Website Migration SEO Checklist

Migration SEO protects existing value

A website migration is risky when pages, URLs, metadata, internal links, and crawl rules change at the same time. The SEO job is to protect useful assets before the new site replaces the old one.

That means deciding what should stay, improve, merge, redirect, remove, or stay out of the index before templates, navigation, and content are locked.

• Current sitemap and crawl export
• Priority URLs with traffic, links, enquiries, or commercial value
• Old-to-new redirect map with owners
• Metadata, canonical, schema, and internal-link checks
• Post-launch monitoring for indexation, errors, and enquiry paths

Start with a URL inventory and decision map

The first migration deliverable should be a complete URL inventory. Each important route needs a decision: keep, improve, merge, redirect, remove, or noindex.

This protects the redesign from accidental deletion. It also gives developers, content owners, and stakeholders one shared source of truth before launch.

• Keep pages that already have a useful job and stable destination
• Improve pages where content, headings, proof, or CTAs need work
• Merge pages that split the same intent across weak routes
• Redirect removed URLs to the closest useful replacement
• Noindex pages that must stay public but should not be search targets

Check technical signals before launch

A migration checklist should compare the source and target site before go-live. Important pages should have crawlable content, unique metadata, matching canonicals, accurate structured data, and internal links that point to the final URLs.

Redirects should avoid chains, loops, and generic homepage fallbacks. The new sitemap and robots rules should support the migration plan rather than contradict it.

• Titles, descriptions, headings, and canonical URLs
• Sitemap inclusion and robots directives
• Breadcrumb, Article, Service, WebPage, and FAQ schema where visible content supports it
• Navigation, footer, blog, service, pricing, and work-page internal links
• Analytics, forms, conversion events, 404 handling, and browser QA

After launch, watch the recovery window

Migration work continues after deployment. Submit the new sitemap, check important pages manually, review Search Console coverage, inspect 404s and redirects, and confirm that forms and analytics still work.

Rankings can move during a migration. The practical aim is not to promise no movement; it is to reduce avoidable loss by making every important change deliberate and observable.

Migration SEO risk map

• Inventory: export current URLs, sitemap entries, priority pages, indexed pages, backlinks, and known redirects.
• Decisions: label each route keep, improve, merge, redirect, remove, or noindex before build sign-off.
• Signals: check metadata, canonicals, headings, schema, sitemap, robots, and internal links on the target site.
• Redirects: map old URLs to the closest useful final route and avoid chains, loops, or homepage dumping.
• Monitoring: inspect live pages, 404s, form routes, analytics, Search Console coverage, and query/page movement.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Launching the redesign before the old URL set has been exported and classified.
• Redirecting deleted pages to the homepage instead of the closest useful replacement.
• Changing content, URLs, metadata, and crawl rules at once without a post-launch monitoring plan.

What 760 Studios would review first

• Priority URLs to protect first
• Redirect map and canonical conflicts
• Post-launch checks for indexation, 404s, forms, and analytics

Studio note

760 Studios connects brand, content, UX, frontend quality, and search foundations so the recommendation is tied to the commercial job of the site, not a generic checklist.

Implementation notes for this guide

A useful implementation turns website migration SEO checklist into a route-level decision. The content owner should know which page answers the query, which buyer stage it supports, what proof is visible, which service or pricing page it links to, and how the next action is measured. Without that connection, even a good article can become isolated content that does not help a buyer or strengthen the wider site.

Before publication, check the rendered page rather than only the draft copy. The title, meta description, H1, intro, article sections, schema, internal links, sitemap entry, and CTA should all describe the same purpose. If the article supports a commercial service, the service route should link naturally from the guide and the guide should link back to the relevant service, pricing, work, or project-start path.

Evidence and launch checks to connect

• Confirm the article has one clear buyer question and one clear route owner.
• Connect the guide to at least one current service page and one next-step route.
• Use method proof, checklists, screenshots, or work records only where they are visible and supportable.
• Check metadata, canonical URL, structured data, sitemap inclusion, and mobile layout after build.
• Review the page after launch against search queries, internal-link paths, and enquiry quality.

This is how 760 Studios treats guide content as part of a larger decision system: each article should help someone compare options, reduce risk, and move into a practical next step without depending on exaggerated proof or search promises.