Website migration checklist
Website migration checklist — move platforms, domains or URLs without winging it.
Migrations go wrong quietly — a missed redirect here, a lost URL there — and the damage often isn't visible until traffic has already dropped. This is the practical checklist for doing it properly.
Worth being clear on the difference: this page is the practical checklist for handling a migration yourself. Our SEO website migrations service is the paid option for people who'd rather have it handled properly by someone else.
Before migration
Establish a baseline before anything moves.
- Crawl the old site so you have a full record of what exists.
- Export the complete URL list, not just the pages you remember.
- Record an analytics baseline before anything moves.
- Record a Search Console baseline before anything moves.
- Identify important landing pages that must not lose their position.
- Identify backlinks worth protecting, where relevant.
Map
Old URL to new URL, mapped in full.
A handful of illustrative example rows — your real mapping should cover every URL on the old site.
| Old URL | New URL | Note |
|---|---|---|
| /services/web-design | /web-design | example |
| /blog/category/tips | /blog | example |
| /about-us.html | /about | example |
Where possible, point old URLs straight at their final destination rather than through a chain of redirects. Each hop is another thing that can break, slow the page down, or get lost later — a direct redirect is simpler to test and simpler to trust.
Test
Before it's live, prove it works.
- Redirects go to the correct final page, not a generic one.
- Canonicals are set correctly on the new site.
- Robots file allows what should be crawled.
- Sitemap reflects the new URLs, not the old ones.
- Internal links point at new URLs, not redirected old ones.
- Forms and other functionality still work after the move.
Launch
Everything switches at once.
- Redirects go live at the same time as the new URLs.
- Sitemap is updated and resubmitted.
- Search Console is set up or reconfirmed for the new domain or structure.
- The new site is crawled to catch anything broken.
- Analytics is confirmed as tracking correctly on the new setup.
After launch
Watch closely, for weeks not days.
- Watch for 404s on old URLs that were missed in the mapping.
- Watch for redirect errors — loops, chains, or wrong destinations.
- Watch indexing status in Search Console.
- Watch impressions for any sharp, unexplained drop.
- Watch clicks alongside impressions.
- Watch rankings for the pages that mattered before.
- Watch overall traffic against the baseline.
- Watch conversions and enquiries, not just visits.
Being honest
No migration can promise zero volatility.
Even a carefully planned migration can see some short-term fluctuation while search engines reprocess the site. The goal of this checklist is to minimise avoidable losses and catch problems quickly — not to promise that nothing will move at all.
Want it handled for you? See SEO website migrations. Also redesigning the site? See the website redesign checklist and SEO for website redesigns. Ready to go live? See the website launch checklist.
Next step
Migrations are unforgiving of shortcuts.
Plan it properly, or let us plan it for you.
Whether you handle it yourself with this checklist or want it managed end to end, get in touch before anything moves.