Your website after a merger or acquisition

Key takeaways

After a merger or acquisition you have three options: keep both websites, merge them into one, or redirect one to the other. Merge when the brands are becoming one; keep both when they serve different buyers. Whatever you choose, map every URL from the site that goes, because both sites' rankings are part of what you bought.

• 3 options: keep both, merge into one, or redirect one.
• Merge when the brands are combining; keep both if buyers differ.
• Map and 301-redirect every URL from any site that closes.
• Secure domain, hosting and analytics access on day one.

What should happen to websites after a merger?

After a merger or acquisition, the websites should follow the brand decision. If the businesses will trade under one name, merge the sites into one and redirect the other. If both brands continue for different buyers, keep both and cross-link them. The worst option is leaving both unchanged while the business changes underneath.

• Signs your business needs a new website

What should you secure first?

Access. Acquired websites often sit with a former owner, a small agency or a personal account. Before any design decision, get control of the domain registrar, hosting, CMS, analytics, Search Console and Google Business Profile.

• Who owns your website, domain and content?

How do you merge two websites without losing rankings?

Treat it as a site move. Export every URL from both sites with their traffic and links, decide where each topic will live on the combined site, and 301-redirect every retiring URL to its closest equivalent. Keep content that ranks, rewritten for the combined business, rather than discarding it.

• Crawl both sites and export all URLs.
• Pull 12 months of Search Console data for each.
• Map each URL to a destination on the combined site.
• Merge overlapping pages into one stronger page.
• Redirect, then monitor Search Console for errors.

• Website migration SEO checklist

When should you keep both websites?

When the brands serve different buyers who would be confused by one site, such as a trade supplier and a consumer brand, or when the acquired brand's reputation is a large part of the value. Cross-link them, align the facts, and review the decision after a year.

• Selling to both businesses and consumers on social media

What do buyers need to know during the transition?

That service continues. Add a short, dated notice to both sites explaining the change, what it means for customers and who to contact. Update phone numbers and forms so enquiries reach the right team. Customers worry about continuity more than branding.

What are the legal details to update?

If the trading entity changes, the website must show the correct company name, registered number and registered office. Privacy notices need updating if data is now controlled by a different company, and customers should be told how their data will be used.

• What a UK website privacy policy must include

How do you combine two teams' content?

Start with the buyer, not the organisation chart. Group services the way buyers look for them, then choose the stronger page from either site for each service as the base and merge in the best proof, detail and pricing guidance from the other.

Agree one voice for the combined site early, because two teams writing in their own styles makes the result feel like two businesses stapled together. Name one editor with the final say, and give each team a clear deadline to supply case studies and team information for the new site.

• Group services by how buyers search.
• Use the stronger page as the base for each topic.
• Merge in the best proof from both sites.
• Name one editor with the final say.

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern in UK logistics: a regional haulier acquires a smaller courier whose website ranks well locally. Redirecting the whole site to the acquirer's homepage would waste those rankings. Mapping each service and location page to an equivalent page on the combined site keeps the visibility the deal was partly paying for.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Post-merger website checklist

Work through these in the first 90 days.

• Secure domains, hosting, CMS, analytics and Search Console.
• Decide: keep both, merge or redirect one.
• Map every URL on any site that will close.
• Add a transition notice for customers.
• Update legal details and privacy notices.
• Monitor Search Console for 90 days after changes.

Next step

If you have inherited a second website, we will review both with you in 30 minutes and recommend whether to keep, merge or redirect.