Case study: prawnyblog.pl - migrating a legal blog with no loss of Google rankings

The challenge

Good content held back by the limits of an old system

A law firm's blog is not a decoration. It is hundreds of posts written over years, answering real client questions and pulling people in from search every single day. The catch was that it ran on old Joomla: heavy, slow and - most importantly - limiting in what you could do for search rankings at all.

So the main reason for the migration was not looks or speed, but the drive for better Google results, free of the limits Joomla imposed. Titles and search snippets, data for Google, addresses, the sitemap - on the old system each of these was cut down or buried in the template and its plugins. We wanted full control back over all of them, and to give the blog room to grow.

One thing, though, was non-negotiable: a move like this must not come at the cost of what was already built. All it takes is for the page addresses to change or the content to stop matching to the letter, and years of traffic can fall apart. So the migration had to be invisible to Google, and at the same time open the door to better rankings.

The prawnyblog.pl blog of the LEGATO law firm - homepage after migration

A 1:1 migration

188 posts

That is how many articles we moved off old Joomla onto a new technology - and not roughly, but character for character. The content, titles, search snippets, dates, authors and tags all came across unchanged, under the same addresses, so Google would not even notice the move. An automated comparison with the original returned 184 of 186 posts identical to the character, with the two differences made on purpose.

The post list on prawnyblog.pl - nearly 190 articles across 7 areas of law

Rankings kept

Google never noticed the move

The secret to a safe migration is continuity. We kept the exact same URLs, the same titles and search snippets (some posts had their own in Joomla, different from the heading - we copied those one to one) and full data the search engine understands.

The same addresses - no redirects and no dead links
Titles and search snippets carried over unchanged
Article data and navigation Google understands

The search traffic built up over years stays exactly where it was.

A post on the prawnyblog.pl blog under its preserved URL

Speed and cost

From heavy Joomla to a lightweight, fast site

The old blog assembled every page from a database on each visit. The new one is ready-made pages served from servers around the world - there is nothing to assemble on each visit, so it loads at once. We served the images from our own server, with no tie to the old hosting, and trimmed the page code by nearly two fifths.

Ready-made, lightweight pages instead of a database-driven system
All images on our own server, not pulled from the old one
The page code trimmed by around 38%

Faster loading, a lower hosting bill and far fewer things that can break.

prawnyblog.pl - a fast, lightweight blog site

Full control over SEO

Every SEO element in your hands

Once it moved to the new technology, every detail Google sees is under full control, not buried in a plugin or template setting. Each post has its own title and search snippet, independent of the heading (some articles had different SEO titles in Joomla - we carried them over character for character), its own data for Google and a permanent, clean address. The content is organised into seven areas of law with pagination and a sidebar of the most common topics.

Title and search snippet set per individual post
Data for Google, clean addresses, a sitemap and an RSS feed
7 areas of law with pagination and a topics panel

Nothing is locked inside a plugin - you optimise each post's SEO without limits.

Categories and structure of the prawnyblog.pl blog - post list and topics panel

Winning clients

Every post works for the firm

A blog is meant to do more than inform - it should bring in clients. Each article answers a real legal question, so it reaches someone who is looking for help right now. From everywhere, a clear call to get in touch leads to a free review of the matter, and the expert tone builds trust before anyone even picks up the phone.

Content that answers the real questions clients search for
A clear call to action to get in touch and a free case review
An expert tone that sets the firm apart

The blog becomes a steady source of enquiries, not just an archive of articles.

A post on the prawnyblog.pl blog with a call to action to contact the firm

The result

Same rankings, bigger upside

188posts migrated character for character, under the same addresses

Speedready-made, lightweight pages instead of a database system - faster and cheaper to run

SEOfull control: titles, addresses, data for Google and RSS in your hands

The blog is live, loads far faster than the previous version, and kept all its hard-won Google rankings. And with full control over SEO, it now has real room to climb higher.

See prawnyblog.pl live →

We will move your site
with no loss of rankings

Do you have a blog or a site on an old, slow system, and worry that a migration will wreck your rankings? That is our specialty - we move the content character for character and keep the addresses, so you lose nothing, while the speed-up and full control over SEO give real room to climb higher.

Get a quote Let's talk

Frequently asked questions

Won't the migration wreck my Google rankings?

That is exactly the problem we solve. We move the content character for character and keep the same page addresses, so as far as the search engine is concerned the site does not change - except that it gets faster. For the LEGATO blog, an automated comparison with the original returned 184 of 186 posts identical to the character, with two differences made on purpose.

What is pure HTML, and why is it better than Joomla or WordPress?

Joomla and WordPress assemble each page from a database on every visit, and every plugin is one more thing that can slow down, break or be attacked. We build in pure HTML - ready-made pages served from servers around the world. So they load at once, cost less to maintain, are more secure (no database or plugins to attack) and shrug off sudden traffic spikes.

What if I want a fast site with no database, but I need to edit the content myself?

Not a problem at all. For a fast, lightweight site we build a dedicated panel where you add posts and change text and images yourself - with no going back to a heavy, database-driven system. You edit the content your way, and the site stays fast, secure HTML. You decide what changes and when; or we can take the updates off your hands if you would rather.

Will you keep all the posts, images and addresses?

Yes, that is the basis of a safe move. We carry over every post with its content, titles, snippets and tags, pull the images into the new site (with no tie to the old server), and recreate the existing URLs one to one.

Will I be able to add new posts?

Yes. We agree on a publishing workflow that suits you and show you how to use it. We match the scope and pace to how often you actually write - from the odd post to a regular schedule.

Will a blog like this help me win clients?

That is the whole point of running one. Each post answers a real question and reaches someone looking for help, while clear calls to action lead them on. No one can honestly promise first place in Google, but good, fast, well-organised content is the groundwork you need to show up at all.

How much does a migration like this cost?

The price depends mainly on the number of posts, the state of the old site and whether any extra features come into play. The best first step is the quote form - you describe what you have today and what you need, and we come back with a concrete proposal and cost.