What This Guide Covers:
This guide explains how to handle site migrations and domain moves while protecting your SEO
rankings, traffic, and crawl health.
There are multiple types of migrations —
each needing specific steps.
1. Understand the Type of
Migration You're Planning
Types of Site Migrations:
|
Type |
Example |
|
Domain Change |
abc.com → xyz.com |
|
URL Structure Change |
/blog/post-name/ → /posts/post-name/ |
|
CMS Change |
WordPress
→ Webflow |
|
Protocol Change |
HTTP
→ HTTPS |
|
Design Redesign |
New layout/theme |
|
Language/Location |
Adding subdirectories or ccTLDs |
Each one affects crawlability, rankings,
and indexation differently.
2. Pre-Migration Checklist
(Planning Phase)
Technical + Strategic Planning:
●
Decide final URLs and define mapping rules
●
Build full URL mapping spreadsheet (old → new URLs)
●
Use tools: Screaming Frog,
Sitebulb, Ahrefs, GSC
●
Crawl the old site and export all
live 200-status URLs
●
Backup your website (database +
files)
●
Setup your staging environment
●
Decide on redirection logic
(prefer 301 permanent redirects)
●
Plan new site structure and
internal linking
●
Block staging via robots.txt or
password protection
●
Notify devs, SEOs, marketers –
make this a cross-team operation
3. Create a Full URL
Redirection Map (Mission Critical)
Redirect Mapping Best Practices:
●
List all existing indexable URLs
●
Determine exact destination for each (no dead ends!)
●
Use 301 redirects (not 302 or JS
redirects)
●
Avoid redirect chains (A → B → C)
or loops
●
Redirect to the most relevant page, not just homepage
●
Track removed/expired content and
404s
●
Handle canonical URLs properly
Use
a Google Sheet or Airtable with columns like:
●
Old URL
●
New URL
●
Status (done/pending)
●
Type (301/404)
●
Notes
4. Crawl and Audit the New
Site (Staging Phase)
Before Launch:
●
Crawl new staging site (Screaming
Frog, Sitebulb)
●
Check internal linking structure
●
Ensure canonical tags are
self-referencing
●
Test metadata: title tags, H1s,
meta descriptions
●
Validate Schema Markup
●
Confirm noindex/nofollow tags on
live pages are removed
●
Fix broken links, missing images,
orphan pages
●
Ensure mobile-friendliness and
Core Web Vitals are intact
●
Check crawl depth — ensure
critical pages are <3 levels deep
5. SEO Configuration
Checklist Before Go-Live
Go-Live Prep:
●
Add & verify new domain in GSC
(if domain is changing)
●
Update robots.txt – remove disallow rules used on staging
●
Update sitemap and submit to GSC
●
Update internal links (no
self-referring redirects!)
●
Update hreflang (if international
site)
●
Check HTTPS and SSL configuration
●
Monitor crawl stats in GSC (Crawl
Stats, Indexing report)
6. Launch Day Checklist
(Go-Live)
On
the day of migration:
●
Launch early in the morning (avoid
weekends)
●
Deploy all 301 redirects
●
Remove staging blocks (robots.txt,
meta noindex)
●
Submit updated XML sitemap(s)
●
Run a full crawl to check:
○
404s
○
Redirect errors
○
Canonicals
○
Schema
○
Internal links
●
Set up Change of Address in GSC
(for domain changes)
●
Check live pages on mobile +
desktop
●
Check redirects work properly
across all page types
7. Post-Migration Monitoring
(First 30 Days)
Critical Monitoring Points:
|
Tool |
What
to Check |
|
Google Search Console |
Indexing, Coverage errors, Sitemaps, Core
Web Vitals |
|
Google Analytics |
Traffic drops by page group |
|
Ahrefs/Semrush |
Keyword rankings, backlinks, site health |
|
Screaming Frog |
Crawl errors, redirect chains |
|
Log File Analysis |
What bots are crawling, frequency |
Checklist:
●
Monitor 404s and redirect failures
●
Re-fetch key URLs in GSC
("Inspect URL" tool)
●
Compare traffic by page cluster
(before vs. after)
●
Check backlink loss (ensure
high-value URLs redirect)
●
Fix newly discovered orphan pages
●
Track rankings for priority
keywords
●
Watch sitemap indexing progress
8. Additional Implementation
Details
Canonicals:
●
Ensure canonicals point to final
live URL
●
No
canonical → old domain or removed page
Internal Links:
●
Avoid pointing to old URLs that
redirect — fix to point directly
●
Don’t use absolute URLs
referencing old domain (if domain changed)
hreflang:
●
Update hreflang across all locales
●
Ensure x-default and reciprocal tags are intact
9. Long-Term SEO Maintenance
(30–180 Days)
After 30–60–90 Days:
●
Re-crawl full site and fix any
warnings
●
Check ranking recovery vs baseline
●
Rebuild lost backlinks (if any)
●
Monitor crawl stats in GSC (Crawl
Stats report)
●
Ensure noindex pages stay out of
index
●
Review new pages for indexing and
visibility
●
Update internal link equity
distribution
●
Submit updated disavow file (if
necessary)
Common Mistakes to Avoid
|
Mistake |
Consequence |
|
Forgetting 301 redirects |
Loss of SEO equity, traffic drops |
|
Redirecting everything to homepage |
Keyword losses, poor UX |
|
Not updating internal links |
Crawl inefficiency, link dilution |
|
Forgetting to monitor |
Silent SEO death (loss goes unnoticed) |
|
Redirect chains/loops |
Crawl issues, ranking drops |
|
Launching with noindex meta |
Site disappears from Google |
Final Site Migration SEO
Checklist
|
Phase |
Task |
Done |
|
Planning |
Full crawl of old site |
|
|
Build redirect mapping |
|
|
|
Backup + staging ready |
|
|
|
Pre-launch |
Test staging with crawl tools |
|
|
Fix all technical SEO issues |
|
|
|
Remove noindex, update canonicals |
|
|
|
Go-Live |
Deploy 301 redirects |
|
|
Submit sitemap + Change of Address |
|
|
|
Monitor live redirects and crawl |
|
|
|
Post-launch |
Check rankings/traffic in 7 days |
|
|
Monitor 404s and indexing in GSC |
|
|
|
Update internal links as needed |
|
BONUS: Tools to Use
|
Tool |
Use |
|
Screaming Frog / Sitebulb |
Crawl before + after |
|
Ahrefs / Semrush |
Track ranking & backlink retention |
|
Google Search Console |
Indexing, redirects, crawl issues |
|
Google Analytics |
Compare sessions + conversions |
|
Log File Analyzer |
Analyze real bot activity |
|
Airtable / Sheets |
Track migration progress |
In Details
What Is a Site Move or SEO
Migration?
A site
migration is any significant change to a website that affects its
visibility in search engines.
Types of Migrations:
|
Type |
Example |
|
Domain Change |
oldsite.com → newsite.com |
|
URL Structure Change |
/blog/post-name → /post-name |
|
Protocol Change |
http:// → https:// |
|
CMS/Platform Change |
WordPress
→ Webflow, Magento → Shopify |
|
Subdomain/Subdirectory Change |
blog.example.com → example.com/blog/ |
|
Design/UX Overhaul |
Major HTML or JS updates |
|
Content Pruning or Rewrites |
Deleting/rebuilding pages |
Every one of these can destroy SEO if not handled carefully.
The Core SEO Risks of
Migration
●
Traffic and rankings drop
●
Pages lose link equity
●
Crawling/indexing issues
●
Redirect loops, broken links
●
Loss of structured data
●
Loss of keyword targeting or content depth
●
Google treats your new site as a brand-new domain
Full SEO Migration Checklist
(Step-by-Step Implementation)
1. Pre-Migration Planning
Phase
Audit Current Site
●
Crawl entire old site using
Screaming Frog (save crawl)
●
Export list of all live URLs
●
Identify top-performing pages
(traffic, rankings, backlinks)
●
Export data from:
○
Google Analytics (top pages by
traffic)
○
Google Search Console (top
keywords)
○
Ahrefs/Semrush (backlinks + top
organic pages)
○
PageSpeed, Core Web Vitals data
Deliverable: “SEO Benchmark Sheet” for pre-migration reference
Map Redirects (1:1 redirect plan)
●
Create a spreadsheet with:
○
Column A: Old URL
○
Column B: New URL
○
Column C: 301 redirect applied?
●
Avoid redirect chains and loops
●
Maintain URL structure if possible
●
Prioritize:
○
Pages with backlinks
○
Ranking pages
○
Pages in sitemap
●
Test the redirect plan BEFORE
going live
✅
2. Staging Environment Prep
●
Set up staging site with noindex, nofollow in robots.txt
●
Disable search engine crawling in
dev
●
Implement all redirects in staging
●
Use canonical tags pointing to the staging version (change later)
●
Verify that hreflang, schema, and
structured data work correctly
3. Launch Day Checklist
Before Making It Live:
●
Remove noindex
and nofollow from robots.txt and meta tags
●
Upload the redirect map (301s) to the live server
●
Submit updated sitemap.xml to Google Search Console
●
Submit new domain in GSC (if
domain change)
●
Update internal links (navigation,
footer, in-content)
●
Retain all image alt tags, meta
titles, headers, and schema
●
Check that analytics (GA4, GTM,
GSC) are working
Test Post-Launch:
●
Spot check 301 redirects (use HTTP
status checker)
●
Crawl new site with Screaming Frog
to find:
○
Broken links
○
Redirect chains
○
Missing titles/descriptions
●
Monitor GSC Coverage Report and
Indexing
4. Post-Launch Monitoring
(First 4 Weeks)
Closely Watch:
●
Organic traffic (Google Analytics
& GSC)
●
Keyword rankings (track via Ahrefs
or Semrush)
●
Crawl errors or spikes
●
Pages dropping from index
●
GSC errors: Mobile usability,
structured data, Core Web Vitals
Notify:
●
Google: Use “Change of Address”
tool if domain change
●
Bing Webmaster Tools: Submit new
sitemap and domain
5. Rebuilding SEO Equity
Backlink Recovery:
●
Use Ahrefs to identify all links
pointing to old domain/pages
●
Reach out to webmasters to update
links to new URLs (if possible)
●
Retain authority pages with clean
redirects (not deleted!)
Update External Assets:
●
Social profiles
●
Google Business Profile
●
Email signatures
●
Press releases
●
Ads/UTM tags
●
CRM systems and marketing
automation
6. Performance Optimization
Post-Migration
Improve:
●
Page speed
●
Mobile usability
●
Core Web Vitals
●
JS rendering issues
●
CLS and INP scores
Why now? You want the new site to rank better than before, not just equally.
7. Migration SEO Tools to Use
|
Tool |
Purpose |
|
Screaming Frog |
Pre/post-migration crawl comparisons |
|
Ahrefs/Semrush |
Backlinks + organic keyword performance |
|
Google Search Console |
Indexing, sitemaps, errors |
|
GA4 |
Pre vs. post traffic and conversion tracking |
|
RankMath/Yoast (WordPress) |
Preserving on-page SEO |
|
HTTPstatus.io |
Redirect testing |
|
ContentKing |
Real-time SEO monitoring during launch |
Final Migration Deliverables
You
should prepare the following documents:
|
Document |
Description |
|
URL Redirect Map |
All
old → new URL mappings with redirect status |
|
SEO Benchmark Report |
Pre-migration SEO data (top pages, traffic,
CTRs) |
|
Launch QA Checklist |
Technical + content QA before launch |
|
Post-Migration Tracking Sheet |
Crawl errors, rankings, traffic delta |
|
Backlink Update List |
Link update outreach tracking |
|
Weekly Progress Reports |
GSC indexing + GA traffic updates |
Pro-Level Tactics
●
Use server-side redirects (not JS or meta refresh)
●
Minimize content changes until
pages are re-indexed
●
Preserve internal linking structure and anchor text
●
Temporarily boost internal linking
to new URLs from high-authority pages
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