Your website migration can either preserve years of SEO investment or erase it in a single afternoon. The difference lies entirely in how thoroughly you plan and execute the technical details that search engines care about.
This guide walks you through every phase of an SEO-safe migration—from initial benchmarking and URL mapping through launch day execution and post-migration monitoring—so you can move confidently without sacrificing the organic traffic that drives your business.
What is website migration
Website migration means moving your site from one environment to another. This might involve changing platforms (like moving from WordPress to Shopify), switching domains (rebranding from oldcompany.com to newcompany.com), redesigning your entire interface, or restructuring how your URLs are organized.
An SEO migration checklist includes pre-migration planning, preparation, execution, and post-migration optimization to protect your search rankings throughout the transition. The process involves defining goals, benchmarking current performance, creating a redirect map, setting up a staging site, backing up everything, and implementing 301 redirects after going live.
Each migration type carries distinct SEO implications. Platform changes affect how your content management system generates URLs and meta tags. Domain transfers require site-wide redirects and updating every external citation. Complete redesigns alter site structure and internal linking patterns. URL restructuring demands comprehensive mapping between old and new addresses.
When a website migration makes business sense
Migrations make sense when your current technology actively limits growth. Maybe your platform can’t support the features your customers expect, or your site loads so slowly that visitors leave before pages finish rendering.
Rebranding initiatives often require new domains, particularly after acquisitions or major strategic shifts. You might also consider migration when consolidating multiple sites into a single property or when your URL structure has become so convoluted that both users and search engines struggle to navigate it.
The question to ask: does staying put cost more than the temporary disruption of moving? If outdated technology prevents you from competing effectively, migration becomes less risky than inaction.
SEO risks you face before moving
Traffic drops represent the most immediate concern during migrations. Even well-executed moves typically see temporary dips as search engines reprocess your site and recalculate how pages rank.
Ranking losses occur when redirects fail or when valuable content disappears without proper mapping. Indexation issues arise when search engines can’t find or crawl your new pages effectively, leaving them invisible in search results.
Beyond rankings, user experience suffers when redirects create slow page loads or when familiar URLs suddenly lead to 404 errors. Link equity—the SEO value passed through backlinks—can evaporate if redirects aren’t implemented correctly. These risks aren’t hypothetical. They’re the default outcome without careful planning.
Building an SEO migration plan that aligns with KPIs
Your migration plan connects technical SEO requirements to measurable business outcomes. Start by identifying which organic metrics directly impact revenue: product page traffic, lead form completions, or specific keyword rankings that drive qualified prospects.
The plan itself becomes a project roadmap that assigns responsibilities, establishes testing phases, and sets realistic timelines. Consider timing carefully—migrations during peak sales seasons or major product launches amplify risk unnecessarily.
- Timeline coordination: Align migration with low-traffic periods when possible, avoiding product launches or peak sales seasons
- Stakeholder roles: Define who owns redirects, content updates, technical implementation, and post-launch monitoring
- Testing phases: Build in staging reviews, redirect validation, and performance benchmarking before going live
- Rollback procedures: Establish clear decision points and technical steps for reverting if critical issues emerge
Your success criteria might include maintaining 95% of organic traffic within 30 days or preserving top-10 rankings for priority keywords. Whatever metrics you choose, document them clearly so everyone understands what success looks like.
Pre-migration SEO checklist
1. Benchmark current traffic and rankings
Document your starting point by capturing organic search traffic at both the site and page level. Export keyword rankings for your most valuable terms, noting which pages currently rank for each query. Record conversion rates from organic traffic so you can assess whether migration impacts not just visits but business outcomes.
This baseline becomes your reference point for measuring migration success. Without it, you’re flying blind.
2. Crawl and inventory all URLs
Run a complete crawl using tools like Screaming Frog or Semrush to create a comprehensive URL inventory. This crawl reveals every page search engines can find, including orphaned pages that lack internal links but might hold SEO value through external backlinks.
Document each URL’s current status, traffic contribution, and inbound links to inform mapping decisions. Pages with significant traffic or strong backlink profiles deserve one-to-one redirects to equivalent new pages.
3. Back up the existing site
Create complete backups of all site files, databases, and server configurations before making any changes. Store these backups in multiple locations—both locally and in cloud storage—so you can restore quickly if something goes wrong.
Include exports of your analytics data and Search Console information as additional safety nets. You’ll want this historical data accessible even if something happens to your current setup.
4. Define success metrics and reporting cadence
Establish specific, measurable KPIs beyond just “maintain traffic.” Perhaps you aim to preserve 90% of organic sessions within 60 days or keep all priority keywords within their current ranking range.
Set a reporting schedule that matches migration phases: daily checks during launch week, weekly reviews for the first month, then monthly assessments as performance stabilizes. This cadence keeps everyone informed without creating unnecessary alarm over normal fluctuations.
5. Lower DNS TTL for fast propagation
Reduce your domain’s Time-To-Live (TTL) settings to 300 seconds (5 minutes) at least 48 hours before migration. TTL tells DNS servers how long to cache your domain’s IP address before checking for updates.
Lower TTL values mean DNS changes propagate faster when you point your domain to the new server. After migration completes and stabilizes, you can increase TTL back to normal levels for better performance.
URL mapping and redirect strategy
1. Compile old and new URL lists
Create a comprehensive spreadsheet mapping every current URL to its destination on the new site. Include URLs you’re redirecting one-to-one, pages you’re consolidating into single destinations, and content you’re intentionally removing.
This mapping document becomes your redirect implementation guide and your quality control checklist. Export your URL inventory from the crawl, then add a column for new URLs and another for redirect status.
2. Choose the correct redirect status codes
Use 301 redirects for permanent moves. A 301 redirect tells search engines “this page has permanently moved to a new address” and passes approximately 90-99% of link equity to the new URL.
Reserve 302 redirects for temporary situations where you plan to restore the original URL later. Avoid meta refresh redirects or JavaScript redirects, as these don’t reliably preserve SEO value and can confuse search engines.
3. Validate redirect chains and loops
Test your redirect paths to ensure each old URL reaches its final destination in a single hop. Redirect chains occur when URL A redirects to URL B, which then redirects to URL C. Each additional hop wastes crawl budget and dilutes link equity.
Circular redirects create infinite loops that prevent access entirely. URL A redirects to URL B, which redirects back to URL A, trapping both users and search engines in an endless cycle.
4. Update internal links and canonicals
Modify your internal linking structure to point directly to new URLs rather than relying on redirects to correct the paths. This reduces server load and eliminates unnecessary redirect processing for every internal click.
Update canonical tags to reference the new URL structure, ensuring search engines understand which version of each page you consider authoritative. Canonical tags tell search engines “this is the preferred URL for this content” when multiple versions exist.
Technical checks on the staging site
1. Install GA4 and verify GSC
Set up Google Analytics 4 tracking on your staging environment and confirm data flows correctly into your property. Configure Google Search Console for the new domain or subdomain, verifying ownership through DNS records or HTML file uploads.
Test both tools thoroughly before launch so you’re not troubleshooting tracking issues while managing migration. Run test transactions or form submissions to verify events fire correctly.
2. Block robots while allowing test crawls
Add password protection or IP restrictions to your staging site while using a permissive robots.txt file that allows crawling. This combination lets your team and SEO tools audit the site thoroughly without risking premature indexation.
Double-check that you’ve blocked staging URLs from appearing in search results through meta robots tags or X-Robots-Tag headers. The last thing you want is Google indexing your staging site before launch.
3. Validate Core Web Vitals and schema
Run PageSpeed Insights tests on representative pages to benchmark loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability. Core Web Vitals measure user experience through three metrics: Largest Contentful Paint (loading speed), First Input Delay (interactivity), and Cumulative Layout Shift (visual stability).
Use Google’s Rich Results Test to verify that structured data markup carries over correctly and remains valid. Structured data helps search engines understand your content’s context and can enable rich results like star ratings or FAQ snippets.
4. Generate and test XML sitemaps
Create updated XML sitemaps reflecting your new site structure, including all pages you want search engines to index. An XML sitemap acts like a roadmap for search engines, listing all important URLs and providing metadata about each page.
Test sitemap accessibility and validate XML formatting to ensure search engines can parse them without errors. Prepare to submit these sitemaps immediately after launch.
Launch day SEO checklist
1. Remove temporary blocks and passwords
Disable all staging environment restrictions—password protection, IP allowlists, and HTTP authentication—so search engines can access your live site immediately. Verify that robots.txt allows crawling of all important sections and that no meta robots tags inadvertently block indexation.
This step sounds obvious, but forgotten staging blocks account for countless migration failures. Double-check before flipping the switch.
2. Enable redirects sitewide
Activate all planned redirects simultaneously at launch rather than implementing them gradually. Test a representative sample of old URLs immediately after enabling redirects to confirm they reach correct destinations.
Monitor server logs for redirect errors during the first few hours. Catching and fixing redirect issues quickly prevents prolonged traffic loss.
3. Update DNS and SSL certificates
Point your domain’s DNS records to the new hosting environment, typically by updating A records or CNAME entries. DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours to propagate fully, though lowering TTL beforehand speeds this process.
Verify that SSL certificates install correctly and cover all necessary subdomains, then test HTTPS functionality across multiple pages. Confirm that HTTP requests automatically redirect to HTTPS versions to maintain security and SEO benefits.
4. Submit sitemaps and change of address in GSC
Upload your new XML sitemaps to Google Search Console immediately after launch. If you’re changing domains, use the Change of Address tool in Search Console to notify Google officially.
Submit your sitemaps to Bing Webmaster Tools as well, since Bing powers several other search engines. This proactive notification helps search engines discover and index your new structure faster.
Post-migration monitoring and reporting
1. Track four-week traffic and rankings trend
Monitor organic traffic daily for the first week, then transition to weekly reviews as patterns stabilize. Compare actual performance against pre-migration benchmarks, noting which pages recover quickly and which lag behind.
Track your priority keywords daily initially, watching for ranking fluctuations that might indicate technical issues. Most migrations see some volatility as search engines reprocess the site, but dramatic drops warrant immediate investigation.
2. Crawl for 404s and redirect errors
Run daily crawls during the first week to catch broken links and failed redirects quickly. Check Search Console’s Coverage report for sudden spikes in 404 errors or server errors that indicate implementation problems.
Address high-priority broken links—those with significant traffic or inbound links—immediately. Lower-priority 404s can wait for regular maintenance cycles.
3. Compare KPI lift against benchmarks
Measure migration success against the specific metrics you established during planning. Calculate percentage changes in organic traffic, conversion rates, and keyword rankings at 30-day and 60-day marks.
Document both wins and shortfalls to inform stakeholder communications and identify optimization opportunities. Sometimes migrations reveal unexpected improvements in areas you didn’t anticipate.
4. Schedule stakeholder updates
Send brief status updates to leadership and affected teams during the first week, even if everything proceeds smoothly. Silence during critical periods creates anxiety and speculation.
Transition to weekly reports for the first month, highlighting traffic trends, issues resolved, and remaining concerns. After the first month, monthly summaries typically provide sufficient visibility unless problems emerge.
Troubleshooting traffic or ranking drops
When traffic drops exceed expectations, start by auditing your redirect implementation. Failed or missing redirects account for most severe ranking losses, particularly when high-value pages suddenly return 404 errors instead of redirecting properly.
Check Search Console for indexation errors, server errors, or mobile usability issues that might prevent Google from accessing your content properly. Investigate whether important pages lost internal links during migration, effectively orphaning them from your site structure.
Review your robots.txt file and meta robots tags to ensure you’re not accidentally blocking valuable pages. Consider these diagnostic steps:
- Redirect audit: Verify that high-traffic pages redirect correctly and that redirect chains don’t exceed one hop
- Indexation check: Confirm that Google has discovered and indexed your most important pages through Search Console
- Technical error resolution: Fix server errors, SSL issues, or page speed regressions that emerged during migration
Sometimes traffic dips reflect search engines reprocessing your site rather than actual problems. Rankings often fluctuate for 2-4 weeks as Google recalculates page authority and relevance signals.
Cross-team communication timeline
1. Pre-launch alignment meeting
Gather development, marketing, SEO, and leadership teams 1-2 weeks before migration to review the complete plan. Confirm that everyone understands their responsibilities during launch and knows who to contact if issues arise.
Walk through contingency procedures so teams can respond quickly to unexpected problems. Discussing rollback criteria beforehand prevents panic-driven decisions during the actual launch.
2. Daily stand-ups during launch week
Hold brief daily check-ins during the week of migration to share status updates and surface issues quickly. Even 15-minute touchpoints provide significant value during this critical period.
These meetings keep everyone aligned and enable rapid problem-solving when time matters most. You’ll catch issues before they compound into larger problems.
3. Weekly KPI reviews post-launch
Schedule weekly performance reviews for the first month after migration to assess recovery progress and identify optimization opportunities. Share data transparently, acknowledging both successes and areas requiring attention.
Regular touchpoints maintain focus and demonstrate migration ROI to stakeholders. After the first month, you can typically shift to monthly reviews as performance stabilizes.
Your website migration template to download
A structured migration template helps you track progress and maintain accountability throughout the process. Your template might include tabs for URL mapping, redirect testing, pre-launch checklists, and post-launch monitoring schedules.
| Migration Type | Primary SEO Considerations | Typical Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Change | Preserve URL structure, maintain template SEO elements, verify crawlability | 8-12 weeks |
| Domain Transfer | Implement site-wide redirects, update all external citations, notify search engines | 6-10 weeks |
| Site Redesign | Map old to new URLs, maintain internal linking, preserve content depth | 10-16 weeks |
| URL Restructuring | Create comprehensive redirect map, update internal links, monitor indexation | 4-8 weeks |
Different migration types require adjusted approaches. Domain changes demand more aggressive redirect monitoring, while platform migrations emphasize template-level SEO preservation.
Move forward with confidence with MacMillan Search
Website migrations represent high-stakes projects where technical precision directly impacts business outcomes. MacMillan Search brings two decades of experience helping B2B software companies navigate complex migrations without sacrificing organic visibility.
We’ve guided organizations through platform changes, domain consolidations, and complete site overhauls—always maintaining focus on measurable results rather than just technical completion. Our approach combines strategic planning with hands-on implementation support, ensuring your team understands not just what to do but why each step matters.
Whether you’re planning your first migration or recovering from a troubled launch, we offer tailored consulting that addresses your specific challenges. Book a discovery call to discuss how we can help you migrate successfully while protecting the organic traffic that drives your business.
FAQs about SEO website migration
How long does a typical SEO website migration take to complete?
Most website migrations require four to twelve weeks depending on site complexity and migration scope. The planning phase typically takes the longest, while actual migration execution happens over a few days.
Should I keep legacy redirects active permanently after migration?
Maintain redirects for at least one year to preserve SEO value and user experience. Consider keeping high-traffic redirects permanently, especially for sites with established backlink profiles.
Can I combine a domain change with a complete site redesign?
Combining major changes increases migration complexity and SEO risk significantly. Consider staging changes separately when possible, though business requirements sometimes necessitate simultaneous execution with careful planning.