The SEO Migration Checklist: How to Move Your Website Without Nuking Your Rankings
Website migrations are exciting. New design. New platform. Fresh start.
They are also one of the fastest ways to quietly undo years of SEO work if they are not handled properly.
I see it all the time. Businesses launch a beautiful new site, feel smug for about a week, then start wondering why traffic is dropping, enquiries are slowing, and Google suddenly seems less interested.
So here is your calm, practical, no-nonsense SEO migration checklist. Not written for developers. Not written for robots. Written for business owners and marketers who want their website to survive the move.
Step 1: Identify what already works
Before you even think about your new site, you need to understand your current one.
Not what you like. Not what looks good. What actually performs.
This means looking at which pages bring in traffic, which pages convert, which keywords you already rank for, and which pages have built authority over time. Some of your most valuable pages will not be the obvious ones. They might be old blog posts, niche service pages, or resources quietly doing their job in the background.
If you do not identify these pages early, they are the ones that usually get lost, merged badly, or removed entirely.
This step is about respect. Respect for the work your site has already done.
Step 2: Crawl your current site
You cannot protect what you cannot see.
A full crawl of your website gives you a complete list of every URL that exists. Not just the ones in your menu. Not just the ones you remember.
This includes old landing pages, blog posts, filters, tags, PDFs, and forgotten pages that still get traffic.
Every one of those URLs is a potential ranking asset. Even if you plan to remove it, it deserves a conscious decision.
Skipping this step is how pages vanish without anyone noticing until the traffic graph tells the story.
Step 3: Decide what happens to every page
Once you have your full list of URLs, each one needs a future.
Some will stay. Some will move. Some will merge. Some will go.
The important thing is that none are left to chance.
When pages are merged, they need to merge properly. When pages are removed, they need to be removed with purpose. When pages move, they need a clear new home.
This step creates order. Without it, migrations become a messy guessing game that Google does not enjoy playing.
Step 4: Create a proper redirect map
Redirects are the backbone of SEO migrations.
They tell search engines exactly where your content has moved. They pass authority. They protect rankings. They guide users.
Every important old URL should point to the most relevant new URL. Not the homepage. Not a vaguely related category. The best match.
A good redirect map is precise, logical, and clean. No chains. No loops. No shortcuts.
If there is one part of a migration that deserves obsessive attention, it is this.
Step 5: Review the new site structure
New websites often look great. That does not mean they make sense.
This is the stage where you check whether your new navigation, categories, and page hierarchy actually match how people search.
Are key pages easy to reach? Are you burying important content too deep? Are you creating multiple pages that compete for the same topic? Are you merging things that should stay separate?
Search engines and users both like clarity. Structure is where clarity lives.
Step 6: Check template-level SEO
Design systems are brilliant. They are also very good at accidentally stripping SEO out of templates.
Before launch, you need to check that page titles exist, meta descriptions are not empty, headings are structured properly, images have alt text, and schema is not broken.
You also need to check that content has not been shortened, duplicated, or removed during the design process.
This is one of those quiet steps that makes a big difference.
Step 7: Check indexing and crawl settings
This is where many migrations quietly fail.
It only takes one noindex tag, one blocked folder, or one incorrect canonical to confuse search engines completely.
Before launch, you must check that your important pages are indexable, your staging site is not, your canonicals point to the correct URLs, and your robots file is not blocking anything vital.
This is not glamorous work. But it is essential.
Step 8: Prepare your XML sitemap
Your XML sitemap is a conversation with Google.
After a migration, it should only include live, indexable URLs from the new site. No redirects. No old pages. No canonicals pointing elsewhere.
A clean sitemap helps Google understand your new structure faster and more confidently.
Step 9: Launch day checks
Launch day is not the time to assume everything is fine.
It is the time to check.
You should be checking that redirects are working, pages load correctly, key URLs return the right status codes, internal links are not broken, and tracking is still functioning.
Launch day is where small mistakes like to hide.
Step 10: Monitor immediately after launch
The first few weeks after launch are critical.
You need to watch how Google is crawling the site, what is being indexed, where errors appear, and how rankings move.
Some movement is normal. Chaos is not.
This is when you catch problems early, while they are still easy to fix.
Step 11: Stabilise before you optimise
This is where many people panic.
They see rankings wobble and start changing everything at once.
Do not.
First, stabilise. Make sure Google understands the new site. Make sure redirects are clean. Make sure indexing is correct. Make sure internal linking makes sense.
Only once the foundations are steady should you start pushing for growth.
Step 12: Use the migration to improve SEO
Once stability is in place, a migration becomes an opportunity.
You can improve content quality. You can strengthen internal linking. You can fix legacy technical problems. You can build pages that match real search behaviour. You can improve conversion journeys.
This is where migrations stop being scary and start being powerful.
Common SEO migration mistakes
Most migration problems come from the same handful of mistakes.
Redirecting everything to the homepage.
Changing URLs for no reason.
Deleting high performing pages.
Blocking the site accidentally.
Launching without testing.
Ignoring internal links.
Letting staging get indexed.
Avoid these, and you are already ahead of most businesses.
Will rankings drop after a migration?
Small movement is normal.
Big drops are not.
If rankings collapse, something has gone wrong. It is not just Google settling. It needs attention.
Good migrations stabilise quickly and then improve.
Can you recover a bad migration?
Often, yes.
But recovery is harder than protection.
Fixing broken redirects, lost structure, and confused signals takes longer than doing it properly from the start.
Do you really need SEO support for a migration?
If your website brings in leads, sales, or revenue, then yes.
A migration is not a design project. It is a business risk.
Handled properly, it protects and grows your visibility. Handled casually, it resets it.
A website migration should never feel like a gamble.
With the right planning, it becomes a controlled, calm transition that protects what you have already built and sets you up for growth.
If you are planning a migration, use this checklist. Share it. Save it. And if you want someone to handle it properly, calmly, and without the drama, you know where I am.
