Website migration checklist

Moving a website is mostly bookkeeping. Write everything down before you touch anything, then check it all again after launch.

Before you change anything

The old site is your only record, so capture it while it is live.

1
List every page
Use your sitemap, your analytics and a crawl. Write down every address, including old ones that still get visits.
2
Save every title and description
These are what Google shows. Keep them next to each address.
3
Note your top pages
Look at Search Console and your analytics, so you know which pages cannot go missing.
4
Export your data
Contacts, form submissions, products and blog posts, whatever your platform allows.
5
Save your own images
Keep the originals. Check any stock photos, because a licence bought through a builder may not move with you.
6
List everything connected
Forms, booking tools, analytics, tracking tags, email and chat.

Keep the old site live the whole time.

1
Keep your addresses
Use the same URLs where you can. Every address you keep is a redirect you do not need.
2
Map a redirect for every changed address
One old address to one new address, with a 301, to the closest matching page.
3
Carry over titles and descriptions
Improve them on purpose, one at a time, not by accident.
4
Rebuild your structured data
Check that your business details, FAQs and other schema came across.
5
Compress your images
A rebuild is the time to stop shipping 3 MB photos.

Pick a quiet day, and have someone ready to answer the phone.

1
Lower your DNS TTL ahead of time
A day or two before, so the change takes effect quickly.
2
Point your domain
Check www and non-www, and that the HTTPS certificate is working.
3
Test every form
Send a real message and confirm it reaches a person.
4
Test the redirects
Open your old top pages and make sure each lands in the right place.
5
Check your email
Moving DNS can break email if the MX records do not come along.

Rankings can move for a while on any platform, so watch the numbers.

1
Submit the new sitemap
Add it in Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
2
Watch for 404s
Check Search Console for pages Google can no longer find, and add redirects.
3
Compare your numbers
Compare clicks, calls and form messages with the same weeks before the move.
4
Keep a copy of the old site
Hold on to your exports until you are sure nothing is missing.
5
Cancel last
Cancel the old platform only when everything above is done.

Type in your address. We tell you what it is built on, what you can take and what you would lose. It is free and takes a few seconds.