# Website migration SEO checklist

> A practical checklist for moving a website without losing search traffic: URL inventory, redirects, metadata, media, launch checks and the first weeks after.

URL: https://typeroll.com/blog/website-migration-seo-checklist/  
Updated: 2026-11-02

GUIDE · 1 NOVEMBER 2026

A migration is the moment a website is most likely to lose search traffic. Most losses come from a few avoidable mistakes: URLs that disappear, metadata that is not carried over and launches that are not checked. This checklist works for any platform; the notes say how Typeroll handles each step.

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[Migrate from WordPress](https://typeroll.com/migrate/wordpress-to-astro/)

![](https://typeroll.com/media/75ea367c5dbdcd85-scenes-page-migration-seo-checklist-tight.webp)

## 1. Before you start

- Record a baseline in Search Console: top queries, top pages and the number of indexed pages.
- Crawl the old site.
- Export every public URL, including images and PDFs that rank.

## 2. Give every URL a destination

Every old URL keeps its path or gets a 301 redirect to the closest equivalent. Never send everything to the home page.

*Typeroll:* the migration URL inventory records every old URL, and the URL check reports any without a destination.

## 3. Carry the content over

Titles, meta descriptions, headings, body text, internal links, alt text, canonical tags and structured data.

## 4. Keep media findable

Keep image URLs or redirect them, and keep file names meaningful.

## 5. Check the technical basics

`robots.txt`, sitemaps, noindex only on staging, hreflang, the trailing-slash policy, HTTPS and Core Web Vitals.

*Typeroll:* a staging or temporary address is kept out of search engines by the platform, so the site itself does not need a noindex setting during the migration.

## 6. Launch day

Switch DNS only after the new site is verified. Submit the new sitemap, then spot-check redirects and the top pages.

## 7. The first four weeks

Watch coverage and 404 errors in Search Console, compare queries and clicks with the baseline, and fix redirect chains.

[Migration SEO checklist in the docs](https://typeroll.com/docs/guides/migration-seo-checklist/) · [Search Console](https://typeroll.com/docs/guides/search-console/)

## Related

- [Migrate from WordPress to Astro](https://typeroll.com/migrate/wordpress-to-astro/)
- [SEO](https://typeroll.com/features/seo/)
- [WordPress alternative](https://typeroll.com/wordpress-alternative/)

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