[ Website migration · Buyer guide 2026 ]
// 20 / 20Website Migration SEO Checklist & Buyer Guide 2026
Change the platform without losing demand.
Protect rankings, traffic and conversions through redesign, domain or CMS migration.
Protect important content and customer journeys during migration.
What should we plan before changing platforms?
Inventory important URLs and content, define redirect decisions and document tracking. Rehearse the migration and decide how to respond to launch problems.
What should we check after launch?
Check redirects, forms, analytics and priority page groups. Assign someone to investigate unexpected changes and track corrective actions.
How long should redirects stay in place?
Keep them for as long as old URLs still receive links or visits—in practice, at least a year and often permanently. Removing them early can lose traffic and link value.
What a good engagement should deliver.
Use these as a checklist: any proposal worth signing should show how it will produce each one—and what evidence you will see along the way.
Complete migration inventory
Every URL that earns traffic, links or enquiries is found—using several crawls and data sources—before anyone decides what happens to it.
Ask to see
The URL inventory with traffic, backlinks and conversions per page, and the sources used to build it.
Tested redirect and measurement plan
Each old URL points straight to its best new equivalent, tested before launch, with tracking verified so enquiries keep being counted.
Ask to see
The one-hop redirect map, the pre-launch test results and the analytics event checklist.
Launch monitoring and recovery playbook
A clear plan for launch day and the weeks after: what is watched, what triggers action, and who can roll back if something serious breaks.
Ask to see
The launch monitoring dashboard, alert thresholds, rollback trigger and named owners.
How risky is your migration for SEO?
Tick what is changing and describe your site to see the SEO risk level, the type of migration you are running and the safeguards to plan for.
A planning aid, not a guarantee. No migration can promise unchanged rankings; a full inventory, tested redirects and active monitoring reduce avoidable losses.
Choose an approach your team can manage.
| Model | Use when | Watch-out |
|---|---|---|
| Like-for-like CMS migration | Platform changes; structure mostly stays | Hidden template and rendering changes |
| Redesign migration | UX, content and URLs change | Highest organic ambiguity |
| Domain consolidation | Brands or properties combine | Complex mapping and authority transfer |
| Phased migration | Large estate needs controlled waves | Temporary inconsistency |
Questions that reveal real capability.
Ask for a relevant example, the decision made, the result or learning, and the person who would own the work.
- 01What types of change are occurring simultaneously?
- 02Which pages generate qualified demand, links or conversions?
- 03How will every legacy URL receive a destination decision?
- 04Who validates redirects, canonicals, robots and sitemaps?
- 05How are structured data and internal links migrated?
- 06What pre-launch crawl and rendering tests are required?
- 07Which launch metrics trigger investigation or rollback?
- 08How long will redirects and legacy-domain controls remain?
Understand the risks before starting.
| Risk | Early warning | Control |
|---|---|---|
| Incomplete inventory | URLs discovered after launch | Multiple crawl and data sources |
| Redirect chains | Old maps reused | Direct one-hop mapping |
| Content consolidation loss | Intent removed | Query and backlink review |
| Tracking break | Conversions disappear | Event QA before launch |
| Slow response | No monitoring owner | Launch command centre |
Measure outcomes—not activity.
Set a baseline and a 90-day target for each with your team before work begins.
Move from evidence to operating rhythm.
Days 1–30
Inventory, baselines, content decisions and migration rules
Exit evidenceBaseline, owners, approved requirements and risks
Days 31–60
Build mapping, implement, crawl staging and rehearse analytics
Exit evidenceWorking outputs, evidence and decision record
Days 61–90
Launch monitoring, issue triage, index validation and recovery backlog
Exit evidenceMeasured result, operating owner and next backlog
Speak the same language.
| Term | Plain-language meaning |
|---|---|
| 301 redirect | Permanent instruction from an old URL to a new one. |
| Canonical | Preferred URL for duplicate or similar content. |
| Noindex | Instruction not to include a page in search results. |
| XML sitemap | Machine-readable list of preferred URLs. |
| Redirect chain | Multiple redirects between origin and destination. |
| Rollback | Controlled return to the prior release. |
Know what you are actually buying.
301 redirect
In practice: A retired article is redirected to the closest useful replacement rather than the homepage.
Buyer decision: Review valuable old URLs one by one before launch.
Rollback
In practice: If critical forms or navigation fail after release, the team has a documented path to restore the prior version.
Buyer decision: Agree on a rollback trigger and owner before launch.
Can a migration preserve all our rankings?
No one can guarantee rankings. A disciplined inventory, redirect map, content review, rehearsal and post-launch monitoring reduce avoidable risk and make problems easier to correct.
Make your next conversation count.
Choose an outcome, explore a delivery model and check what your team can already prove. The result is a brief you can copy into a planning conversation—no contact details required.
Best when: Platform changes; structure mostly stays. Watch for: Hidden template and rendering changes.
Turn the guide into a decision.
Check your readiness, get a planning range or talk it through with us. Prefer the phone? Call 604.595.2495.