SEO James case study · Domain migration · Chicago spa
Spa Space moved from SpaSpace.com to SpaSpaceChicago.com. The goal was to give the business a domain aligned with its Chicago market while protecting the search visibility built by the original site. SEO James approached the move as a page-level SEO migration, then monitored how the destination appeared in search.
The challenge
A domain change can disrupt the paths through which people and search engines reach a business. SpaSpace.com had established branded searches, backlinks, service pages, and organic visibility. A simple sitewide redirect would not explain where individual services and articles had moved, and a new domain would need to become the clear canonical home for that content.
The project had two connected objectives: preserve access to important legacy URLs and build a useful, locally relevant destination at SpaSpaceChicago.com. The migration needed to work for visitors following an old link as well as for Google recrawling the site.
What SEO James worked on
1. Choose the destination
SpaSpaceChicago.com was selected to reflect the business and its Chicago market. The domain alone was not expected to produce rankings; its value depended on a relevant site and a coherent migration.
2. Map the old pages
Important SpaSpace.com pages were evaluated against their closest new equivalents. Service pages, articles, and pages with links required relevant destinations instead of blanket redirects to the homepage.
3. Support the technical move
The migration plan centered on redirects, URL structure, internal links, and consistent destination signals. These elements help visitors land on the right page and help search engines understand the relationship between old and new URLs.
4. Monitor search response
Google Search Console was used as the direct source for indexing and crawl feedback. Third-party SpyFu reporting provided an additional view of keyword coverage and estimated organic traffic at the time of the original analysis.
Reported search visibility
The original SEO James report cited the following SpyFu snapshots. These are third-party estimates for two domains, rather than a controlled before-and-after measurement of the same property.
| SpyFu estimate in original report | SpaSpace.com | SpaSpaceChicago.com |
|---|---|---|
| Organic keywords | 550 | 2,539 |
| Estimated monthly organic clicks | 298 | 980 |
| Estimated monthly SEO click value | Not stated | $16.9k |
At that snapshot, the receiving domain had broader estimated keyword visibility and more estimated organic clicks than the legacy domain. That supports the conclusion that SpaSpaceChicago.com developed a meaningful search presence after the transition. It does not, on its own, prove that every ranking or click transferred without interruption, or that the migration caused the entire difference. A precise loss-or-gain calculation would require dated Google Search Console or analytics comparisons around the cutover.
Why the approach mattered
For a local service business, a migration is more than moving a logo and a homepage. A customer may enter through a massage, skincare, gift card, or other service page. If an old URL leads to an irrelevant destination or an error, that customer may never reach the service they wanted. Page mapping and internal linking therefore protect both the visitor’s path and the context that search engines use to understand the new site.
Monitoring also matters after launch. Redirects can be technically valid while the new site still has indexing gaps, outdated internal links, or pages that do not match the intent of their predecessors. Search Console feedback helps identify those issues so the site can be refined as Google processes the move.
The takeaway
Spa Space Chicago’s published reporting shows a receiving domain with substantial organic visibility. The case illustrates a sound migration principle: select a clear destination, map meaningful old URLs to relevant new pages, check the technical signals, and monitor the outcome over time. Treat the move as a continuing search project rather than a one-day DNS change.
Planning a website or domain migration?
SEO James can review your existing URLs, search visibility, redirects, and WordPress site before the move.
