Short answer: a safe migration comes down to four things: a full inventory of what you have, a tested copy on the new platform, a redirect for every old URL, and a monitored switch-over. Skip any of them and traffic or data tends to disappear.
This checklist applies whether you are moving host, changing platform (for example WooCommerce to Shopify) or redesigning on the same system.
Before you touch anything
1. Back up everything. Files, database, media and settings. Store the backup somewhere other than the old server, and confirm you can restore it.
2. Record how the site performs today. Save your current traffic, top pages, rankings for important keywords and conversion numbers. You will compare against them afterwards.
3. Crawl the old site. List every URL, title, description, heading and redirect. A crawling tool or your sitemap is a good start. This list is the backbone of the project.
4. Decide what to keep, merge or remove. Pages with traffic or links should be kept or redirected to the closest match. Old thin pages can be merged. Do not delete a page that ranks without a plan.
5. Freeze changes. Agree a date after which content on the old site stops changing, or plan how to sync late changes.
Build and test the new site on a staging copy
6. Build in a private environment. Block search engines on staging with a password or a noindex rule, then remove the block at launch. Forgetting this is one of the most common launch mistakes.
7. Move the content and data. Pages, posts, products, variants, customers, orders and media. Check a sample by hand: images, formatting, prices, categories.
8. Recreate the features. Forms, search, payments, shipping rules, tax settings, email notifications, tracking and integrations.
9. Keep the SEO fundamentals. Titles, descriptions, headings, image alt text, canonical tags, structured data and internal links should come across. Better yet, improve them.
10. Test like a customer. Place a test order, submit every form, try on a phone, and click every menu link.
Redirects: where rankings are won or lost
11. Map old URLs to new URLs. Use a spreadsheet with two columns. Send each old address to the most relevant new page with a permanent (301) redirect, not to the home page.
12. Test the redirect list. Run every old URL and confirm it returns a single 301 to a live page. Chains and loops waste ranking signals.
13. Check the small things. Old image URLs, PDF files, feeds, and URLs with parameters can still receive traffic.
Launch day
14. Pick a quiet time and tell the team.
15. Lower DNS time-to-live a day or two in advance so the switch propagates quickly.
16. Switch the site. Update DNS or the host, install the SSL certificate and confirm the site loads on the right domain with HTTPS. Pick one version (with or without www) and redirect the other.
17. Remove the staging block. Make sure search engines can crawl the live site, and that your robots file and sitemap are correct.
18. Test again on the live domain. Orders, forms, payments, tracking and email.
After launch
19. Submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
20. Watch for errors. Check crawl errors, 404 pages and server logs daily for the first two weeks. Fix missing redirects immediately.
21. Compare performance. Review traffic and rankings against your baseline. A small dip for a few weeks can be normal after a big change. A continuing drop means something is wrong.
22. Keep the old site and backup for a while. Do not cancel the old hosting until you are sure everything is safe.
23. Set up maintenance. Updates, backups, monitoring and security checks should be in place from day one. See our care plans.
Common mistakes
- Redirecting everything to the home page.
- Leaving "discourage search engines" switched on after launch.
- Forgetting tracking codes on the new site.
- Changing URLs unnecessarily.
- Cancelling the old host too early.
- Not testing checkout with real payment methods.
Moving between ecommerce platforms
Store migrations add products, variants, customers, orders and gift cards to the list. Do a trial import first, compare totals, and keep order history accessible. If you are considering a move, read Shopify vs WooCommerce and see our store migration help.
Need a safe pair of hands? Ask us about a managed migration and we will give you a plan, timeline and estimate before we start.
Common questions
How long does a migration take? A small brochure site can move in days. A large store with thousands of products, custom features and many redirects takes weeks, mostly for testing. Plan time for review, not just the transfer.
Will I lose rankings? A short fluctuation can happen even with perfect work. Loss is far more likely when redirects, titles, content or page speed change for the worse. Following this checklist keeps the risk low.
Should I change the design at the same time? It is possible, but doing both at once makes problems harder to trace. If rankings matter a lot, consider moving first and redesigning afterwards, or at least keep URLs and key content stable.
Do I need downtime? Usually not. Building the new site in parallel and switching DNS at a quiet time means visitors see little or no interruption.
What we send you before a migration
A written plan with scope, timeline and milestones, the list of URLs and redirects, a test plan, a rollback plan and a clear estimate. If you would like one, request a migration plan.
Tell us what is not working and we will map the fix.
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