Preserve what matters
Identify the pages, content, and useful paths people already depend on. Make their intended role part of the plan.
Pages · Content · Useful routesWebsite migration SEO
Move your website forward. Plan what needs to carry over.
Bring SEO into the migration plan before the launch. Define what is changing, map the important decisions, and give the team clear checks for the move and what follows.
PlanningURL decisionsLaunch checksFollow-up
A website move needs more than a launch date.
Know what should stay useful, what is changing, and how the team will check the result. Start with those decisions before choosing the implementation.
Define what changes
Separate changes to design, content, platform, and URLs. Their implications are not automatically the same.
Scope · Dependencies · Ownership
Verify the transition
Agree on launch checks and the review that follows. A deployment and a search outcome are different things.
Checks · Open items · Follow-upDifferent moves need different questions.
Use the planned change to define the review. A new design does not automatically mean new URLs, and a new platform does not define the whole scope.
Illustrative migration scenarios
Check what the new experience actually changes.
Review how important content, links, and page information are presented in the proposed templates. Identify what needs to remain consistent and what requires a new decision.
Which important page elements will change?Plan the work around the transition.
Define the review, implementation responsibilities, and follow-up before the launch becomes the deadline for every unanswered question.
01
Before launch
Build the reference point and resolve the decisions the launch depends on.
- Inventory
- Identify the relevant pages, templates, and available baseline evidence.
- Mapping
- Document intended destinations and content decisions.
- Review
- Check the proposed implementation and record open items.
OutputA migration plan with defined responsibilities.
02
At launch
Use an agreed check set to review what has actually been released.
- Page behavior
- Check the relevant destinations and accessible content.
- Implementation
- Review the agreed URL handling and page signals.
- Issues
- Record anything that needs action and identify its owner.
OutputA launch review with clear open decisions.
03
After launch
Separate implementation findings from the search observations that develop afterward.
- Validation
- Revisit the agreed changes and unresolved items.
- Observation
- Review relevant search and website evidence in context.
- Next work
- Prioritize follow-up tasks with the project team.
OutputA follow-up summary and next-action list.
Development, deployment, emergency support, and ongoing monitoring are included only where explicitly agreed.
See the move as a set of clear page decisions.
Follow three illustrative URLs through a simple migration plan. The point is a deliberate outcome for each page—not a blanket redirect rule.
Illustrative mapping example
Current pagesPlanned outcome
Confirm the intended outcome
/services/Service overview
/consulting/Consultation service
/old-event/Retired event with no replacement
Review the purpose before choosing the URL behavior.
A new website should come with a clear transition plan.
Connect the design and development work with the decisions that affect existing content and destinations. Make the change understandable before, during, and after release.
- Clear destinations.
- Know the intended outcome for important pages.
- Clear ownership.
- Know who implements and who reviews.
- Clear follow-up.
- Know which questions remain after launch.
Give the team something concrete to work from.
Agree on the outputs that fit the move. These examples show how the decisions can be made reviewable.
Example deliverables
Migration decision map
Current pages, intended outcomes, and the questions that need confirmation.
- Page
- Consultation service
- Decision
- Move to the equivalent new destination
- Dependency
- Confirm the target page
Launch review sheet
The agreed checks, their owners, and unresolved items that need a decision.
- Check
- Verify the intended destination
- Owner
- Assigned by the project team
- Status
- Recorded during the actual review
Follow-up summary
Implementation findings and available observations, with the next action clearly separated.
- Implementation
- Document what was checked
- Observation
- Record the relevant context
- Next
- Agree on the remaining work
Know what the launch check can confirm.
Did the agreed implementation reach production?
Review the released pages and the planned behavior. Record exceptions and make the next owner visible.
PlannedObservedOpen
What does the subsequent evidence show?
Review the available search and website observations over the agreed period. Keep their context separate from the fact that a release happened.
DatePage groupContext
A completed launch check is not a guarantee of stable rankings or traffic.
Migration questions worth resolving early.
Bring the relevant questions into the planning stage, while page roles, destinations, and implementation responsibilities can still be discussed. A review after release can help, but it is a different starting point.
Not automatically. First establish whether URLs are changing and what happens to the content they represent. A visual redesign and a change of address are different decisions.
Yes, the scope can include reviewing the affected page types, content, and technical behavior. Development and migration execution are separate responsibilities to confirm with the project team.
Review whether there is a genuinely relevant replacement. Deliberate removal can be an appropriate decision when there is none; redirecting everything to an unrelated destination is not a useful default.
That cannot be guaranteed. We focus on an intentional plan, appropriate checks, and useful follow-up rather than promising an unchanged search outcome.
Where suitable access is available, the scope can include checking relevant templates and planned behavior before launch. Production still needs its own checks after release.
The implementation owner is agreed for the project. We can prepare requirements and review notes; direct implementation is included only where explicitly scoped with the necessary access and responsibilities.
Launch participation, timing, escalation contacts, and any support window must be agreed. They are not automatically included in a planning review.
Start with the change history and the current evidence. We can discuss a focused post-launch investigation, without assuming that one observed problem explains the entire outcome.
They depend on the scope, the systems involved, available access, and the responsibilities required. Share the project context so those details can be discussed together.
Tell us what is changing—and where the project stands.
Share the website, the planned change, and the current project stage. We can use that context to discuss a focused migration scope.
Do not send credentials or confidential migration files in the first inquiry. A target date does not confirm availability.