do not rewrite pages that rank well while you move. Improve them once things settle.

5. Map old web addresses to new ones and add 301 redirects

For your Google rankings, this step matters most. Each platform arranges its web addresses in its own way, as the examples below show. So unless your new store keeps your old addresses exactly, most of them will change, even when the names stay the same.

A 301 redirect sends anyone who opens an old address straight to the new page. That includes links on Google, on Instagram and in old WhatsApp chats. It also tells Google the move is permanent, so over time Google treats the new page as the replacement.

Whichever platform you are leaving, the method is the same:

1. In your spreadsheet, add the new address next to each old one.
2. Send each page to its closest match: a product to the same product, a category to the same category.
3. If a product no longer exists, send it to the closest category, not the home page.
4. Point each old address straight at its final page, with no chains of redirects.
5. Add the full list to the new store, or give it to your developer to add.

The redirects must live on the new store: once your domain points there, it is the new store that answers every visit to an old address.

6. Copy over page titles, descriptions and alt text

Three pieces of text help Google understand each page:

• Page title: the blue headline in Google's results.
• Meta description: the short summary under that headline.
• Image alt text: a short description of each photo, read by Google and by screen readers for blind shoppers.

Make sure the new store lets you edit all three on every page, then copy them across. Some migration tools carry them over, but check: WordPress plugins (add-ons) such as Yoast store them separately. For tips on writing them, see our guide to e-commerce SEO in the UAE.

7. Set up payments and delivery, then test

Apply early to a payment provider (the company that takes card payments for you), or ask your current one how to use your account on the new store. Approval can take time.

On a custom store, your developer connects your payment provider, Tabby, Tamara and your courier, usually through each one's API (a link that lets two systems pass orders and payments to each other). On another platform, you set each one up again. Turn on cash on delivery if you offer it, and set delivery prices for each emirate. Our guide to payment gateways in the UAE compares the options.

Before any customer sees the store, place a real order with each payment method and refund it. Then read every customer email and check every page on a phone. Our online store launch checklist covers the rest.

8. Switch your domain

You keep your web address. You point it to the new store by changing its DNS settings (where your web address points), at the company you bought it from. Whoever hosts the new store tells you which records to change.

• Check where your domain is managed. If you bought it through your old platform, move it to a domain company, in your own name, before you close the old store.
• Leave your email settings alone. If your email uses your domain, its settings (MX records) sit in the same place. Change only the records for your website.
• Switch at a quiet hour. DNS changes can take from a few minutes to a day or two to reach everyone.
• Remove the password from the new store, so customers and Google can see it.

Keep your old store's account for a few weeks, in case you missed something.

9. Watch Google closely after launch

• Submit your new sitemap. Make sure the new store has one (often at yourstore.ae/sitemap.xml), then add it in Search Console.
• Check that Search Console still works. If you verified your site with a code in the old design, verify it again.
• Fix "not found" errors. Search Console lists old addresses that now show a 404 error (page not found). Redirect each one that matters.
• Compare with your notes. Check clicks to your top pages against the numbers you saved. Some movement in the first weeks is normal. A page that keeps falling often has a broken redirect or missing content.
• Update your own links. Point your Instagram bio and WhatsApp Business profile to the new pages.
• Reconnect Google Shopping. Connect the new store's products to Google Merchant Center (the service behind Google Shopping), so they keep showing there.

Common mistakes that cost sales or rankings

• No redirects. Every old link on Google and social media leads to an error page.
• Redirecting everything to the home page. Google may treat these as errors, and shoppers lose the product they wanted.
• Changing everything at once. New names, text and addresses together confuse Google and hide the cause of any drop.
• Closing the old store too early. Keep it until the new one is live and checked.
• No warning about passwords. Customers who cannot log in may think the store is broken.
• Forgetting your tracking. If Google Analytics or your ad tracking is not added to the new store, your reports go blank and your ads lose track of sales.

How long does it take to move an online store?

It depends on your store's size. Once the new store is built, a small, simple store can often move in days. A large catalogue, two languages or many custom features can take a few weeks.

The slow part is rarely the import. It is checking products, writing redirects and waiting for payment approval. If your new store is being built from scratch, the build comes first, and your old store keeps selling until it is ready.

Doing it yourself, or getting help

You can move a small store yourself, especially between two ready-made platforms. A move to a custom store needs a developer, who usually moves your data too. And a migration is one of the few moments when a store can lose its Google traffic fast. Consider help if you have a large catalogue, strong Google traffic or no time to test.

Moving stores is part of what we do at Samay.ae. We build your new store custom, from scratch, and move your products, customers and past orders. Old links keep working, so people who find you on Google still reach you, and your old store stays open until the new one is ready. See how we work, step by step.

Whoever you hire, ask the questions in our guide on how to choose an e-commerce agency in the UAE.

Frequently asked questions

Will I lose my Google rankings if I move my online store?

Not if you redirect every old address to its new page and keep your titles and content the same. Some movement in the first weeks is normal while Google processes the change. Large, lasting drops usually come from missing redirects or lost content.

Can I move my customers' passwords to a new store?

Usually not. Stores keep passwords in a scrambled form that no one can read, and in most moves they cannot come across. Customer details can move, so each customer sets a new password the first time they log in. Warn returning customers before the switch.

Can I keep my domain name when I move my store?

Yes. You keep your domain, including a .ae domain, and point it to the new store by changing its DNS settings. Change only the records for your website, so your business email keeps working. If you bought the domain through your old platform, move it to an account in your own name before you close the old store.

What is a 301 redirect?

A 301 redirect permanently forwards an old web address to a new one. Visitors land on the new page automatically, and Google treats it as the replacement. You add them on the new store, one by one or as a list, before you switch your domain.

Can I move from Shopify or WooCommerce to a custom store?

Yes. Both can export your products as a CSV file, and your customers and past orders can move too. A developer builds the new store, imports your data and adds 301 redirects from your old addresses. A custom store has no platform plan and no platform fee on each sale, though you still pay your payment provider's fees, and someone must host and look after it. Our guide to custom online stores in the UAE explains who needs one.