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Hey SEO pros 👋

I’m a marketing gal (30, agency side) working with a law firm client who’s currently working with an SEO vendor. We built them a gorgeous new website on WordPress; they love it, we love it, and everyone’s excited to launch…

Except their SEO vendor hit the brakes and told them *all* their SEO progress will be lost if we publish the new site.

Now, I’m not here to say they’re being overly dramatic (because I genuinely don’t know!), but… surely there’s a way to launch a new site without throwing years of SEO work into the abyss?

Both the current site and the new one are built in WordPress. I’m familiar with meta descriptions, tags, and as part of our SOPs the URLs are always matched to the old site so there aren’t any issues there (Also plan to import/export all their blogs to the new site). But when it comes to redirects, URL structure, and whatever secret sauce you all work with, I’m 100% out of my depth.

So I’m here looking for some advice:

* What should I ask or coordinate with the SEO vendor to make this a smooth transition?
* Are there common mistakes to avoid when launching a redesigned site so we don’t tank their rankings?
* Should we be looking at tools, plugins, or audits before going live?

My #1 priority is making sure the client keeps whatever traction they’ve built. Any tips or even “don’t do this!” horror stories would be super appreciated. Thanks in advance!