# Website migration SEO checklist: before, during, and after launch

Source: https://lindo.ai/guides/website-migration-seo-checklist
Reviewed: 2026-09-03
Prepared by: Lindo Team

An editable project worksheet, not a guarantee of compatibility or rankings.

## Project brief

- Client / site:
- Source platform and account owner:
- Destination and account owner:
- Reason for moving:
- Critical visitor action:
- Content owner:
- Technical / DNS owner:
- Billing owner (separate approval):
- Planned cutover and content freeze:
- Rollback owner and trigger:
- Archive location (keep private):

## Scope

Inventory valuable URLs, preserve paths where possible, map every change, and verify the live response after cutover. These checks reduce avoidable risk; they cannot guarantee unchanged rankings.

Good fit: Agencies changing the CMS or builder behind an existing site, whether the domain stays the same or the project also changes URLs.

Pause if: A substitute for a specialist plan for a large international site, complex domain consolidation, or a migration with major content removal.

## Acceptance checklist

### 1. Save dated URL, search, analytics, and lead baselines

- [ ] Complete
- Owner:
- Test / evidence link:
- Result and date:
- Exception / approved change:

### 2. Mark important landing pages, backlinks, and downloads

- [ ] Complete
- Owner:
- Test / evidence link:
- Result and date:
- Exception / approved change:

### 3. Assign keep, move, merge, or retire to every source URL

- [ ] Complete
- Owner:
- Test / evidence link:
- Result and date:
- Exception / approved change:

### 4. Verify rendered metadata, canonicals, and public indexability

- [ ] Complete
- Owner:
- Test / evidence link:
- Result and date:
- Exception / approved change:

### 5. Test redirects at the post-cutover serving layer

- [ ] Complete
- Owner:
- Test / evidence link:
- Result and date:
- Exception / approved change:

### 6. Check root/www, HTTP/HTTPS, and genuine missing-page responses

- [ ] Complete
- Owner:
- Test / evidence link:
- Result and date:
- Exception / approved change:

### 7. Run a production enquiry and verify tracking

- [ ] Complete
- Owner:
- Test / evidence link:
- Result and date:
- Exception / approved change:

### 8. Review the live sitemap and search verification

- [ ] Complete
- Owner:
- Test / evidence link:
- Result and date:
- Exception / approved change:

### 9. Record launch changes and investigate URL-level defects

- [ ] Complete
- Owner:
- Test / evidence link:
- Result and date:
- Exception / approved change:

### 10. Keep the redirect map, recovery record, and ownership handoff

- [ ] Complete
- Owner:
- Test / evidence link:
- Result and date:
- Exception / approved change:

## URL map

Examples below are illustrative. Replace with the actual source URLs.

| Source URL | Keep / move / merge / retire | Destination | Expected response | Tester / evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| /services/roof-repair | Keep | /services/roof-repair | 200 | |
| /roof-repair.html | Move | /services/roof-repair | 301 then 200 | |
| /summer-offer-2022 | Retire | No relevant replacement | 404 or 410 | |

## Dependency register

| Source feature | Business purpose | Destination / replacement | Owner | Acceptance test | Blocker? |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Contact form | Send enquiries to sales | Confirm service | | Test inbox + CRM delivery | Yes until tested |

## Launch decision

- [ ] Client approved content and intentional removals
- [ ] Business actions passed with evidence
- [ ] URLs, redirects, metadata, and public indexability checked
- [ ] Domain change approved; email records preserved
- [ ] Billing changes separately authorized, if any
- [ ] Backup and rollback path available
- [ ] Production enquiry and analytics verified after cutover
- Approved by / date:
- Open exceptions and owners:
- Next review date:

## Primary sources used in the guide

- [Google: what to expect during a site move](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes)
- [Google: hosting changes without URL changes](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-no-url-changes)