AI Growth Systems
Website redesign and SEO migration checklist
A website redesign needs a URL inventory, content comparison, redirect plan and post-release checks. No migration process can guarantee unchanged search rankings.
Website redesign and SEO migration checklist: what does the guide cover?
Start a redesign inventory while the current website is still accessible. Collect important URLs from navigation, available sitemaps and authorized search reports.
Record what exists before replacing it
Start a redesign inventory while the current website is still accessible. Collect important URLs from navigation, available sitemaps and authorized search reports. Record the page purpose and whether the URL will stay, move or be removed. Preserve useful service details and source attribution during the content comparison.
Map moved URLs to relevant destinations. HTTP redirects send a request to another address; their status and destination need testing independently from the new page design. [1] A successful redirect to an unrelated homepage is still a poor replacement for a useful service page.
Check internal links against the final map, then review canonical and language annotations. Keep the inventory outside the publishing system so the team can use it even if the old site becomes unavailable during the change.
Verify the release against the inventory
Before release, select representative paths for every page template and every changed routing rule. Check the response code, visible main content, canonical URL and language counterpart. Test the contact path in an approved environment without sending artificial inquiries to real customers or recipients. Write down the acceptance result and remaining limitations.
After release, repeat the checks on the actual domain. Review unexpected missing pages and redirect destinations promptly. Search Console can provide later observations when access is authorized, but a build result is not indexing evidence.
Keep the old URL map, release reference and rollback instructions available to the person responsible for the launch. Compare search changes over a stated period and avoid attributing every movement to the redesign without supporting evidence.