The Complete Guide to Magento 2 Migration for UK Ecommerce Stores
If your store is still running on Magento 1 — or if you’re planning to migrate to Magento 2 from another platform — this guide covers everything you actually need to know.
Not the sales pitch version. The honest version: what a migration involves, how long it takes, what the real SEO risks are, and how to choose a migration partner who won’t leave you with a site that’s slower and harder to maintain than the one you started with.
Why Migrate to Magento 2?
Magento 1 reached end of life in June 2020. No security patches. No bug fixes. No official support. If you’re still running M1, you’re operating a store with known, unpatched vulnerabilities — and that’s not a theoretical risk. It’s a live compliance issue under UK GDPR.
The ICO is clear: organisations must take “appropriate technical measures” to protect personal data. Running software with no security updates is not an appropriate technical measure.
Beyond compliance, the commercial argument is straightforward:
Site speed affects conversion directly. A 1-second improvement in page load time increases conversions by 2–3% (Google/Deloitte, 2019). If your M1 store is slow — and most are — you’re leaving money on the table with every visitor.
Magento 2 also gives you:
- A supported, actively developed platform with regular security patches
- Better out-of-the-box performance (Page Builder, Elasticsearch integration, improved caching)
- Compatibility with the Hyvä theme — the fastest front-end option available for Magento
- A mature extension ecosystem that has fully moved on from M1
The case for migrating isn’t really debatable. The question is when, how, and with whom.
What Does a Magento 2 Migration Actually Involve?
This is where most migration guides get vague. Let’s be specific.
A migration from Magento 1 to Magento 2 (or from another platform to M2) is not an upgrade. It’s a rebuild. Understanding that upfront prevents a lot of scope surprises.
Data migration
Products, customers, orders, and CMS content need to move across. Magento provides official data migration tooling for M1 → M2. It works for standard setups — less reliably for stores with heavily customised databases or non-standard schemas.
Order history, customer accounts, and product data typically migrate cleanly. Custom attributes, bespoke tables, and data created by third-party extensions often need manual mapping.
Theme and design rebuild
Your Magento 1 theme does not carry over to Magento 2. M2 uses a different templating system. You need a new front-end.
This is an opportunity, not just a cost. Most M1 stores are running themes that are 5+ years old and not optimised for mobile. A migration is the right time to rebuild for performance and conversion.
Extension audit
Most M1 extensions have no M2 equivalent, or have been rebuilt from scratch. For each extension in your current stack, you need to establish:
- Is there a native M2 equivalent?
- Is there a third-party M2 extension that does the same job?
- Can the functionality be rebuilt custom?
- Do you still need it at all?
The last question is often the most valuable. Migrations reveal extension bloat that’s been silently slowing your store for years.
Third-party integrations
Linnworks, payment gateways, shipping providers, ERP systems — each integration needs to be reconnected in M2. The connection points are different; the data flows need reconfiguring. For multichannel stores with Linnworks, this is often the most complex part of the project.
Learn about our Linnworks integration service →
Magento 2 Migration and SEO — The Risks Most Agencies Don’t Tell You About
This is the section that separates agencies who’ve done migrations from agencies who’ve sold migrations.
SEO is the biggest risk in any ecommerce platform migration. Done poorly, a migration can wipe out years of organic rankings. Done correctly, it’s an opportunity to improve your site structure and consolidate authority.
URL structure changes
Magento 1 and Magento 2 handle URLs differently. Category URL keys, product URL keys, and CMS page slugs often change during migration — particularly if you’re also restructuring your catalogue or navigation.
Every URL that changes and isn’t redirected is a broken link. For a store with thousands of products, unmanaged URL changes can mean thousands of 404 errors, each one representing lost organic authority, failed PPC landing pages, and broken external links.
301 redirect mapping — the most important technical task in any migration
Before go-live, you need a complete redirect map: every old URL pointing to its new equivalent. This is not optional. This is the difference between a migration that preserves your rankings and one that tanks them.
A redirect map for a 5,000-SKU store is a significant piece of work. It requires exporting all current URLs, mapping them to new M2 URLs, and implementing them as server-level 301 redirects before the new site goes live.
Pre-go-live SEO checklist for Magento 2 migrations:
- Full crawl of existing site — capture every indexed URL
- Complete 301 redirect map — old URL → new URL, no gaps
- 301s tested in staging before go-live
- robots.txt reviewed — staging site blocked from indexing
- Canonical tags checked — no duplicate content created in migration
- XML sitemap generated and submitted to Google Search Console post-launch
- GSC change of address tool used (if domain is also changing)
- Crawl errors monitored in GSC for 30 days post-launch
- Google Analytics continuity confirmed — same GA4 property, no data gap
Canonical issues
Magento 2 can create duplicate content via layered navigation (faceted URLs). Ensure canonical tags are correctly configured before launch — particularly for filtered category pages.
How Long Does a Magento 2 Migration Take?
Realistic timelines, based on project complexity:
| Store Size & Complexity | Realistic Timeline |
|---|---|
| Small store — sub-5k SKUs, standard extensions, no complex integrations | 6–10 weeks |
| Mid-size store — 5k–25k SKUs, multiple extensions, standard integrations | 10–16 weeks |
| Complex migration — Linnworks, bespoke extensions, Hyvä theme, multi-store | 16–24 weeks |
These timelines assume a staging environment is used (it always should be), user acceptance testing is completed before go-live, and data migration is verified before the switch.
Costs are scoped individually, based on complexity. We don’t quote migrations without understanding the full scope first — and any agency that does should be a red flag.
How to Choose a Magento 2 Migration Agency in the UK
Not all agencies are equal. Here’s what to look for, and what to walk away from.
What to look for:
- Genuine M2 project history — ask to see examples. Not case studies written by the marketing team. Actual projects, actual stores, preferably with someone you can call.
- A defined scope document — migrations without a written scope are how “small projects” become six-month engagements.
- A staging environment as standard — if an agency builds on production, leave.
- Post-migration support included — the 30 days after go-live matter. Ensure support is in the contract, not an add-on you discover after.
- SEO handoff — ask specifically how they handle URL mapping and redirect implementation. If the answer is vague, it’s probably not being done properly.
Red flags:
- Offshore-only development with no UK-based project oversight
- Fixed-price quotes for complex migrations (complexity is always discovered, not assumed)
- No staging environment or UAT process
- “We’ll handle the SEO” with no specifics on how
After the Migration — What Comes Next
A successful go-live is the start of the project, not the end.
Performance baseline
Run a Core Web Vitals audit within the first week of go-live. LCP, INP, and CLS should all be in green. If they’re not, identify the cause before it affects conversion.
How to run a Magento 2 performance audit →
Ongoing support
Magento 2 requires ongoing maintenance: security patches (typically quarterly), compatibility updates when extensions release new versions, performance monitoring. This is not optional. A migrated store with no support plan is a ticking security and stability clock.
Read about Magento 2 support and maintenance plans for UK stores →
Hyvä as a post-migration upgrade
If your migration used a standard Magento 2 theme, Hyvä is worth serious consideration as a post-migration phase. Hyvä replaces Magento’s front-end entirely with a lightweight Alpine.js + Tailwind stack, delivering significantly better Core Web Vitals scores without touching your M2 backend.
Learn more about Hyvä for Magento 2 →
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2 without losing data?
Yes — with proper planning. Products, customers, orders, and CMS content can all be migrated using Magento’s official data migration tool or custom scripts. The risks are around custom attributes and non-standard data structures. A thorough pre-migration audit identifies these before they become problems.
Will my search rankings drop after a Magento 2 migration?
Not if the migration is handled correctly. The critical factor is a complete 301 redirect map implemented before go-live. Every URL that changes must redirect to its new equivalent. Stores that see ranking drops post-migration have almost always had incomplete redirect implementation or no redirect strategy at all.
What happens to my Linnworks integration during a migration?
Your Linnworks integration needs to be reconfigured for Magento 2. The connection points are different, and the data flows need remapping. For multichannel stores, this is typically the most complex part of an M2 migration — and the part that’s most often underestimated in project scopes.
Should I migrate to Magento 2 or Shopify?
It depends on your requirements. Shopify is faster to launch, lower maintenance overhead, and better for stores with standard requirements. Magento 2 gives you more control over complex catalogue structures, bespoke functionality, and B2B features. We work with both platforms — if you’re not sure which is right for your store, we’ll tell you honestly.
Read more about Shopify development for UK stores →
How much does a Magento 2 migration cost?
Migration costs vary significantly based on store complexity, catalogue size, number of integrations, and whether a new theme is required. We scope migrations individually and provide detailed breakdowns — there’s no meaningful off-the-shelf price for a project where the variables matter this much. Contact us and we’ll scope it properly.