VulCode

Website migration checklist

URL inventory, the redirect map, switch-over day and monitoring after the migration.

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Website migration checklist
From
old-studio.example.com
To
glina-studio.example.com
Switch-over
2026-11-16
Before the migration
  1. You change several things at once: consider spreading the changes so you can tell the cause of any drop.
  2. A list of old addresses from several sources: the sitemap, Search Console, analytics, server logs and the CMS database.
  3. A redirect map: every old address has its closest counterpart; with none, it returns 404 or 410, not the home page.
  4. Old redirects from earlier migrations lead straight to the new addresses, with no chains.
  5. The map tested with a script on a copy before switching.
The new site
  1. Each new page's canonical points to itself.
  2. Internal links lead straight to the new addresses.
  3. The new sitemap lists only new addresses.
  4. Blocks and noindex from the migration period are removed.
Switch-over day
  1. 301 or 308 redirects work from old-studio.example.com to glina-studio.example.com.
  2. The Search Console change of address run for every variant of the old domain, with and without www, and subdomains.
  3. The redirect map tested again in production.
Further in the document: After the migration.

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Migration
What changes
checklista-migracji.md
Website migration checklist

From: to be filled in

To: to be filled in

Before the migration

  • A list of old addresses from several sources: the sitemap, Search Console, analytics, server logs and the CMS database.
  • A redirect map: every old address has its closest counterpart; with none, it returns 404 or 410, not the home page.
  • Old redirects from earlier migrations lead straight to the new addresses, with no chains.
  • The map tested with a script on a copy before switching.

The new site

  • Each new page's canonical points to itself.
  • Internal links lead straight to the new addresses.
  • The new sitemap lists only new addresses.
  • Blocks and noindex from the migration period are removed.

Switch-over day

  • 301 or 308 redirects work.
  • The redirect map tested again in production.

After the migration

  • The Search Console page indexing report checked in the first days and weeks.
  • Redirects stay for at least a year, ideally forever.

When to use the migration checklist

One question settles it: do the URLs users see change? If they do, every old URL needs a redirect.

If you only change hosting or the CDN,

then the URLs stay the same: lower the DNS TTL before the move and keep the old server running while it still receives traffic.

If you move from HTTP to HTTPS,

then you need 301 redirects from every http URL to its https equivalent, without the Change of Address tool.

If you change the URL structure or the CMS, or rebuild the site,

then you need a full redirect map, new internal links and a new sitemap, and with a new CMS also a check of content and templates.

If you change the domain,

then on top of the redirect map, use the Change of Address tool in Search Console for every variant of the domain, with and without www.

If the domain, the CMS and the layout are all to change on one day,

then you have three possible causes of a drop and no way to tell them apart. Change one thing at a time.

What next: switch day and the months after it

After the switch, Google gradually replaces old URLs with new ones. Monitoring means checking that exactly this is happening.

You
or your vendor
  • Before the migrationThe old URL list, the redirect map and a scripted test
  • Switch dayRedirects switched on, the map tested in production
  • First weekServer logs: 404s and 5xx, whether the server copes
  • Weeks 2-8Page indexing and Performance with a date comparison
  • Months 2-6Whether traffic is back to its pre-migration level
Google
  • First weekGooglebot crawls the new URLs
  • Weeks 2-8 - Months 2-6Old URLs drop out of the index, new ones come in

  1. Redirects and the change of address

    You Google. With a domain change, you run the Change of Address tool for every variant of the old domain.

  2. New URLs in the results

    Google You. For a medium-sized site, replacing the old URLs with new ones can take a few weeks or longer.

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