The Website Migration SEO Checklist Consultants Use

Site migrations are where rankings go to die — or where smart teams gain ground by fixing years of cruft. This checklist is the sequence agency consultants follow.

Before launch

1. Baseline crawl

Run a full Website Audit on the current site. Export issue counts — this is your "before" snapshot.

2. Map every URL

Build a redirect map: old URL → new URL. One-to-one is ideal; avoid chains longer than one hop.

3. Staging audit

Crawl staging with the same settings as production. Fix:

• Duplicate titles and meta descriptions
• Orphan pages (no internal links)
• Broken internal links
• Missing canonicals on paginated content

4. Copy what works

Run SEO Analyze on top traffic pages (from Search Console). Ensure new templates preserve title patterns, schema, and internal link equity.

Launch day

• Submit updated sitemap in Search Console
• Monitor Index Coverage for spike in errors
• Keep old hosting live with redirects for at least 90 days

After launch (week 1–4)

1. Re-crawl production — compare to pre-migration crawl

2. Track priority keywords in Rank Tracker

3. Watch GSC clicks on migrated URLs — impressions without clicks often means snippet or intent mismatch

Red flags

| Signal | Likely cause |

|--------|----------------|

| 404 spike in GSC | Missing redirects |

| Rankings drop on unchanged URLs | Cannibalisation or lost internal links |

| Crawl budget waste | Faceted URLs not blocked |

Automate the boring parts

Schedule monthly crawls post-migration. SEO Analyzer flags regressions before clients notice.

Ready to baseline your site? Start a free crawl after signing up.