How can I swap my current website with a new one on Webflow and make sure my URLs and hosting are correctly redirected?

To swap your current website with a new one on Webflow while maintaining correct URLs and hosting, follow these steps to ensure a smooth transition and preserve SEO.

1. Prepare Your New Website in Webflow

• Finish building and testing your new site within Webflow.
• Use Webflow’s Preview and Staging (yourproject.webflow.io) URL to confirm functionality.
• Ensure all canonical URLs match your existing site’s structure if you’re keeping SEO rankings.

2. Check Domain and Hosting Setup

• Go to Project Settings > Hosting in your new Webflow project.
• If your domain is already connected (e.g., example.com), make sure:
• Your A records are pointing to Webflow’s IPs: (a) 75.2.70.75, (b) 99.83.190.102.
• Your CNAME (for www) points to proxy.webflow.com.
• You do not need to change anything at your domain registrar if you’re already using this setup from a previous Webflow project.

3. Set the Correct Primary Domain

• In Project Settings > Hosting, set the www version of your domain as the Default domain, e.g., www.example.com.
• This ensures non-www traffic gets correctly redirected.

4. Publish the New Website Live

• Click Publish at the top right of the Designer or in Project Settings.
• Choose your custom domain (www and root) from the dropdown.
• This will replace the previous live version with your new design instantly.

5. Set Up URL Redirects (If Page Structure Changed)

• If any old URLs are different from the new ones (e.g., /about-us → /about), go to Settings > Hosting > 301 Redirects.
• Create manual 301 redirects by mapping each old path to the new equivalent.
• Example: Old URL: /team.html → New URL: /about/team
• This helps preserve existing SEO rankings and avoids 404 errors.

6. Test Live Site and Redirects

• Open your live domain and verify that:
• The new website loads correctly.
• All internal and external links are working.
• Test several legacy URLs to confirm any 301 redirects are functional.

7. Submit Updated Sitemap to Google Search Console

• Webflow auto-generates a new sitemap at example.com/sitemap.xml.
• Log into Google Search Console and resubmit the sitemap so Google can re-crawl the new structure.

Summary

To swap your site on Webflow, publish the new build to your custom domain, set proper 301 redirects for changed URLs, ensure DNS and hosting settings are still valid, and resubmit your sitemap. This ensures a seamless transition with no downtime or SEO loss.