SEO case: how an incorrect website migration cost a business over UAH 1.3 million in revenue per month

Site migration is often perceived as a purely technical procedure that can be completed “in a few days.” In fact, it is at this stage that businesses most often lose their hard-earned SEO results.

This case is a real story of a young Ukrainian brand of women's handbags, which in a matter of months was able to occupy high positions in Google and receive millions in sales, but after an incorrect migration, it almost completely lost organic traffic.

Comprehensive SEO website promotion and stages of safe migration: a case of successful development and lessons from critical mistakes

In the summer of 2025, a Ukrainian brand of women's handbags approached us. At the time of launch:

• the brand was completely new;
• history in search engines was absent;
• the budget did not allow for the creation of an expensive self-written resource;
• it was necessary to launch sales as quickly as possible.

That is why we chose the Khoroshop platform, which at that time fully met the business objectives. In August 2025, the site was launched with only:

• 4 main products;
• 4 additional positions.

And despite the modest catalog, we immediately started SEO promotion of the site .

First results in a month

Already in September 2025, despite the lack of domain history, the site demonstrated impressive ranking dynamics.

For a young brand, this was a very good start, which confirmed the correctness of the SEO strategy chosen for website promotion.

Within a few months, the site began to grow steadily.

Despite complex communication processes and delays in agreeing work tasks, our team persistently continued to implement a strategy for systematic optimization of the resource. Comprehensive SEO work included:

• technical optimization and error correction;
• scaling the site structure;
• working with content and its relevance;
• improving page indexing in search engines;
• increased visibility for targeted queries;
• involving the contextual advertising department for traffic channel synergy.

Thanks to the measures taken to promote the brand on Google, the project's position was consolidated, and as of February 2026, the site demonstrated a significant improvement in key performance indicators.

Website in the TOP results of Google search results

At that time, the resource was successfully ranking for a wide range of commercial queries, which ensured a stable organic flow of target audience. Most key phrases had already established themselves in the TOP-10, and some positions reached the TOP-3.

Key queries in TOP results:

• bags of Ukrainian brands;
• Ukrainian brand of bags;
• women's bags from a Ukrainian manufacturer;
• fashion bags 2026;
• trendy bags;
• branded bags;
• red leather bag;
• bag of a Ukrainian brand.

It is these positions that have become the key driver of attracting potential buyers and stable growth in conversions on the site.

Financial indicators

As of February 2026, the site generated UAH 2,108,660 in revenue per month from all traffic sources. This figure was a natural consequence of the resource's systematic development, growth in its authority, and stable commercial efficiency.

What happened next?

After several months of successful project development, when the site was already steadily growing in search results and bringing in over UAH 2 million in revenue per month, the business owner decided to switch from Khoroshop to Shopify. This decision was dictated by the desire to update the design and expand the store's functionality.

Moving to a different platform is a logical step for a business that is scaling. However, it is the migration process that determines whether you will be able to maintain the results you have achieved or whether you will have to start from scratch. In this case, the site was transferred without proper technical support, which led to a loss of control over parameters that are critical for search engines.

Why is this so important?

For Google, site migration is not just a change in technical platform. The search engine must identify the new site as a direct continuation of the previous one, and not as a completely new resource. That is why specialists support the migration at all levels: from the planning stage to post-release monitoring.

Without implementing these stages, even a resource with a solid history, top positions, and stable traffic risks losing the results of many months of work in a matter of days. This is exactly what happened in this project: the disconnect between old and new pages led to a rapid deterioration in indexing, loss of visibility, and, as a result, a significant drop in financial indicators.

Factors influencing the course of migration: organizational aspect

Considering all the above risks, the site migration still took place without the participation of our team. After all, we are never limited to performing individual tasks on request, but build a comprehensive strategy that ensures stable project growth.

For us, SEO, contextual advertising, technical condition of the site, analytics and the platform itself are interconnected components of a single system. SEO promotion of the site from Golden Web Digital involves a comprehensive approach, and it is impossible to guarantee its effectiveness if at least one of these links is implemented without proper planning or contrary to the professional recommendations of the team.

That is why we do not practice a format in which a company is responsible for a separate traffic channel, but is deprived of the opportunity to influence decisions that directly determine the future result.

In the case of this project, the decision to change the platform and approach to migration was made without comprehensive SEO support. Under such conditions, we could not guarantee the preservation of the earned organic visibility, the stability of advertising campaigns, and the projected development of the project after the launch of the new site.

That is why a joint decision was made to end cooperation not only in the direction of SEO, but also in the field of contextual advertising. We consciously refuse projects if we understand that we cannot be responsible for the final result due to critical decisions that remain beyond our control.

We believe that honestly refusing a client is much more professional than continuing to provide services knowing that it will not bring the expected effect. Our reputation is built on results, not on the number of active projects.

Consequences of technical errors for business: why SEO promotion of an online store requires control of each stage of migration

After migrating to the new platform, a number of critical SEO errors were discovered, including:

❌ Old URLs started returning 404 errors en masse.

❌ The search engine lost previously indexed pages.

❌ The number of pages excluded from the index has increased sharply.

❌ Google impressions began to drop rapidly.

In fact, the search engine lost access to a significant portion of the pages that previously generated sales.

How did this affect business?

With the decrease in visibility, a rapid decline in commercial performance began.

For June 2026 only:

• the number of purchases decreased to 91;
• total income amounted to UAH 794,285.

Compared to February 2026, income decreased by more than UAH 1.3 million per month, which is approximately 62%.

During an incorrect migration, the search engine loses the connection between the old and new pages of the site. If 301 Redirects are not configured, the URL structure changes, or indexed pages disappear, Google begins to gradually lose trust in the resource. The result is a decrease in the number of pages in the index, a drop in search results, and a rapid decline in organic traffic.

However, this is only the first stage of negative changes. A decrease in organic visibility is a signal that the overall health of the site has deteriorated. A large number of pages with 404 errors, violations of the internal structure, indexing problems and technical shortcomings affect not only SEO, but also the overall quality assessment of the resource.

That's why paid advertising is also affected. Google Ads algorithms analyze not only ads and keywords, but also the quality of the landing pages that the user lands on. If after clicking, a person ends up on a page that doesn't work correctly, loads slowly, or has lost relevance, this negatively affects the Quality Score.

As a result:

• the effectiveness of advertising campaigns decreases;
• to achieve the same positions it is necessary to raise the rates;
• the cost per click (CPC) increases;
• the cost of acquiring one customer (CPA) is increasing;
• The budget is spent less efficiently, and advertising profitability gradually decreases.

That is, incorrect site migration triggers a whole chain of negative consequences: Incorrect migration → technical errors → loss of indexing → drop in organic visibility → deterioration of the overall quality of the resource → decrease in Quality Score in Google Ads → more expensive click → higher cost of customer acquisition → decrease in business profitability.

That is why we consider site migration not as a technical procedure, but as a strategic business project. SEO promotion of an online store and its success are determined not by whether the new site simply opens in the browser, but by whether it was possible to preserve all the accumulated potential of the resource: organic traffic, domain authority, the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and, most importantly, stable business income.

Effective SEO website promotion strategy: recommendations for businesses on platform selection and scaling

This case demonstrates not only the importance of technically correct migration, but also the need to choose a platform that will not become a hindrance to business development in the future. Platforms like Shopify or Khoroshop allow you to quickly launch an online store, but as the company scales, owners increasingly face limitations in terms of SEO, site structure, working with URLs, integrations, and implementing non-standard functionality. Any changes often require compromises or a complete redesign of the project.

That's why we recommend considering a self-written Python website as a long-term investment. Your own resource is the foundation on which an effective website promotion strategy is built, allowing you to:

• fully control the technical architecture and performance of the resource;
• implement functionality and design of any complexity to meet the client's needs;
• implement any optimization solutions without platform limitations;
• build a directory structure according to the needs of search engines and business;
• integrate CRM, ERP, warehouse systems and any external services;
• scale functionality without dependence on third-party modules.

For a business that plans to actively develop an organic sales channel, a self-written resource provides significantly more opportunities for growth over the next few years.

Don't risk the work and resources invested in your project. If you are planning to migrate or develop a resource in Python, ordering SEO services from the Golden-Web Digital team will be the best solution for your business. We know how to perform the migration in a way that maximizes organic traffic, Google rankings, the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, and, most importantly, stable profits.