We helped Rinnai deliver a site migration with zero traffic loss and stronger SEO

A site migration can be the most dangerous moment for a company’s online presence.

When mismanaged, we’ve seen years of SEO investment flushed down the drain as traffic tanks and domain authority collapses.

We helped Rinnai turn its site migration from a high-risk project to a growth opportunity.

Rinnai’s site migration results at
a glance

The new site launched with:‍

🛡️ Zero traffic loss

⚙️ Improved site health

📊 Stronger visibility and click growth

🎯 Rising conversions‍

“Craig and authentic digital helped translate complex SEO risks into clear, practical decisions. They gave us confidence early in the process and made it easy to align with IT and leadership — knowing our visibility was in good hands.”
– Sarah Moore, Head of Marketing, Rinnai NZ

“authentic digital worked seamlessly within our delivery framework. Their guidance was clear, pragmatic, out-of-the-box thinking and performance-focused — helping us launch on time and on budget without compromising on SEO.”
– Sattar Hasan, Head of IT, Rinnai NZ

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Rinnai’s team set the tone for success: low ego, high alignment, and a shared commitment to getting it right.

This is a success story about what happens when SEO is looped in early (instead of being rushed in as a post-launch patch job).

Planning to replatform your website? Bring our SEO team in to protect and grow your SEO investment.

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Rinnai’s site overhaul risked years of SEO equity

The home heating and cooling leader needed to upgrade its website and add e-commerce capabilities. But Rinnai’s aging platform had significant technical limitations, perceived security concerns, and mounting costs to maintain.

Unlike many website projects, the IT team would be taking the lead — not Marketing.

Even though the content and images would remain the same, everything beneath would be changing.

To Google, it was a completely new code base — and that’s a dangerous position for a market leader to be in.

If we didn’t manage that transition carefully, Rinnai could lose years of SEO equity.

"Websites get built, and then we’re told to ‘SEO it.’ It’s the cart before the horse. You can’t build a site without thinking about its visibility and distribution." — Craig Martin, Head of Search at authentic digital

When we heard about the site migration, we raised the flag straight away with early risk scoping that helped Sarah Moore (Head of Marketing) and Sattar Hasan (Head of IT) make informed decisions.

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We scoped the risk and set realistic benchmarks to protect performance – without slowing the project down

These weren’t vague audit scores or impossible asks. They were the non-negotiables that would support Sarah’s KPIs and keep performance steady.

Our site migration support covers:

• Pre-launch: Wireframe and performance review, benchmark setting, dev ticketing
• Launch-day: Live testing, redirect checks, index monitoring
• Post-launch: Fast fixes, ongoing analysis, and structured performance review

The dev lead brought us into the right feedback loops. We checked in at key milestones. We made tradeoffs clear and achievable.

“We’re here to help everyone get what they need — Marketing, IT, and Dev. That’s how you avoid the expensive hamster wheel of putting out fires post-launch.” — Craig Martin, Head of Search at authentic digital

And, importantly, we stayed out of the way when we needed to.

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A great SEO partner helps marketing, IT, and dev teams work together

We often describe ourselves as the connective tissue between departments.

Rinnai’s experienced but low-ego leadership and collaborative partner network was the winning formula for this project:

“Craig and authentic digital helped translate complex SEO risks into clear, practical decisions. They gave us confidence early in the process and made it easy to align with IT and leadership — knowing our visibility was in good hands.” – Sarah Moore, Head of Marketing, Rinnai NZ

“authentic digital worked seamlessly within our delivery framework. Their guidance was clear, pragmatic, out-of-the-box thinking and performance-focused — helping us launch on time and on budget without compromising on SEO.” – Sattar Hasan, Head of IT, Rinnai NZ

When SEO supports the needs of each stakeholder, projects run better, stress levels stay low, and results speak for themselves.

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Results: No dip, just growth

This wasn’t just a safe migration, it was a strategic win for Rinnai and their leadership.

Post-launch outcomes:

0% traffic loss

No post-launch volatility!

Expanded keyword coverage

Rankings continued to improve

Improved site health

From 72% to 76% against agreed benchmarks

Stronger visibility & click growth

Right through the seasonal lull

Goal completions on the rise

March 2025 outperformed the previous six months.

And crucially, no major fixes required.

No fires to put out.

No unexpected, urgent budgets to approve.

That alone makes this site migration a huge success story.

This performance matters. It means Sarah’s channel KPIs are intact and growing. It means Sattar delivered a site that’s faster, smarter, and more capable.

And it means Rinnai NZ continues to lead from the front in a competitive market.

“Good SEO isn’t just technical, it’s relational. The magic isn’t in the tactics. It’s in working well together.” — Craig Martin, Head of Search at authentic digital

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Planning a new website or re-platforming?

Rinnai’s site migration proves what’s possible with strong internal leadership and partners that can show up and collaborate.

What can other players learn from this? Don’t wait until after launch to think about search.

Loop us in from the beginning, and we’ll:

• Quantify the risks
• Set achievable SEO benchmarks
• Protect your visibility and investment
• Align your stakeholders

It’s not just about protecting rankings — it’s about protecting leadership time, performance metrics, and brand momentum.

If you’re thinking about replatforming or redesigning, talk to us early. We’ll help you protect what matters — and get everyone across the line, together.

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