Website migration can be complex, and without careful planning, it can lead to SEO ranking drops, traffic loss, and technical issues. Whether youβre changing domains, switching platforms, or updating site architecture, this detailed checklist will guide you through every step to ensure a seamless and successful transition.
Understanding whatβs changing and why helps prevent unexpected issues and allows for proper planning.
Identify the type of migration:
Set clear objectives:
Identify stakeholders involved (developers, SEOs, content teams, designers) and assign responsibilities.
π Example: A SaaS company moving from Squarespace to WordPress clearly documents the goals: improve site flexibility, maintain SEO rankings, and enhance mobile responsiveness.
A full backup ensures that, if anything goes wrong, you can restore your site quickly without losing content or data.
Use cPanel, FTP (FileZilla), or backup plugins (UpdraftPlus, VaultPress) to download:
If using a CMS like WordPress, back up:
Store backups in multiple locations (local drive + cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox).
π Example: An e-commerce store switching hosting providers downloads both product images and customer order history to ensure a complete migration.
Auditing helps identify which pages are performing well, what needs improvement, and what should be prioritized during migration.
Crawl your site using Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or Ahrefs to capture:
Benchmark SEO performance:
Identify potential issues:
π Example: A travel blog migrating to a new CMS documents its top 50 organic traffic pages to ensure their structure remains intact.
A staging site allows you to test everything in a private environment before making the migration live.
Clone your website to a staging domain (e.g., staging.yoursite.com).
Ensure the staging site is blocked from search engines by adding noindex
tags and updating robots.txt
.
Test:
π Example: A subscription-based site tests payment gateway functionality on staging before launching on the live domain.
Proper 301 redirects prevent SEO ranking loss and ensure users land on the correct pages after migration.
Create a URL mapping document listing:
Set up 301 redirects in the .htaccess
file (Apache) or Nginx configuration.
Use tools like Screaming Frog or Redirect Checker to verify that all redirects work correctly.
π Example: An online course provider mapping old course pages to new structured URLs avoids 404 errors and lost traffic.
Transferring site files and databases correctly ensures a seamless move without broken pages or lost content.
For hosting changes:
For CMS migrations:
π Example: A news website moving from Blogger to WordPress manually imports 2,000+ blog posts while preserving URLs.
Before going live, ensure that all functionalities work correctly and that no major SEO or UX issues exist.
π Example: A SaaS company tests account sign-ups, password resets, and dashboard functionality before switching domains.
Updating DNS records makes the new website accessible under the correct domain.
π Example: An online marketplace times its DNS update overnight to minimize disruptions.
Search engines need to reindex your new website as quickly as possible.
π Example: A fintech startup launching a new domain tracks ranking drops and recovers lost traffic using Google Search Console.
Continuous monitoring helps catch and fix issues early to prevent traffic loss.
π Example: A retailer that changed its URL structure fixes unexpected traffic drops by correcting missing redirects.
Anastasia Belyh
Anastasia Belyh is a senior tech writer with over 15 years of experience in marketing, sales, and business software. Having worked in investment banking, management consulting, and founded multiple companies, her in-depth knowledge and hands-on expertise make her software reviews authoritative, trustworthy, and highly practical for business decision-makers.