Site Migration Checklist

A site migration checklist is a comprehensive technical roadmap designed to execute the transfer of a website to a new domain, host, or CMS without compromising search engine rankings. It mandates critical steps including benchmarking current performance, mapping 301 redirects, verifying DNS propagation, and auditing technical SEO elements to ensure a seamless transition for New Zealand digital assets.

Why a Strategic Site Migration Checklist is Non-Negotiable

In the high-stakes world of digital asset brokerage and advisory, a website is rarely just a brochure; it is a revenue-generating engine. Whether you are rebranding, moving to a more robust CMS, or acquiring a digital asset that requires consolidation, the migration process is the most precarious time for your SEO equity. A botched migration can result in a catastrophic loss of organic traffic—sometimes upwards of 50%—which can take months or even years to recover.

For New Zealand businesses targeting local and international markets, the stakes are even higher. Local signals, server latency, and .co.nz domain authority must be preserved with surgical precision. This guide serves as your definitive website migration service NZ standard operating procedure, ensuring that every redirect is accounted for and every ranking signal is preserved.

Phase 1: The Pre-Migration Audit

Before a single line of code is changed, you must understand exactly what you currently possess. The pre-migration audit establishes the baseline against which the success of the migration will be measured.

1. Crawl Your Existing Site

You cannot migrate what you do not know exists. Use enterprise-grade tools like Screaming Frog SEO Spider or Lumar (formerly DeepCrawl) to perform a full crawl of your current live site. You need a complete inventory of:

• All indexable URLs (HTML).
• Images, PDFs, and other assets.
• Meta titles and descriptions.
• H1 tags and header structures.
• Current canonical tags.

2. Benchmark Performance Metrics

To determine if your website migration service NZ provider has succeeded, you need historical data. Export the following data points:

• Top Performing Pages: Identify the pages driving the most organic traffic using Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
• Keyword Rankings: Use Semrush or Ahrefs to track your current positions for high-value keywords.
• Page Load Speed: Record Core Web Vitals scores for your top 20 landing pages.
• Backlink Profile: Export a list of all inbound links. Losing a page with high-authority backlinks without a redirect is a cardinal sin of migration.

3. Content Audit and Pruning

Migration is the perfect opportunity to clean house. Analyze your content inventory and categorize URLs into three buckets:

1. Keep/Migrate: High-value content that traffic and converts.
2. Update/Consolidate: Thin content that should be merged into stronger, pillar pages.
3. Delete (Prune): Outdated or irrelevant content that provides no value. (Note: These will still need 410 or 301 handling).

Phase 2: Mapping Old URLs to New URLs

This is the single most critical aspect of SEO preservation. If the URL structure changes even slightly, search engines treat the new page as a completely separate entity with zero history, unless you tell them otherwise.

The 301 Redirect Map

A 301 redirect signals to Google that a page has permanently moved. You must create a comprehensive spreadsheet mapping every old URL to its most relevant new counterpart.

• Avoid Redirect Chains: Do not redirect Page A to Page B, and then Page B to Page C. This dilutes link equity and slows down crawl speed. Redirect Page A directly to Page C.
• Relevance is Key: If a product page is removed, redirect it to the parent category page, not the homepage. Redirecting all 404s to the homepage is a lazy practice that Google treats as a “Soft 404,” ignoring the redirect entirely.
• Wildcard Redirects: For large sites where directory structures change systematically (e.g., /blog/post-name to /news/post-name), utilize Regex (Regular Expressions) to handle bulk redirects efficiently.

Phase 3: Technical Implementation & Staging

Never migrate directly to production without rigorous testing. Your staging environment should be an exact replica of the new site, hosted on a private server (password protected or blocked via robots.txt).

1. The Staging Environment SEO Check

While the site is in staging, verify the following:

• Internal Linking: Ensure all internal links point to the new URL structure, not the old one. Relying on redirects for internal navigation adds unnecessary latency.
• Canonical Tags: Ensure canonical tags are self-referencing to the new URLs.
• Schema Markup: Validate that structured data (Organization, Product, Article schema) is intact and error-free.
• Mobile Responsiveness: Google uses mobile-first indexing. If the new design breaks on mobile, your rankings will tank.

2. Robots.txt and Noindex Tags

One of the most common disasters in website migration is accidentally leaving the “noindex” tag on the production site after launch. Ensure that your staging site is blocked from crawlers, but have a protocol ready to remove these blocks immediately upon go-live.

Phase 4: The Go-Live Process

The launch window should be scheduled during your lowest traffic period—typically late at night or over a weekend for B2B brokerage firms.

DNS and Server Configuration

If you are changing hosting providers—common when upgrading to premium NZ-based hosting for lower latency—update your DNS records. Be aware that propagation can take anywhere from a few hours to 48 hours.

Implementation of Redirects

Upload your 301 redirect map to the server (via .htaccess for Apache, Nginx config, or a CMS plugin). Test a random sample immediately to ensure the logic works as expected.

Phase 5: Updating Google Search Console

Once the site is live and accessible, you must communicate the changes to Google immediately.

1. The Change of Address Tool

If you are moving domains (e.g., from BrandName.com to BrandName.co.nz), use the “Change of Address” tool in Google Search Console (GSC). This helps Google prioritize the crawl of your new domain and transfer signals faster.

2. XML Sitemap Submission

Generate a new XML sitemap containing only the new, live URLs. Submit this to GSC immediately. This acts as a roadmap for Googlebot to discover your new content structure.

3. Request Indexing

Manually inspect your most critical pages (Homepage, Service pages) in GSC and click “Request Indexing” to jump the queue.

Phase 6: Post-Migration Traffic Monitoring

The work is not done when the site launches. The first 30 days are critical for identifying and fixing issues before they solidify.

Monitor 404 Errors

Check GSC daily for a spike in 404 errors. These indicate broken links or missed redirects. Fix these immediately to plug leaks in your SEO value.

Traffic and Ranking Volatility

Expect some volatility. It is normal for rankings to fluctuate for 2-4 weeks as Google re-processes the site. However, a sustained drop after 30 days indicates a technical failure.

• Check Organic Traffic: Is it trending back toward the baseline?
• Check Conversion Rates: Is the new design confusing users?
• Server Logs: Analyze server logs to ensure Googlebot is crawling the new URLs efficiently.

Why Professional NZ Advisory Matters

Executing a flawless migration requires more than just a checklist; it requires experience in navigating the nuances of the New Zealand digital landscape. From ensuring your server location signals are correct to managing complex .co.nz domain transitions, a dedicated website migration service NZ partner mitigates the risks associated with digital asset transfers.

In the brokerage world, the value of a digital asset is directly tied to its traffic and revenue stability. Don’t risk the valuation of your asset with a DIY migration. Secure your investment with professional oversight.