Checklist: SEO migration in a website relaunch
For: Companies before a website relaunch
Updated: 2026-11
Visibility is kept in a relaunch in seven steps: record all existing URLs and their performance, redirect every old URL to the matching new one, carry over strong content rather than replacing it, migrate metadata and structured data, test on staging, update sitemap and Search Console after go-live and monitor for weeks.
The most common reason for drops after a relaunch is old URLs that lead nowhere without redirects. Search engines lose the connection between previous visibility and the new page, and links from other websites are lost.
This checklist covers technical migration. Whether a relaunch is the right step at all is covered in the decision guide on relaunch or optimisation.
The checklist
- 01
Record the inventory
Record all existing URLs from sitemap, crawl and Search Console with clicks, impressions and backlinks.
Done when: A list of all URLs with performance exists and the strongest pages are flagged.
- 02
Plan redirects
Map each old URL to a matching new URL with a permanent redirect.
Done when: Every old URL has a target; redirects to the home page are the exception.
- 03
Carry over strong content
Keep and improve content that ranks today rather than replacing it with shorter text.
Done when: The strongest pages have an equal or better counterpart on the new website.
- 04
Migrate metadata and structured data
Carry over or improve titles, descriptions, canonicals, hreflang and structured data.
Done when: A crawl of staging shows complete metadata and valid structured data.
- 05
Test before go-live
Check redirects, internal links, load time and indexing settings on staging.
Done when: All redirects work in testing and no internal links point to old URLs.
- 06
Accompany go-live
Remove staging blocks, submit the sitemap, update Search Console and Bing.
Done when: The new sitemap is submitted and the site is reachable for search engines.
- 07
Monitor afterwards
Watch error pages, indexing, rankings and clicks for several weeks and fix issues.
Done when: A report compares performance before and after the relaunch; open errors are fixed.
Common mistakes
- —Redirecting all old URLs to the home page.
- —Going live with staging including its search engine block.
- —Replacing well-ranking text with short marketing copy.
- —Not looking again after go-live.
What this checklist does not cover
- —Even a clean migration cannot fully rule out short-term fluctuations.
- —The checklist covers content strategy and design only marginally.
- —Domain changes require additional steps.
Parent service: SEO & Organic Growth
Matching offers
Website relaunch with an SEO and GEO foundation
A relaunch that protects visibility instead of losing it: we capture every URL with impressions from Search Console, build the new website on Next.js with technical SEO, structured data and a GEO foundation, permanently redirect old URLs to the matching new pages, and check indexing and redirects after go-live.
Technical SEO audit
A technical SEO audit examines the foundation of your findability: indexing, Core Web Vitals, structured data, crawling and site architecture. The result is a prioritised list of actions showing which technical levers deliver the greatest visibility gain — and in what order.
FAQ
How long until rankings stabilise?
Often a few weeks. What matters is that redirects are correct from the start.
Should old URLs be kept?
Where possible, yes. Every kept URL is one redirect fewer.
What about pages that no longer exist?
They are redirected to the closest matching page. If there is none, an honest error page is better than a misleading redirect.
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