When data migration is needed
A CMS change (Bitrix to WordPress or back, a constructor to a real system), a hosting move, a catalog merge after a company merger, a platform upgrade where the exporter lies — the scenarios differ, the risk is the same: the data is the business. Products, articles, client records, order history, image galleries — each was expensive to create and none survives carelessness. Migration is also the moment SEO is won or lost: URLs change, and whether the positions survive depends entirely on the redirect discipline of the move, not on luck.
The migration protocol
We run moves by a written protocol. Inventory first: what exists — pages, products, properties, media, users, orders — counted in the old system, so "done" has a number. Full backups of both systems before a single byte moves. Then conversion: formats, encodings, property mappings, image paths — the silent killers handled explicitly, with a conversion script that is re-runnable, not a one-off manual shuffle. Import into a staging copy, never straight into production. Then the switch: DNS or config cut-over at a low-traffic hour, with the old system kept frozen for rollback.
Integrity reconciliation
The step that separates a migration from a bet: after import we reconcile every class of record — counts first, then spot checks, then full per-record verification for critical data: products with prices and stock, articles with images, users with orders. The reconciliation report shows old counts, new counts and every discrepancy with its cause and fix. Media gets its own pass: every image path rewritten, broken references hunted down, galleries checked on the live pages. You sign off on the reconciliation numbers — not on our assurances — before the old system is retired.
SEO safety of the move
A migration without a redirect map is a self-inflicted penalty: years of earned URLs die in a day. We build the map before the switch: every old address 301-redirected to its closest new page — not everything to the homepage, which search engines treat as a soft 404 — canonicals updated, the sitemap regenerated the same day, Search Console and Webmaster notified. Positions typically wobble for 1–3 weeks while the index re-crawls, then recover; with the map done right they recover to the same or better level. We monitor rankings for weeks after and fix any stragglers.
Cost and timelines
A site up to 50 pages (content plus media plus redirects) — from 8 000 RUB, 1–2 days. Up to 200 pages — from 18 000 RUB, 2–3 days. A shop catalog up to 2 000 products — from 35 000 RUB, 3–5 days, including property reconciliation. Large catalogs of 5 000+ — estimated after an inventory. Databases and files between hostings only — from 5 000 RUB. The price includes pre-migration backups, the reconciliation report and the redirects. Point fixes of content after the move (repairing layout on specific pages) are billed as done — usually 2–5 hours.
Why migration at ZXY
We have moved every major CMS pair more than once — the exporters' lies, the encodings, the properties that do not map — so our checklist is written by scar tissue. The protocol is re-runnable: if the source changes mid-project, we re-run the conversion, not re-do the labour. Backups before work are non-negotiable, and the reconciliation report gives you proof instead of promises. And because we are the same team that builds sites and handles SEO, the move includes the parts others bill separately: redirects, sitemap, monitoring — the difference between a moved site and a surviving one.
