A redesign, platform change or domain move is one of the riskiest moments in a website’s life. Done carelessly, it can wipe out years of search traffic overnight. Done carefully, traffic usually settles back to normal quickly, and often improves.
Here’s the checklist I follow for migrations, split into before, during and after launch.
Types of Migration
Not every migration carries the same risk.
| Migration type | Example | Risk to rankings |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting move | Moving to a new server | Low, if URLs don’t change |
| Redesign | New theme or layout, same URLs | Low to medium |
| Platform change | Moving from React or Wix to WordPress | Medium to high |
| URL structure change | Changing how URLs are organized | High |
| Domain change | Moving to a new domain name | High |
The more URLs and content change, the more planning you need.
Before Launch
1. Benchmark Your Current Performance
Record where you stand so you can spot problems later.
- Export top pages by clicks and impressions from Google Search Console
- Record rankings for your most important keywords
- Export your top landing pages from Google Analytics
- Note which pages have the most backlinks
2. Crawl the Existing Site
Crawl the current site with a tool like Screaming Frog and save the full list of URLs, titles, meta descriptions, headings and canonicals. This becomes your master list.
3. Build a Redirect Map
This is the most important step. Map every old URL to the most relevant new URL.
- Use 301 (permanent) redirects.
- Redirect to the closest equivalent page, not everything to the homepage.
- Include old URLs with backlinks, even if they’re no longer in your navigation.
- Don’t forget images, PDFs and other files that get traffic.
4. Preserve What Works
Carry over titles, meta descriptions, headings, body content, internal links and structured data for pages that rank well. A redesign is a good time to improve content, but changing everything at once makes it hard to know what caused any drop.
5. Build and Test on a Staging Site
- Keep the staging site blocked from indexing so it doesn’t compete with your live site.
- Crawl the staging site and compare it with your master list.
- Test forms, checkout, tracking and key user journeys.
Launch Day
The most common migration disasters happen in the first hour. Check these immediately:
- Remove the staging noindex. This is the single most common migration mistake.
- Check robots.txt isn’t blocking the site.
- Test a sample of redirects, especially top pages and pages with backlinks.
- Confirm canonical tags point to the new URLs, not staging or old URLs.
- Submit the new XML sitemap in Search Console.
- Check analytics and conversion tracking are recording data.
- For domain changes, use the Change of Address tool in Search Console.
After Launch
Monitor Closely for Several Weeks
- Watch the Pages report in Search Console for new indexing errors
- Check for 404s and fix any missed redirects
- Compare clicks, impressions and rankings with your benchmark
- Re-crawl the site to catch broken internal links
Expect Some Fluctuation
A short-term dip while Google processes the changes is normal, particularly for platform and domain changes. A sharp, sustained drop usually points to missing redirects, lost content, noindex tags or blocked pages.
Real Example: Rebuilding a Next.js Site in WordPress
In one project, I reverse-engineered a production Next.js website and rebuilt it section by section in WordPress and Divi, matching the design while making the content fully editable. You can read how that project worked.
Get Help Before You Launch
It’s much easier to protect rankings than to recover them. If you’re planning a redesign, platform change or domain move, my website rebuilds and migrations service covers benchmarking, redirect mapping, staging checks and post-launch monitoring.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take for rankings to recover after a migration?
For well-planned migrations, traffic often settles within a few weeks. Larger changes such as domain moves can take longer.
Should I redirect all old pages to the homepage?
No. Redirect each old page to its most relevant new equivalent. Mass redirects to the homepage are often treated like broken pages.
Can I recover traffic lost in a bad migration?
Often, yes. Restoring missing redirects, content and metadata can bring much of it back, especially if the problem is caught early.
