Guide
Website migration checklist: keep your rankings
The step-by-step checklist we use to move or rebuild a website without losing search traffic: benchmark, URL mapping, redirects, launch day and the first 90 days. Based on Google's own site-move guidance.
VAULT 33|27 · Updated 12 November 2026 · Reviewed 12 November 2026 · 3 min read
Why migrations lose traffic
A new website changes addresses, content and code at the same time. If an old page that ranked has no permanent redirect to its new equivalent, Google eventually drops it, and the enquiries it produced go with it. Google's own guidance is clear that some temporary fluctuation is normal during a move, and that a medium-sized site can take a few weeks or more to settle. A careful migration keeps that dip small and short. A careless one can cost months.
Phase 1: before you build
| Task | Done |
|---|---|
| Export 12 months of traffic, enquiries and top landing pages from analytics | ☐ |
| Export clicks and queries by page from Google Search Console | ☐ |
| Crawl the old site and save every indexable URL | ☐ |
| List the pages that other websites link to | ☐ |
| Mark the pages that produce enquiries: these are untouchable | ☐ |
| Verify every version of the old and new site in Search Console | ☐ |
Phase 2: the URL map
Every old URL gets one destination on the new site. This spreadsheet is the most important document in the whole project.
| Old URL | New URL | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| /services/eicr.html | /eicr-certificates/ | Keep the content that ranks |
| /about-us.php | /about/ | |
| /blog/2019/old-news | /blog/ | Only if no closer match exists |
Rules from Google's guidance:
- Redirect each old URL to the most relevant new page, one to one wherever possible.
- Do not send many old pages to the homepage. Google may treat that as a soft error.
- Use server-side permanent redirects (301 or 308).
- Avoid chains such as old to older to new. Point straight to the final address.
Phase 3: build and test on staging
| Task | Done |
|---|---|
| Staging site blocked from search engines (noindex or password) | ☐ |
| Pages that ranked keep their substance: headings, key paragraphs, FAQs | ☐ |
| Titles and descriptions written for every important page | ☐ |
| Each page has a self-referencing canonical | ☐ |
| Internal links point to new URLs directly, not via redirects | ☐ |
| Structured data, hreflang and sitemap use the new URLs | ☐ |
| Every redirect in the map tested and returning one permanent hop | ☐ |
| Forms, calls, chat and booking tested end to end, with tracking firing | ☐ |
| Mobile speed checked on key templates | ☐ |
Phase 4: launch day
- Launch at a quiet time for your business.
- Remove the staging block from the live site. This single mistake causes more failed migrations than anything else.
- Switch on the redirects and test a sample of old URLs immediately.
- Submit the new XML sitemap in Search Console.
- If the domain changed, use Search Console's Change of Address tool. It is not needed for HTTP to HTTPS or www changes.
- Send a test enquiry through every form and channel.
Phase 5: the first 90 days
| When | Check |
|---|---|
| Daily for two weeks | Crawl errors, 404s, server errors and page indexing in Search Console |
| Week 2 | Rankings and clicks for your top 20 pages against the benchmark |
| Day 30, 60, 90 | Traffic and enquiries against the same period last year |
| Ongoing | Keep redirects in place for at least a year, ideally permanently |
Warning signs and what they mean
| Sign | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| Pages dropping out of the index | Noindex left on, or blocked in robots.txt |
| Many 404 errors from old URLs | Missing redirects in the map |
| Traffic stable but enquiries down | Forms, tracking or calls to action broken |
| Slow recovery after 8 weeks | Content removed from pages that used to rank |
Our website redesign and migration service runs this whole process, and the VAULT Business Audit is a quick way to check the new site's basics after launch.
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