Website Migration SEO Checklist: Keep Your Rankings When You Move
A step-by-step checklist for redesigns, platform moves and domain changes that protects your rankings and traffic.
A website migration โ a redesign, a move to a new platform, a new domain or a switch to HTTPS โ is one of the riskiest moments for your search traffic. Done carefully, rankings hold steady. Done in a rush, a site can lose half its traffic overnight because old URLs break, pages get noindexed or content disappears.
Before the migration
- List every important URL. Export pages from your sitemap, Search Console (pages with clicks or impressions) and analytics. Note which pages have backlinks.
- Record a baseline. Save current rankings, clicks, impressions and conversions so you can compare later.
- Map old URLs to new URLs. Make a spreadsheet with every old address and the exact new address it should go to. One-to-one is best; avoid sending everything to the homepage.
- Keep the content. Titles, headings, body text and internal links that earned rankings should move across, not be cut.
- Block the staging site with a password, not just a noindex tag that could be copied to the live site.
On launch day
- Add 301 redirects for every mapped URL, straight to the final address.
- Check robots.txt and meta robots โ remove any staging blocks or noindex tags.
- Update canonical tags to the new URLs.
- Upload a new XML sitemap and submit it in Search Console.
- For a domain change, verify the new domain in Search Console and use the Change of Address tool.
Test immediately
- Run a sample of old URLs through the redirect checker: each should return one 301 to the right page. Read how to fix redirect chains.
- Check the new pages' indexability with the bulk indexability checker.
- Look for broken internal links with the broken link checker.
In the weeks after
- Watch Search Console's Page indexing report for spikes in 404s, "Page with redirect" or "Excluded by noindex".
- Compare clicks and rankings with your baseline weekly.
- Update important backlinks where you can, so they point straight to new URLs.
- Keep redirects in place for at least a year โ permanently for URLs with links.
A worked example
A furniture store moved from an old platform to a new one with a different URL format. It exported 1,200 URLs, mapped each product and category to its new address, and kept titles and descriptions. It also tested 100 redirects before launch. On launch day a bulk check found that the blog still carried the staging noindex tag; fixing it within an hour avoided a traffic loss. Traffic dipped slightly for two weeks, then returned to normal.
Mistakes that cause traffic loss
- Launching on a Friday evening โ problems go unnoticed all weekend. Launch early in the week when the team can react.
- Forgetting images and PDFs โ files with backlinks or image search traffic need redirects too.
- Changing every URL "while we are at it" โ keep URLs that already work, and change only those that must.
- Removing thin-looking pages that actually rank โ check Search Console clicks before deleting anything.
- Not saving the old sitemap โ keep a copy so you can test old URLs after launch.
Write the plan, the URL map and the launch-day checks in one shared document, and name who is responsible for each step.
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Frequently asked questions
Will I lose rankings after a migration?
A small, temporary dip is common. Large losses usually come from missing redirects, lost content or accidental noindex tags.
How long should I keep redirects?
At least a year, and permanently for URLs with backlinks or regular traffic.
Can I redirect all old pages to the homepage?
No. Google often treats that as a soft 404. Redirect each page to its closest equivalent.
Should I change content during a migration?
Change as little as possible at the same time. Move first, improve content afterwards, so you can tell what caused any change.