SEO site migration checklist for WordPress business sites

If your business site is moving to WordPress, changing domain or getting new URLs, this SEO site migration checklist breaks the work into three tables: before launch, the launch window and after launch. Each row names who does it, what access it needs and when it counts as done, and rows marked WordPress apply to WordPress sites only.

Every row works from the URL inventory

The URL inventory is the list the whole checklist checks against: old URLs with Google Search Console clicks or impressions over the past 16 months, URLs other sites link to, URLs Google has indexed and URLs in a current sitemap. Images and PDF files go on it too. Google’s site-move guide says to “Transfer images and downloads (such as PDF documents) that you host”, because “These might already be getting traffic from Google Search or links”¹.

In each table, Who is you, your developer or agency, or “You or an SEO” when a row needs someone who can read a crawl. Needs is the access the row depends on, such as Search Console, a crawler, analytics, server or database access, or WordPress admin. Done when is the test that closes the row, so a step is finished when its evidence exists.

Rows carry an ID by phase, B for before launch, L for the launch window and A for after launch, so a fix list, an email or a ticket can point at one row. The WordPress rows sit inside each phase, where their timing falls.

Before launch: baselines, URL inventory, redirect map and staging

The before-launch rows build the URL inventory and the redirect map, then check both on staging, before any visitor or crawler can see a mistake.

Rows B4, B5, B11 and B12 need a crawler and someone who reads its output against the map. If nobody on the project does that, hand the crawl steps to us: the Migration Map, from $1,390 / £1,090, builds the inventory and the map, and the Launch Check, from $590 / £470, runs the staging crawl, the launch-day checks and the crawls after launch.

Row B6 holds the decisions. A URL that stays on the same path needs no redirect, a moved page gets one 301 redirect to the closest new page, and a page dropped on purpose answers with a 404 or 410, the codes Google’s site-move guide names for deleted content¹. To build the map in a spreadsheet, start from a working redirect map template.

Row B10 has two halves because staging blocks can travel to the live site. Google’s site-move guide notes that “some site owners block all crawling while in development” and asks them to “prepare what the robots.txt file should look like once the site move starts”¹. A robots.txt block alone is weak cover for staging: Google’s crawler then “will never see the noindex rule”, and a blocked page “can still appear in search results, for example if other pages link to it”⁴.

Launch window: back up, switch, unblock, then check

The launch-window rows run in the order of the heading, inside an agreed window. Time the switch for a recurring dip in traffic, such as a quieter weekday, as Google’s site-move guide suggests¹.

Row L4 comes early because Google’s robots.txt documentation says the file is generally cached for up to 24 hours, and longer when Google cannot refresh it, for example after server errors³. A staging block copied to the live server can stay in force for Googlebot until that cache refreshes.

Row L7 checks the whole inventory, not a sample. A redirect rule can look right for the pages someone clicks in a browser and still send other inventory URLs to a 404, which is why Google’s site-move guide pairs the URL Inspection tool for single URLs with “command line tools or scripts to test large numbers of URLs”¹.

When the domain changes too

A domain change adds row L10, filed once the redirects are live by someone who owns both Search Console properties². The steps on the old domain itself, in launch order, are in the domain-change plan.

After launch: day 1 to day 30, then the year that follows

After launch, the inventory is crawled again on day 7 and day 30, and Search Console shows in between how Google is taking up the new URLs.

For row A3, Google’s site-move guide describes the start: “Initially, the sitemap containing the new URLs would have zero pages indexed, while the sitemap of the old URLs would have many pages indexed.”¹ The old count then falls as the new one rises, and warnings that old URLs redirect are expected on the old sitemap¹.

Row A7 is the longest-running row. Google’s site-move guide gives redirects a floor of “generally at least 1 year”¹, and they keep working only while the old URLs still answer, so the old domain’s renewal and the server’s redirect rules belong on the same calendar.

If clicks fall after launch

Compare the day-30 crawl with the B2 export before changing anything. If inventory URLs fail the crawl, the fix list comes first. If the drop has already happened and the crawls come back clean, a diagnosis that names the cause, from $490 / £390, separates migration defects from Google updates and tracking changes.

The WordPress rows and the behavior behind each one

WordPress adds rows because of how it builds URLs, stores addresses and handles staging; the SEO steps themselves stay the same.

If the site stays on WordPress and you would rather hand over the whole domain or URL structure change, WordPress moves with these checks run end to end, from $2,990 / £2,390.

Rows grouped by the access they need

The Needs column shows which rows depend on tools or access you may not have yet:

1. Search Console: B2, B5, B13, L7, L8, L10, A1, A3, A5 and A6. Row L10 needs an owner of both the old and the new property².
2. A crawler: B4, B5, B8, B11, B12, L6, L7, A2, A4 and A6. Screaming Frog’s free version stops at 500 URLs per crawl¹⁴, so a larger inventory needs a paid license or someone who holds one.
3. Server, database, registrar or WordPress admin: B7, B9, B10, L1 to L5 and A7, which sit with your developer, agency or host.
4. Analytics: B3, L9 and A5.
5. Nothing extra: B1 and B6, which need a spreadsheet and a decision-maker.

If the inventory is larger than a free crawl allows, or nobody can read a crawl export against the map, hand over the crawler rows and keep the rest.

Run the checklist yourself, or hand part of it over

If organic search brings in inquiries or sales, keep the rows you can finish with evidence and hand over the rest. Pick the line that fits your launch:

• Your developer or agency builds the site and you coordinate: keep B1 to B3, B6, L8 to L10 and A3 to A5, and hand the crawler rows to the SEO-only packages.
• You are leaving another platform for WordPress: have the platform switch done end to end, with the URL work inside the project.
• You run an agency: hand this checklist over as white-label work for a client’s launch.

Send the site URL, the launch date and a rough count of inventory URLs with your quote request.