SEO Migration Checklist: Move a Site Without Losing Rankings
Short answer: a migration keeps its rankings when every old URL that matters goes, in one step, to its closest new URL with a permanent (301 or 308) redirect, and the new site is crawlable, self-canonical and listed in a fresh sitemap. Map URLs before you move, update internal links and canonicals, flip the redirects, submit the new sitemap (and Change of Address if the domain changes), then watch Search Console and your logs for weeks. Keep the redirects for at least a year.
This checklist follows Google’s “Site moves with URL changes” guide, which covers HTTP to HTTPS moves, domain changes and URL structure changes. If only the hosting changes and URLs stay the same, that’s a different, simpler process.
1. Before the move: prepare
- Write down why you are moving and what changes: domain, protocol (HTTP to HTTPS), URL structure, CMS, or design only.
- Record a baseline: organic sessions and top landing pages (analytics), clicks and queries per page (Search Console), and indexed page counts.
- Verify the old and the new site in Search Console, including every variant (www, non-www, http, https).
- Set up the new site fully: TLS certificate for HTTPS, robots.txt that blocks only what should stay blocked.
- Keep the staging site out of search with a password, not just robots.txt.
2. Build the URL map
- List every old URL from your sitemaps, server logs, the CMS and analytics, including images and videos that get traffic.
- Map each old URL to its closest new URL, one to one where possible.
- Decide what isn’t moving: those URLs should return 404 or 410, not redirect to the homepage.
- Pay most attention to pages with traffic, conversions or backlinks.
3. Update the new site
- Self-referencing canonical tags on every new page.
- hreflang annotations updated to the new URLs if you have language versions.
- Internal links, navigation, and structured data pointing to new URLs directly, not through redirects.
- A new XML sitemap listing only the new, final URLs.
4. Launch day
- Turn on server-side permanent redirects (301 or 308), each old URL straight to its final new URL, no chains.
- Remove any noindex or robots.txt blocks left over from staging.
- Test a sample of old URLs: one redirect, then a 200 on the right page.
- Run URL Inspection on key new pages.
- Domain or subdomain change only: submit the Change of Address in Search Console.
- Submit the new sitemap. While you monitor, keep the old-URL sitemap submitted too, so Google sees the redirects; its redirect warnings are expected.
5. After the move: monitor
- Search Console: Sitemaps and Page indexing reports for the new site, and queries and clicks for both.
- Server logs: Googlebot crawling the old and new URLs, and any unexpected 404 or 5xx errors.
- Analytics: old-site traffic should fall as new-site traffic rises. Compare top landing pages with your baseline.
- Ask sites with important backlinks to update their links to the new URLs.
- Once the move is complete, remove the old sitemap and keep only the new one.
- Keep the redirects for at least a year, ideally permanently.
Test your redirects in one line
# old-urls.txt: one old URL per line
while read -r u; do
curl -s -o /dev/null -L -w "%{http_code} %{num_redirects} $u -> %{url_effective}\n" "$u"
done < old-urls.txt
# good: "200 1 ..." chain: num_redirects > 1 broken: final code not 200For the new sitemap, the free sitemap checker tests 30 URLs live and lists any that redirect, return errors, carry noindex or point their canonical elsewhere, which are the classic post-migration mistakes. More on redirects: Page with redirect.
The mistakes that cost rankings
- Unmapped URLs that 404 after launch, especially ones with backlinks.
- Mass redirects to the homepage, which Google warns against.
- Redirect chains (old to interim to new) instead of one hop.
- Staging settings left on: noindex, a
Disallow: /in robots.txt, or password protection. - Canonicals or internal links still pointing to old URLs.
- Removing redirects too early, before Google and other sites have caught up.
HTTP to HTTPS moves
A switch to HTTPS is a site move with URL changes, so the same checklist applies: redirect every http URL to its https version, update canonicals and internal links, and submit an https sitemap. Change of Address isn’t used for this. Details in HTTPS and SEO.
Frequently asked questions
Will I lose rankings when I migrate my site?
Expect some movement. Google says rankings fluctuate while it recrawls and reindexes the site. A well-mapped move with one-step 301 redirects usually settles; most losses come from missing redirects, redirects to irrelevant pages, or blocked or noindexed new pages.
How long does a site migration take to settle in Google?
Google says that for a small to medium site, most pages can move in a few weeks; larger sites take longer.
How long should I keep the 301 redirects?
As long as possible. Google’s guidance is generally at least one year, and keeping them indefinitely is fine.
Do I need the Change of Address tool?
Only when the domain or subdomain changes. It isn’t used for HTTP to HTTPS moves or URL path changes on the same domain.
Should I redirect every old URL to the homepage?
No. Google warns against sending many old URLs to an irrelevant page such as the homepage. Redirect each URL to its closest equivalent, and let truly removed pages return 404 or 410.