The verdict in three sentences
A relaunch keeps its traffic when every old URL with traffic or backlinks 301-redirects to its exact equivalent, tested before go-live, and when hreflang pairs between German and English pages stay intact. These requirements belong in the specification with measurable thresholds, or they get squeezed into the final week once the budget is gone. For a site of 600 to 4,000 URLs across two or three languages, ring-fence an SEO migration budget of 2,500 to 10,000 EUR net, separate from development.
What makes Berlin migrations risky
Most losses have nothing to do with design. They come from changed URLs without redirects, merged or deleted pages, rewritten title tags, a staging site left open to crawlers, and in Germany two specific traps. First, moving from a .de domain to a .com with /de/ and /en/ folders changes every URL at once. Second, hreflang annotations break when the German and English page trees no longer match one to one. Field experience suggests unplanned migrations commonly lose 20 to 60 % of organic traffic, with recovery taking 6 to 12 months (2026 estimate).
The specification is the only document you can hold the supplier to. A line such as 'the agency will take care of SEO' gives you nothing. 'All URLs listed in appendix B return a single 301 to the target given, with no chains' is an acceptance criterion.
The fill-in redirect specification
Copy this table into your tender document and fill in the last column. Each row can be checked at acceptance.
| Requirement | Measurable threshold | Check with | Fill in |
|---|---|---|---|
| URL inventory | 100 % of indexed URLs and URLs with external links, per language | Screaming Frog crawl + 16-month Search Console export | URL count DE / EN: |
| Redirect map | One row per URL, single target, signed off by client | Spreadsheet appendix | Owner: |
| Redirect type | 301 only, no 302 or JavaScript redirects | Crawl of old URL list | Test date: |
| Redirect chains | Zero chains longer than one hop | Crawler chain report | Result: |
| Hreflang | Every DE page paired with its EN page, return tags present | Crawler hreflang report | Errors: |
| Staging | Password protected, noindex removed at go-live | Manual check on day 0 | Checked by: |
| Legal pages | Impressum and privacy policy reachable in two clicks in each language | Manual check | Verified: |
| XML sitemaps | One per language, submitted on launch day | Search Console | Submitted: |
Add a go-live clause: launch is not accepted until a crawl of the old URL list returns 100 % 301s pointing to 200 pages. Under GDPR, also confirm the consent banner does not block Search Console verification or server-side analytics you rely on for the comparison.
Timeline and budget
SEO migration work splits into before, during and after launch. Figures are 2026 estimates for a German SEO consultant or agency, net of VAT, excluding development.
| Phase | Tasks | Duration | 600 URLs, 2 languages | 4,000 URLs, 3 languages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline audit | Crawl, Search Console export, top pages per language | 1 week | 900 EUR | 2,200 EUR |
| Redirect and hreflang map | URL to URL matching | 1 to 3 weeks | 1,100 EUR | 3,300 EUR |
| Staging acceptance | Tags, internal links, noindex, hreflang | 3 to 5 days | 600 EUR | 1,600 EUR |
| Launch day | 301 tests, sitemaps, Search Console | 1 day | 300 EUR | 900 EUR |
| 90-day monitoring | 404s, coverage, rankings per language | 3 months | 700 EUR | 2,000 EUR |
| Total | 6 to 10 weeks | 3,600 EUR | 10,000 EUR |
During the 90 days, compare clicks week by week against the same weeks last year, per language property. A 10 to 15 % dip in the first fortnight is common; beyond 25 % after a month, investigate.
Mini case study
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Illustrative example: Katrin, head of marketing at a 180-person B2B software firm in Berlin, is relaunching a 600-URL site in German and English that brings 11,000 organic visits and 50 demo requests a month. A closed demo is worth 8,000 EUR in first-year margin, and 8 % of demos close.
A 35 % traffic loss for six months would cost about 17 demo requests a month, or 1.4 deals and 10,900 EUR of margin monthly: roughly 65,000 EUR over six months. The 3,600 EUR migration budget is under 6 % of the loss it prevents.
FAQ
How much does SEO support for a migration cost in Germany?
Expect 2,500 to 10,000 EUR net depending on URL count and languages. Keep it as a separate budget line so it is not cut at the end of the build.
Do all old URLs need redirects?
Redirect 100 % of URLs with clicks in the last 16 months or with external links. Pages with no traffic and no links can return a 410 if the content is gone.
Should we move from .de to .com during the relaunch?
Only if there is a strong business reason, because it changes every URL at once. If traffic exceeds 5,000 monthly visits, avoid changing domain, structure and content in the same release.
How long should we monitor after launch?
At least 90 days in Search Console, checking daily in week one. A sustained drop above 25 % after one month warrants a root-cause analysis.
Who signs off the redirect map?
The supplier builds it, but someone on your side should approve it row by row, starting with the 50 pages that drive the most enquiries.
Get found by the clients who are searching for you. Before or after your relaunch, a visibility audit at 100,000 FCFA (about 152 EUR) measures what you stand to lose, then the right Traffic Engine plan helps you win back quote requests, tracked in a weekly report: Traffic Engine. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
