1. List what is changing
A website migration moves or changes the site’s pages, platform, or addresses. An SEO migration plan accounts for existing content and search signals and checks that the new site delivers the intended pages.
Record whether the project changes the platform, domain, page addresses, content, navigation, design, forms, or tracking. Testing needs to match those actual changes.
Keep the existing site available while you capture the information needed for the replacement. A site with little recent traffic may still have useful links or pages worth preserving.
2. Capture pages, performance, and access
- Crawl or list public pages and important files.
- Record page titles, descriptions, headings, status codes, and indexing settings.
- Export available Search Console query and page performance.
- Review analytics landing pages and recorded actions where available.
- Collect important backlink destinations.
- Record forms, downloads, connected tools, and tracking.
- Confirm domain, DNS, website, analytics, and recovery access.
3. Give every existing URL a decision
Keep or rebuild useful pages at the same address when practical. If content moves or merges, map the old URL to its closest relevant destination. Retire a page only after reviewing search, links, user needs, and dependencies.
A redirect sends a visitor or search engine from an old address to a new one. Avoid sending unrelated old pages to the homepage or creating chains through several redirects.
4. Keep the private build out of search
Use suitable staging access controls or indexing restrictions. A robots.txt crawl block alone does not reliably remove a URL already known to search engines.
- Review the staging host and indexing rules.
- Prepare the production canonical settings—the preferred address for each page.
- Prevent test forms and optional systems from sending unintended real data.
- Check image and file paths in the new environment.
5. Test the whole launch candidate
- Review every route, with desktop and mobile layouts.
- Test old URLs and their intended redirects.
- Check page status codes, titles, descriptions, headings, and canonical settings.
- Verify important content in the initial HTML, not only after JavaScript runs.
- Test navigation, phone links, forms, email links, and downloads.
- Confirm tracking without duplicate tags or events.
- Check robots rules and a sitemap containing the intended canonical pages.
- Remove staging restrictions that would accidentally block the live site.
6. Monitor after launch
Review crawling and indexing reports, broken URLs, redirect behavior, important queries, landing pages, and recorded actions. Search performance can fluctuate; investigate unexpected changes rather than assume every change comes from the redesign.
Keep the URL map and the old-site records. Maintain needed redirects and fix the underlying cause of errors.
Condensed migration checklist
- List the changes.
- Inventory URLs, content, data, features, and access.
- Map each old URL.
- Control staging and test-data behavior.
- Check content, metadata, and preferred page addresses.
- Test redirects, contact routes, tracking, and sitemaps.
- Review all pages and responsive layouts.
- Launch the reviewed build.
- Monitor indexing, errors, and useful actions.