The mistake I see most often
SEO hands over a redirect sheet, development imports only the old URL and new URL columns, and all review notes disappear. Rows marked as uncertain go live as if they were approved. That is where migrations get expensive.
Another common one: the sitemap looks clean, but the old crawl, server logs and Search Console export were never merged. The team tests URLs that were already tidy, while old articles, filter pages and landing pages with backlinks stay out of sight.
Use this checklist alongside Google's documentation on site moves, redirects and sitemaps. Google's pages explain the rules. This page shows how I would run the checks.
When this checklist applies
I would use this approach whenever old URLs will no longer land on the same content by default. That includes a domain move, platform migration, redesign, headless build, international restructure or a large cleanup of old content.
- Platform migration: WordPress to Webflow, Magento to Shopify, a custom CMS to Next.js or a similar switch.
- Domain migration: a new brand domain, a merger of multiple sites or an international domain move.
- URL structure change: category paths, slugs, trailing slashes, locale paths or parameter logic change.
- Redesign: copy stays, but internal links, headings, schema, breadcrumbs and performance change.
- AI content cleanup: older pages are merged, rewritten or removed during the same migration.
Start with a redirect file development can actually use
Ask early which redirect format development can import. A tidy SEO spreadsheet is useless if it cannot be deployed. I use two layers: a deployable redirect file and an SEO review sheet with extra context.
At minimum, the deployable file should include:
- source URL;
- target URL;
- redirect status code, usually 301 unless there is a specific reason to use another status;
- rule type, such as exact URL, pattern or regex;
- notes for technical exceptions development needs to handle.
The SEO review sheet can include more context:
- old URL;
- old status code from the crawl;
- old canonical target;
- Search Console clicks and impressions;
- backlinks or internal links that make the URL important;
- proposed new URL;
- match type: exact, intent, consolidation, retire or review;
- confidence or review status;
- notes for SEO and development.
The hardest redirects are usually content decisions. What do you do with an old page that still has backlinks but no strong new equivalent? That choice should not disappear inside an import script.
Example redirect map
| Old URL | Suggested new URL | Match type | Confidence | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /blog/seo-migration-checklist | /articles/complete-seo-migration-guide-2026 | Similar content | 87% | Review |
| /category/shoes/red | /collections/red-shoes | Intent match | 92% | Ready |
| /old-sale-page | /sale | Consolidation | 64% | Manual review |
The 15 checks I would run
Before the migration
1. Export baseline data
Pull Search Console clicks and impressions, analytics sessions and conversions, backlinks, rank tracker data and indexed URLs. Keep dated exports. Screenshots will not help much three weeks later.
2. Merge several URL sources
Use the live crawl, XML sitemap, Search Console, backlinks and server logs. On larger sites, logs often reveal old URLs that are missing from the sitemap but still get crawled.
3. Label pages by risk
Homepage, category pages, top articles, conversion pages and backlink URLs go into a separate review group. I would never leave that group to automatic matching alone.
4. Decide what disappears
Some pages should go. Thin AI content, duplicate articles and expired campaign pages can be merged or retired. Make the decision and write down why.
5. Test the redirect format early
Ask development to import ten rows before the full sheet is done. Vercel, Next.js middleware, Nginx and Shopify all put limits in different places.
Staging and implementation
6. Crawl staging with the new templates
Check whether copy, breadcrumbs, structured data and internal links are visible server-side. With headless or JavaScript-heavy sites, the copy can appear in the browser while the crawl sees something different.
7. Match old and new crawls
Let URLMatcher handle the boring rows. Do not trust low-confidence matches blindly. That is where costly mistakes hide: discontinued products, changed category logic and pages with nearly identical titles.
8. Implement 301 redirects without extra hops
Test that old URLs land directly on the final destination. One extra hop sounds small, but it slows debugging on large migrations.
9. Check on-page SEO by template
Titles, meta descriptions, H1s, canonicals, schema, breadcrumbs and internal links need to work by template. A random URL sample often misses this class of problem.
10. Prepare sitemaps, robots and hreflang
The new sitemap should contain indexable canonical URLs only. Robots.txt can block staging, but production must be open. Hreflang should point to the new language variants.
Pre-launch and launch
11. Test by redirect type
Test exact matches, consolidations, retired pages, parameters, trailing slash variants, international URLs and top URLs from Search Console. Ten random URLs are not enough.
12. Check Core Web Vitals on important templates
In 2026 redesigns, I see risk around heavy client-side components, tracking scripts and images above the fold. Test more than the homepage.
13. Run a launch rehearsal
Walk through the launch runbook with SEO and development. Who activates redirects? Who checks robots? Who submits the sitemap? Who watches server errors? Put names next to tasks.
14. Check top URLs immediately after launch
Take the most important old URLs and check status code, final destination, canonical, indexability and analytics. Do that before everyone stares at the main traffic chart.
15. Watch the first weeks for real errors
Daily movement is normal. I care about old top URLs returning 404, new pages marked noindex, canonicals pointing to staging or the old domain, redirect loops and sitemaps filled with non-indexable URLs.
What I would not do
- I would not redirect every discontinued product to the homepage.
- I would not accept a redirect map without a separate review sheet containing old crawl status and old canonical targets.
- I would not test sitemap URLs only.
- I would not send low-confidence matches live without review.
- I would not judge a migration after 48 hours unless there are clear crawl or indexation errors.
Where URLMatcher helps
URLMatcher is not built to replace the SEO specialist. It keeps you from spending days on obvious one-to-one matches, so you can spend that time on URLs with revenue, backlinks or rankings attached.
The SEO Migration Tool shows how crawl input, redirect mapping, staging checks and monitoring fit together. Use the URL Mapping Tool for the redirect file itself.
The workflow is simple: upload the old crawl, upload the new crawl, generate match suggestions, filter by confidence, review the uncertain rows and export redirect rules for your platform. Clean crawls move quickly. Messy ecommerce migrations with removed products and changed category logic need more manual review. That is where the review queue earns its keep.
Conclusion
Migrations usually break through small assumptions: an incomplete crawl, an overly tidy sitemap, redirect notes dropped during import, canonicals pointing to staging, or a launch checklist with no owner.
The best migrations feel boring on launch day. Old top URLs land on sensible new pages, the sitemap matches the crawl, staging is out of the index, Search Console is ready and the uncertain rows have already been discussed. That is the goal.