POLARIS delivered a comprehensive SEO migration for Detecon, a complex project involving a complete website and brand overhaul and a consolidated bilingual sites — all while safeguarding existing search performance and domain authority. To discuss how we can achieve the same results for your migration, get in touch.
This project required POLARIS to coordinate across three separate agencies while simultaneously overhauling Detecon's site architecture, hierarchies, content structure, and international implementation. With over 800 pages on the existing site, the migration also demanded a strategic content audit to determine which pages to carry forward, consolidate, or retire.
When a business the size of Detecon decides to overhaul its website from the ground up, the SEO risk is substantial. Architecture changes, URL restructures, a new navigation, a new brand and a content cull across two language domains all happening simultaneously. Any one of those in isolation carries risk. All of them together, without the right expertise in place from the start, can set a site back significantly in search for months.
Detecon’s multilingual setup added further complexity. Both the German and English domains had to be managed in parallel, with hreflang configuration, international URL mapping and tracking continuity across DE and EN directories all requiring precise execution. A misconfiguration on either domain would send conflicting signals to search engines across both markets at once.
The deliberate removal of journal and resource pages presented an additional challenge. These pages had accumulated topical authority over time and were responsible for a meaningful share of Detecon’s organic entrances. The risk was not just losing that traffic but losing the authority those pages carried if the migration was not handled correctly.
The objective for our SEO website migration team was clear. Get the new site live without losing what had been earned, give the new consulting architecture the best possible start in search, and put a roadmap in place to drive growth from day one.
POLARIS embedded into the project from the earliest planning stages. Every significant architectural and content decision was reviewed through an SEO lens before it was locked in.
Before a single page of the new site was finalised, POLARIS conducted a full audit of Detecon’s existing search performance across both language domains. Keyword research, traffic analysis and a ranking audit established exactly where organic value was concentrated and where the incoming architecture created exposure.
A map and gap analysis was produced across both DE and EN structures and a complete redirect map was built covering every URL moving to a new location. Keyword architecture mapping was then conducted across Detecon’s core service and industry targets, with optimisation checks run against each page. This identified where page content did not sufficiently mirror the search terms their audiences were using, including Generative AI, Sustainability Consulting, HR Transformation and Public Sector Consulting, forming the basis of the post-migration growth roadmap.
A full international structure review was conducted including a TLD assessment and hreflang advisory. Hreflang and international checks were run across both domains to validate correct language targeting, ensuring search engines would serve the right version of the site to the right audience across every market Detecon operates in.
Seven days of pre-launch SEO checks were completed on the staging site covering indexability, redirect accuracy, metadata and tracking configuration. Tracking was validated across both Matomo and Google Tag Manager to ensure no gaps in measurement through the changeover. On launch day, POLARIS oversaw sitemap submission, redirect checking and SERP index checks, resolving critical issues the same day and delivering a 24 hour launch report to the Detecon team.
A structured monitoring programme ran across the full 28 day settlement period with formal reports delivered at 7, 14 and 28 days. A full documentation release and prioritised organic growth roadmap were delivered at close of engagement, giving Detecon a clear plan for what comes next.
The new site launched cleanly and performance settled above pre-migration levels within the 28 day window. Domain authority held firm at DR62 with zero equity loss, the new consulting architecture drove significant gains in page views, and Detecon's brand presence across AI search platforms remained intact throughout.
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"The Detecon migration, with multiple concurrent project streams and stakeholders, required careful, considered oversight at every step - but this paid off with excellent results."James FooteSEO Director
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