Website migrations have the potential to be either a dream transformation or a total nightmare. Do it right, and you’ll enjoy better performance, an improved user experience, and a hefty SEO boost. Do it wrong, and you could lose rankings, break links, or worse—end up in Google’s black hole of lost and forgotten websites. Fortunately, with the right game plan (and our website migration checklist, of course), your migration can be a success story instead of a cautionary tale.
Whether you’re a business owner, digital marketer, or web developer, this checklist will ensure your website transitions smoothly without sacrificing quality, rankings, or your sanity. Let’s get it right the first time and start checking off those boxes:
Reasons to Do a Website Migration
Well, not so fast. Before we can start eliminating tasks on your website migration checklist, it’s important to understand why you might want or need to take on such a robust and tedious task in the first place.
Unlike other digital marketing refreshes like updating your keyword list or giving your branding a makeover, a website migration is often done out of necessity. According to NPDigital, the most common reasons to do a website migration include:
- Changing content management systems (CMS) or platforms: 31%
- A website redesign or restructure: 26.4%
- Moving to a new domain: 24%
- Switching to a new hosting provider: 12.4%
- Other miscellaneous reasons: 3.8%
Our Comprehensive Website Migration Checklist
Pre-Migration Planning & Strategy
✅ Define Your Purpose: Are you switching domains, upgrading your CMS, or leaping to HTTPS? Each type of migration comes with its own set of challenges, so knowing exactly what you’re changing (and why) will help you plan for a smooth transition. Without a clear purpose, you might end up fixing problems that didn’t need fixing in the first place.
✅ Establish Clear Goals and Success Metrics: What does a “successful” migration look like to you? Whether it’s maintaining search rankings, boosting conversions, or creating a better user experience, set measurable goals so you can track performance before and after the move. Otherwise, you’re just hoping for the best—not exactly the most iron-clad strategy.
✅ Conduct a Full Website Audit: Before you make any changes, take inventory of your current website. Crawl every URL, check your backlinks, evaluate your analytics, and so on. This will give you a baseline to compare against post-migration and help you catch any critical issues before they become major problems down the line.
✅ Identify Potential Risks: What could go wrong? (Spoiler: A lot.) Maybe redirects don’t work, rankings drop, or pages disappear into the void. Having a rollback plan means you’re not scrambling to fix disasters on the fly. Outline emergency steps to revert to the old site if needed, and keep a trusted developer on speed dial just in case.
✅ Backup Your Website: Of course, you hope your migration will go off without a hitch, but a backed up website is your safety net just in case. Backup everything including your database, images, content, configurations, and even your old website files. If something goes wrong, you’ll have everything you need to restore your site instead of starting from scratch.
SEO & URL Mapping
✅ Create a URL Mapping Document: If your migration involves any URL changes, this step is a non-negotiable. A detailed URL mapping document ensures that every old page has a proper destination on your new website, which prevents broken links and lost traffic.
✅ Retain or Improve Meta Titles, Descriptions & Header Tags: Your metadata plays a big role in search rankings and click-through rates, so don’t let it get lost in the shuffle. Keep all high-performing meta titles and descriptions intact, and take this opportunity to refresh underperforming ones. (Bonus tip: If you’re updating existing website content, make sure your H1s, H2s, and other headers still align with your current SEO strategy.)
✅ Set Up Redirects for All Changed URLs: A migration without redirects is like moving without updating your address—it’s safe to assume you’re going to miss a lot of mail. Setting up 301 redirects ensures that both users and search engines land on the right pages instead of getting frustrating 404 errors. This is also crucial for maintaining SEO value, so don’t leave any URLs behind!
✅ Ensure Canonical Tags are Properly Set Up: Canonical tags tell search engines which version of a page is the main one to prevent duplicate content issues. If you’re keeping old and new pages live during the migration, make sure the correct canonical tags are in place to avoid any confusion. Otherwise, Google might start ranking the wrong version—or worse, both versions could compete against each other.
Technical SEO & Infrastructure Checks
✅ Check User-Friendliness: Your objective isn’t just to make Google happy, you have to think about your website visitors, too. Make sure your new website structure is intuitive, the navigation is seamless, and key pages (like contact forms and product pages) are easy to access. If your migration includes a redesign, prioritize user experience—because if visitors get frustrated, they won’t stick around.
✅ Test Page Speed: A slow website is a surefire way to lose visitors and tank your rankings. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to test load times before and after the migration. Optimize images, enable caching, and minimize unnecessary scripts to avoid creating a beautiful new website that loads slower than molasses.
✅ Confirm HTTPS/SSL is Correctly Implemented: If you’re migrating to HTTPS or already have an SSL certificate, double-check that everything is secure. A broken SSL implementation can lead to browser warnings that scare visitors away. Ensure all pages load over HTTPS, update internal links, and watch for mixed content issues that could compromise security.
✅ Validate Structured Data/Schema Markup: Schema markup helps search engines understand your content and can boost visibility with rich snippets. Use Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to check if your schema is intact post-migration. If you’re making changes, ensure things like breadcrumbs, reviews, FAQs, and business details are still properly tagged to enhance search results.
Content & Media Migration
✅ Ensure Pages Transferred Correctly: Moving your website is like packing for a vacation—the last thing you want to do is arrive after a long journey and realize you left half of your things behind. Double-check that all essential pages, including blog posts, product listings, and service pages, have been transferred successfully. You may want to consider using a site crawler like Screaming Frog to compare old and new URLs to ensure nothing got lost in the move.
✅ Verify Multimedia Elements are Optimized: Large, unoptimized images and videos can slow down your site and hurt performance. Make sure all multimedia files have been properly transferred, compressed, and formatted for fast loading.
✅ Check Functionality of Embedded Content: Embedded videos, social media feeds, and third-party widgets can sometimes break during a migration. Test every embedded element to ensure it displays and functions correctly on both desktop and mobile devices. If something isn’t loading, you may need to update embed codes, reauthorize API connections, or adjust your security settings.
✅ Maintain Keyword-Optimized Copy: Your content plays a huge role in SEO, so don’t let it get diluted during the migration. Ensure that high-performing pages retain their keyword-rich copy, while any content updates align with your most recent SEO strategy. If you’re rewriting sections, keep user search intent in mind and avoid making drastic changes that could ultimately impact your rankings.
Analytics & Tracking
✅ Set up Goals, Conversions & Event Tracking: If your old website was tracking form submissions, button clicks, downloads, or e-commerce purchases, make sure those conversion tracking elements are still in place. Reconfigure goals and event tracking in Google Analytics or your preferred analytics tool to ensure accurate reporting. After launch, run test conversions to confirm everything is being recorded properly.
✅ Compare Historical vs. New Traffic Patterns: One of the most effective ways to spot migration-related issues is by monitoring traffic changes. Compare your pre- and post-migration data in Google Analytics to check for sudden drops in sessions, rankings, or engagement. If you see a notable dip, investigate potential causes like missing redirects, slow load times, or broken internal links to see if you can identify the culprit.
✅ Check for Missing or Duplicate Tracking Codes: Duplicate tracking codes can inflate your data analytics, while missing ones can cause major gaps in reporting. Run a site-wide check to make sure your tracking scripts are installed correctly on every page. Use tools like Google Tag Assistant to catch any inconsistencies before they skew your data.
Testing QA
✅ Conduct a Thorough Site Crawl: Crawling your website before going live helps you spot issues such as missing pages, duplicate content, incorrect redirects, and broken links. A comprehensive site crawl ensures that search engines can properly index your site and that no critical content is left behind.
✅ Test Site Performance Under Load: Your website should be able to handle traffic spikes without crashing (and if it can’t, good luck maintaining that traffic!). Use load testing tools to simulate heavy traffic and see how your site performs. This will help you identify bottlenecks and optimize server performance to ensure your site remains fast and reliable, even during peak times.
✅ Check Forms, Checkout Processes & Interactive Elements: Forms, shopping carts, and other interactive features are prone to breaking during a migration. Test every form submission, checkout flow, and call-to-action to ensure they work properly. Confirm that error messages are user-friendly and that confirmation emails or receipts are sent as expected—because a broken form means lost leads and frustrated users.
✅ Repair Broken Links: Broken links can tank user experience and hurt your SEO. Use crawling tools or link checkers to find and fix any 404 errors or redirect loops. Make sure all internal links point to the correct new URLs—especially after URL structure changes—to keep both your visitors and search engines happy.
✅ Conduct Cross-Browser & Cross-Device Testing: Approximately 62.5% of web traffic comes from mobile devices, so your website needs to look and function flawlessly on all screen sizes. Your website should look and function perfectly across all major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.) and devices (desktops, tablets, smartphones). Test thoroughly for design consistency, functional elements, and responsive layouts. Fix any display or performance issues so that every visitor gets the best experience possible no matter their device.
Launch & Post-Migration Monitoring
✅ Schedule Migration for a Low-Traffic Period: You wouldn’t remodel your kitchen during Thanksgiving dinner, right? The same logic applies to your website. Choose a time when traffic is at its lowest—typically outside of peak business hours—so any hiccups affect as few visitors as possible.
✅ Test All Pages Immediately After Launch: Your work doesn’t end just because your website launched! Once your site is live, run a complete audit to ensure every page is accessible and functioning properly. Keep an eye out for any broken links, missing images, or slow-loading pages. This is your chance to catch and fix any last-minute issues before search engines and visitors start exploring your new site.
✅ Submit the Updated XML Sitemap: After confirming everything is working, submit your updated XML sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. This helps search engines discover and index your new pages quickly. Make sure the sitemap reflects your new URL structure and doesn’t include outdated or redirected URLs so you don’t confuse search engines or your readers.
✅ Monitor Google Search Console for Issues: Did we mention Google Search Console will be your best friend post-migration? Keep a close eye on crawl errors, indexing problems, and security warnings it may flag for you. Address any issues promptly—especially 404 errors or server issues—to make sure search engines can properly crawl and rank your new site.
✅ Track Organic Rankings and Traffic Fluctuations: You should expect some fluctuations in rankings and traffic after migration, but major drops could signal bigger problems on the horizon. Use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Google Analytics to monitor your website’s performance. If you notice sustained declines, review your redirects, on-page SEO, and technical configurations to pinpoint and fix the problem before it has the chance to snowball.
✅ Set Up Log File Analysis: Analyzing server log files gives you insight into how search engine crawlers are interacting with your site. Look for crawl frequency, errors, and any pages being ignored by search engines. This data helps you identify and fix indexing issues, ensuring that all key pages get the visibility they deserve.
Ongoing Monitoring & Optimization
✅ Regularly Check Rankings and Organic Traffic Trends: Your rankings and traffic might ebb and flow after a migration, but keeping a close eye on these metrics will help you catch any long-term issues that go beyond the immediate post-launch fluctuations. If certain pages aren’t performing as expected, it might be time to revisit your SEO strategy or fix technical glitches.
✅ Maintain Ongoing Updates: A website isn’t a “set it and forget it” project—especially after a migration. Continue updating your content, optimizing meta tags, and adding fresh material to stay relevant in search results. Regular updates not only signal to search engines that your site is active, they also keep visitors engaged with new, valuable content.
✅ Perform Routine SEO Audits: Schedule regular SEO audits to ensure your website stays optimized and healthy. Check for technical issues, broken links, crawl errors, and duplicate content. Frequent audits allow you to stay ahead of potential problems that could impact search rankings and help maintain the SEO gains you worked hard to protect during the migration.
From Our Website Migration Checklist to Your Website Migration Celebration
Now that we’ve covered what a comprehensive website migration checklist entails, the next step is to start checking off those boxes and making your big move a reality. Easier said than done, of course—especially staring down the barrel of 34 new tasks on your already full plate.
That’s where we come in.
We know just how daunting a task as massive, important, and fragile a website migration can be, and we’re here to take the tough tasks off your plate. From pre-launch preparations to post-launch follow ups, you can count on our team to ensure your website is looking, functioning, and ranking ideally at every stage of your website migration process.
Checking off tasks is only a click away—contact us to get started.
Website Migration Checklist FAQ
What is a website migration?
A website migration involves making significant changes to a website’s structure, design, URL, platform, or location. This can include moving to a new domain, switching hosting providers, redesigning the site, or migrating from HTTP to HTTPS. It’s a complex process that requires careful planning to avoid SEO losses and broken links.
Why is website migration important?
Website migration can improve site performance, enhance user experience, and boost search engine rankings. It’s often necessary for upgrading outdated platforms, switching to faster hosting, or improving site security. Done correctly, it can help your site grow—done poorly, it can result in lost traffic and search visibility.
How do I know if my website needs a migration?
Common reasons for website migration include redesigning the site, changing content management systems (CMS), switching domains, upgrading to HTTPS, or moving to a new server. If your website is outdated, slow, or not meeting user expectations, migration could be the solution.
Will a website migration negatively affect my SEO rankings?
It is possible for your rankings to fluctuate slightly after a website migration, but a well-planned and executed migration won’t shouldn’t cause any long-term harm to your SEO efforts. To avoid SEO losses, create a detailed URL mapping plan, set up 301 redirects, retain existing meta tags and content where possible, and submit an updated sitemap to Google Search Console. Monitoring traffic and rankings post-migration is essential to quickly identify and fix any issues.
Should I DIY a website migration?
While it’s possible to handle a website migration on your own, it’s often risky without technical expertise on your side. If you’re not confident handling SEO, server settings, redirects, and troubleshooting, it’s best to work with experienced professionals (like us!) to prevent costly mistakes.
