The Ultimate Website Migration Checklist for SEO Success in 2025

Website migration is the process of moving a website from one environment or platform to another. Examples include changing the domain name, moving from one web hosting provider to another, upgrading from the HTTP protocol to HTTPS, moving from one Content Management System (CMS) to another, and restructuring a site’s design or content. 

While website migration is vital in certain circumstances, it has inherent search engine optimization (SEO) risks if not handled correctly. A website can lose traffic and search engine rankings. 

The SEO landscape is evolving in 2025 with elements like AI in search, Core Web Vitals, and E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness). It’s crucial to ensure your website is competitive and future-proofed to maintain visibility after moving it. 

This SEO migration checklist discusses how to mitigate risks and ensure SEO integrity. 

Understanding Website Migrations: Types and Their SEO Implications

Website migrations vary based on the scope of work and the specific changes being made. Each type has unique SEO challenges. 

This website migration guide discusses two primary types:

Site Moves Involving URL Changes

Website migrations that involve URL changes include:

• Domain name change: This usually happens when a business changes its name or target audience to enhance its brand, after mergers/acquisitions, or for legal reasons. 
• Subdomain/subfolder migration: A subdomain, which is usually placed before the domain name in a URL, separated by a period, creates distinct sections of a website. It can be treated as a separate site because it has its own URL. A subfolder, placed after the main domain name, separated by a slash, categorizes and organizes content within the same website. Moving content from a subdomain to a subfolder or vice versa is a type of website migration. 
• TLD change: Top-level domain (TLD) is the last part of a domain name located after the last dot. Examples are .com, .org, and .net. A business may change its website’s domain extensions.
• HTTP to HTTPS: HTTPS provides crucial security through encryption, which is why many businesses migrate to this protocol. 
• Site structure change: This means reorganizing a website’s content and hierarchy. For example, when a business moves a page from an older category to a new one, or when multiple pages are merged, or a single one is divided into several.

If users browse using the old URL, they will get a 404 “Not Found” error, which can lead to poor user experience and loss of traffic. Search engines will also de-index the broken old pages, which can affect their rankings and that of your overall website.

It’s crucial to set 301 redirects (permanent redirection) for moved pages to redirect users and search engines to the new URLs. This helps maintain organic traffic and rankings.

Site Moves That Do Not Involve URL Changes

Some types of website migrations do not involve URL changes. Examples include changing platforms (replatforming), major content or design changes, and mobile optimization. Although these changes are less risky, they still pose threats to metadata, site speed, and crawlability.

For instance, updating content with heavier visuals can affect a page’s speed. Or moving to a new platform or rearranging content may affect schema markup. Therefore, search engines may no longer recognize your website or content, leading to a loss of rich results. Moreover, moving your website to a CMS that does not support its website’s schema implementation can result in incomplete or incorrect markup.

Common Website Migration Types and Their SEO Implications

The Comprehensive SEO Website Migration Checklist 2025

SEO for website migration is done in three phases. These include pre-migration planning, launch day execution, and post-migration monitoring. You will need to observe these website migration best practices in all stages to have a successful move.

A. Phase 1: Pre-Migration Planning and Preparation

This is the foundation for a seamless transition in site migration for SEO in 2025. It entails defining your objectives and focusing on data collection, auditing, and strategic planning.

1. Define Migration Purpose and Scope

Why are you migrating your website? What are you moving? Understanding your purpose and scope will guide your SEO efforts.

2. Comprehensive SEO Audit and Performance Benchmarking

Conduct an SEO audit for migration to know how your current website is performing. This includes technical SEO, content, and backlink audits. You should also measure and evaluate key performance indicators like speed, responsiveness, rankings, traffic, Core Web Vitals, and overall site efficiency against industry standards or competitors. This information will be vital when measuring success post-migration. 

3. URL Mapping and 301 Redirect Strategy

This is the most critical step. Create a list of old URLs to be redirected and new URL pairs. You will then set up 301 permanent redirects from the old URLs to the new ones and check the redirect map to confirm all redirects are working correctly. Moreover, use canonical tags for SEO to show search engines the preferred version of the pages, ensuring they index the correct pages. Consider using a spreadsheet when employing this redirect mapping strategy.

4. Staging Site Setup and Optimization

Use a staging site to test changes, updates, and new features before publishing them to the public. Block search engine access and any other unauthorized access. You should conduct a full technical SEO audit on the staging site.

5. XML Sitemap and Robots.txt Optimization

Review the staging site’s XML sitemap to ensure it includes all updated URLs. Pay attention during XML sitemap migration to avoid costly mistakes. Also check that your robots.txt file is correctly configured. Implement robots.txt optimization strategies to guide search engine crawlers.

6. Internal Linking for SEO Audit and Plan

A reliable internal linking strategy is crucial in SEO. You will need to review and update all internal links to point directly to new URLs to ensure users are directed to the appropriate pages.

7. Structured Data Migration Planning

Check that existing structured data is correctly transferred and updated based on the requirements of the new website or CMS. Structured data migration ensures data integrity and correct organization in the new environment.

8. Google Search Console and Analytics Setup

Add your new URLs as properties in Google Search Console and verify ownership. You also need to perform a Google Analytics 4 (GA4) setup for accurate tracking. Consider linking these two to always get a complete picture of your website’s performance.

9. Stakeholder Communication and Team Involvement

Website migration planning should involve all teams, including development, design, content, SEO, and leaders, for a coordinated effort.

10. Full Website Backup

Create a complete copy of all website data and configurations to act as a safety net if issues arise during migration.

B. Phase 2: Launch Day Execution

Launch day execution is a high-stakes, time-sensitive period. You should precisely time when to go live to minimize customer disruptions, preserve SEO rankings, and allow for troubleshooting. Site migration for SEO in 2025 requires caution. 

Here is what to do on launch day:

1. Launch During Low-Traffic Hours

It’s highly recommended to schedule a launch during off-peak hours. This is because fewer users will be interacting with your website. Additionally, it gives your team a window to fix unexpected problems before peak hours.

2. Remove Temporary Blocks

Remove all the temporary blocks you set during the development stage, such as noindex/nofollow tags or password protections, from the live site so both search engines and users can access it.

3. Implement and Verify 301 Redirects

Confirm the activation and testing of the redirect map, ensuring the server responds with a 301 status code and a “location” header containing the new URL.

4. Update DNS Settings

Update your DNS (domain name system) settings by updating the IP addresses or nameservers to point to your new hosting location.

5. Configure Website Settings and SSL Certificate

To ensure proper functionality, verify permalinks and URL structure. In addition, verify or adjust your web server configuration and update your website’s configuration files. To maintain security, obtain and install SSL certificate.

6. Submit Updated XML Sitemap To Google Search Console

Submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console for Google to discover and index the new URLs. Immediate Google Search Console migration accelerates indexing.

7. Check Robots.txt File

Verify your robots.txt configuration to allow essential crawling. You can use Google Search Console’s robots.txt report to see performance metrics.

8. Verify No Broken Links or Missing Pages (Initial Scan)

Use website crawling software or online tools to crawl the entire migrated website and identify all broken links and 404 errors. Correct any identified errors. For example, implement 301 redirects for all identified 404 errors and update internal links.

9. Test Critical Functionalities

You need to verify critical functionalities now that the site is live. These include contact/inquiry/account registration forms, checkout, product search/filtering, links to social media profiles, calls-to-action, and so on.

10. Update Google Search Console and Analytics Properties

Use GSC’s “change of address” tool (if applicable), and ensure analytics tracking is active.

C. Phase 3: Post-Migration Monitoring and Optimization

This is a critical phase that involves regular monitoring and active optimization. At this point, many users have already interacted with the changes you made. Thus, you have enough information to understand your website’s performance and make necessary adjustments.

1. SEO Performance Monitoring (Daily/Weekly)

Conduct daily and then weekly SEO performance monitoring by tracking relevant metrics, such as keyword rankings, organic traffic, conversions, and indexation. This helps you to identify and fix any SEO issues.

2. Google Search Console Monitoring and Error Resolution

Use GSC to monitor your site’s performance in Google Search. Monitor the reports for 404 errors, sitemap errors, and security issues, and solve any identified errors. You should also track performance metrics and the Core Web Vitals report.

3. Identify and Fix Broken Links/Redirect Chains

Continuously scan your website to identify and resolve internal broken links and long redirect chains to maintain a positive user experience. 

4. Update External Links

Identify high-authority sites linking to your old URLs and then contact them. Clearly inform them that you made changes to your site and are requesting them to update their links to direct users to your new pages to preserve their user experience and your SEO.

5. Ongoing Internal Linking Optimization

Perform regular audits after migration to detect and fix broken internal links. It can be beneficial to understand how users move when interacting with your site to adjust your internal linking accordingly to improve user experience.

6. Post-Launch SEO Audit

Besides internal links, you should do a post-launch SEO audit to monitor your rankings, indexing, traffic, mobile issues, speed, duplicate content, and lost metadata after the initial recovery period, which typically lasts 30 to 60 days.

7. User Experience (UX) and Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

Monitor user behavior metrics like bounce rate, time on page, pages per session, conversion rate, and exit rate, and optimize based on insights.

8. Security Audits

Conduct regular security updates to identify and correct vulnerabilities. Ensure you also track the implemented security improvements over time.

9. User Feedback

Soliciting and responding to user feedback is critical. You want to learn from users about their experience and make necessary changes. Have a team closely monitoring customer support to provide timely responses.

Common SEO Migration Mistakes To Avoid

The common mistakes to avoid concerning SEO for website migration include:

• Incorrect indexation: Missing/incorrect redirects, unupdated internal links/sitemap, and neglected canonical tags can cause incorrect indexation.
• Losing content/metadata: Forgetting to export and import all content and metadata is a problem.
• Ignoring internal links: Not updating internal links to your new URLs leads to a poor user experience. 
• Poor 301 implementation: Making mistakes during 301 implementation can lead to issues like redirecting to irrelevant pages and redirect loops.
• Neglecting post-migration monitoring: Failing to monitor makes it difficult to tell if the new site is stable or achieving the intended purpose.
• Lack of communication: When a business’s internal teams fail to communicate, mistakes like delays or loss of data are more likely to happen. It’s also important for a business to communicate with users about upcoming changes.
• Not backing up the old site: If you fail to back up the old site, and unfortunately lose data or end up with a corrupted file(s), you may have to go through an expensive and time-consuming recovery process.

These mistakes have a ripple effect. For instance, ignoring internal links leads to poor user experience, which can cause loss of traffic and potential customers, translating to loss of revenue.

Essential Tools for a Smooth SEO Migration

Technology is crucial in website migration SEO, as it ensures precision and efficiency. Numerous tools that are vital in migration are available. 

Examples include:

Conclusion

Migration is manageable with a strategic, phased approach. You can maintain rankings and a positive user experience. Levy Online offers reliable SEO migration services. We have a team of skilled Las Vegas SEO specialists who help businesses eliminate the chances of mistakes during website migration. 

We also offer a wide range of digital marketing services, including local SEO migration, website redesign SEO, structured data optimization, core web vitals optimization, and link-building. We are dedicated to helping businesses grow. 

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