The website migration SEO checklist.
Every step we run to move a site without losing rankings, from the first crawl to the weeks after launch. Use it on your own migration, and grab the redirect map template while you’re here.
Why migrations lose rankings.
Search rankings rarely drop because of the new platform. They drop because URLs change without redirects, metadata goes missing, or internal links break. Every item below exists to prevent one of those.
The single most important step is a complete, tested, one-to-one redirect map. The template gives you the columns we use.
Download the redirect map templateBefore you build.
- Crawl the current site and export every URL
- Pull URLs from Search Console, analytics, and the sitemap
- Record rankings, traffic, and conversions as a baseline
- List pages with backlinks from other sites
- Inventory forms, scripts, pixels, and integrations
- Decide what moves, what merges, and what retires
Mapping and building.
- Map every old URL to its new URL, one to one
- Keep URL structures where you can
- Carry across titles, descriptions, and headings
- Carry across canonicals, Open Graph, and structured data
- Rebuild internal links to point at final URLs
- Keep alt text, image names, and captions
Before launch.
- Test every redirect on staging against the full URL list
- Check for redirect chains and loops
- Verify robots.txt and remove staging noindex tags
- Generate an XML sitemap of the new URLs
- Test forms, analytics, and consent end to end
- Check Core Web Vitals and accessibility on key templates
Launch day.
- Cut over DNS in a planned, low-traffic window
- Confirm redirects work on the live domain
- Submit the new sitemap in Search Console
- Spot-check top pages, forms, and tracking
- Keep the old site available for rollback
The weeks after.
- Monitor crawl errors and 404s daily at first
- Fix missed redirects as they surface
- Compare rankings and traffic to the baseline
- Watch Core Web Vitals from real users
- Update backlinks you control to the new URLs
SEO migration questions.
Will a website migration hurt SEO?
It doesn’t have to. Short-term fluctuation is normal, but sustained ranking loss almost always comes from missing redirects, lost metadata, or broken internal links, all of which this checklist covers.
What is a redirect map?
A spreadsheet listing every old URL alongside the new URL it should permanently (301) redirect to. It is built before launch and tested against the full list of old URLs.
How long does it take rankings to recover after a migration?
With a well-run migration, most sites see search traffic settle within a few weeks. Recovery takes longer when redirects or metadata were missed and have to be fixed after launch.
Should we use 301 or 302 redirects?
Use 301 redirects for permanent moves, which a migration is. They tell search engines the page has moved for good.
Should we redesign during a migration?
Often yes, and it can save money. On very large sites, separating the platform move from the redesign lowers risk because there are fewer changes to diagnose if something moves.