Homepage internal links after a platform switch, by new platform
| New platform | Median change | Lost more than half | Gained 50%+ | Sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nuxt | -24.3% | 33.5% | 14.1% | 227 |
| Next.js | -23.4% | 31.6% | 13.3% | 1,478 |
| HubSpot CMS | +25.3% | 15.9% | 40.9% | 44 |
| Drupal | 0.0% | 12.1% | 16.1% | 124 |
| Shopify | +0.5% | 11.2% | 25.2% | 1,524 |
| Magento | 0.0% | 10.8% | 22.6% | 93 |
| WordPress | +1.6% | 9.9% | 29.0% | 504 |
| Webflow | 0.0% | 9.8% | 24.5% | 163 |
| WooCommerce | +8.1% | 6.1% | 33.3% | 180 |
| All switchers | -3.1% | 19.0% | 21.2% | 4,536 |
Source: PageSpeed Matters, Sept 2026. Homepages with at least one internal link before the switch.
Summary
The homepage is usually a site's strongest page, and the links on it tell crawlers which pages matter most. When a site moves to a new platform, the homepage is often rebuilt from scratch, and the links on it can change a lot along the way.
We measured that change on 4,536 top 1M homepages that switched platform. The typical homepage barely moved: the median had 3.1% fewer internal links the month after. But 19.0% lost more than half of them, and the losses cluster on moves into JavaScript frameworks.
What we measured
We used HTTP Archive monthly crawls of the top 1M sites from September 2024 to September 2026. A site counts as switching platform when it ran on one platform for 3 or more months and then on another for 3 or more months.
For each switcher we counted same-site links on the homepage in the month before the switch and the month after. We only counted homepages with at least one internal link before the switch. A homepage "lost more than half" when its count fell by more than 50%, and "gained 50%+" when it rose by at least half.
These results describe homepages only. They do not measure internal linking across the rest of a site, so they say nothing about category, product or article pages.
One in five homepages loses half its internal links
Across the 4,536 homepages that changed platform, the median had 3.1% fewer same-site links the month after. For most sites, the homepage links survive the move roughly intact.
The median hides two large groups moving in opposite directions. 19.0% of homepages lost more than half their internal links, while 21.2% had at least 50% more after the switch. Link counts rise about as often as they fall.
A big swing either way is likely a sign the homepage was redesigned rather than ported. Whether the change helps or hurts depends on which links went: dropping a cluttered mega menu is very different from dropping the links to your main categories.
19.0%
Share of 4,536 top 1M homepages that lost more than half their internal links in the month after a platform switch.
Moves to JavaScript frameworks lose the most links
The new platform makes the clearest difference. Moves to Nuxt lost more than half their homepage internal links most often, at 33.5% of 227 sites, followed by Next.js at 31.6% of 1,478. Their median homepages lost 24.3% and 23.4% of their links.
Moves to established CMS and ecommerce platforms rarely did. Only 9.9% of 504 moves to WordPress, 6.1% of 180 moves to WooCommerce and 11.2% of 1,524 moves to Shopify lost more than half. Their medians rose slightly: +1.6% for WordPress, +8.1% for WooCommerce and +0.5% for Shopify. Moves to HubSpot CMS had the biggest median rise, at +25.3%, though that group is small at 44 sites.
A move to a JavaScript framework is usually a full custom rebuild, while a move to a CMS or store platform often starts from a theme with its own navigation and footer links. That likely explains much of the gap, though the data cannot show it directly.
Sites leaving WordPress lose the most
Looking at where sites came from, those leaving WordPress were hit hardest. 27.0% of 1,028 sites leaving WordPress lost more than half their homepage internal links, and the median lost 16.7% of its links. Sites leaving WooCommerce (24.6%) and Drupal (22.7%) followed.
At the other end, only 5.4% of 335 sites leaving Next.js lost more than half, and 7.1% of sites leaving BigCommerce did. WordPress sites often carry dense menus, sidebars and footer widgets on the homepage, so a rebuild on any new platform likely has more links to drop.
Popularity makes no difference
Bigger sites do not protect their internal links any better. 19.4% of 494 homepages in the top 100K lost more than half their internal links, against 19.0% of 4,042 homepages ranked lower.
Popular sites likely have bigger teams, yet they lose homepage links at the same rate. Losing them is likely a design decision made during the rebuild, and sites of every size make it.
What this means for your site
Before a migration, crawl your current homepage and save the list of internal links on it. Mark the ones that point to your most important categories, products, services or guides, and treat them as requirements for the new design rather than leftovers.
After launch, crawl the new homepage and compare the two lists. If key pages lost their homepage link, add them back through the main navigation, a featured section or the footer. Check that the links are in the HTML as real anchor tags with href attributes, not only buttons or elements added by scripts, so crawlers can follow them.
If you are moving to a JavaScript framework, plan for this in particular. Those moves lost more than half their homepage links far more often than moves to WordPress, WooCommerce or Shopify.
Sources
- HTTP Archive monthly crawls, top 1M sites, September 2024 to September 2026
- Google Search Central, link best practices: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/links-crawlable
Embed this research
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<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/internal-links-after-migration">Internal Links After Migration: 19.0% Lose Half - PageSpeed Matters</a></p>
Frequently asked questions
Do sites lose internal links when they migrate platforms?
Most keep them roughly intact: the median homepage had 3.1% fewer internal links after a platform switch. But 19.0% of 4,536 homepages lost more than half, and 21.2% gained at least 50%.
Which platform migrations lose the most internal links?
Moves to JavaScript frameworks. 33.5% of 227 moves to Nuxt and 31.6% of 1,478 moves to Next.js lost more than half their homepage internal links, against 9.9% of moves to WordPress, 6.1% to WooCommerce and 11.2% to Shopify.
How do I check internal links after a migration?
Crawl your homepage before and after launch and compare the internal links on each version. In our data, 19.0% of homepages lost more than half their internal links after a platform switch, so a quick before and after crawl is worth doing.
Homepage links are planned in the design, so a before and after crawl during the migration is enough to keep the pages that matter linked. Need help with this? See our SEO migration services.