seo-migration-plan

name	seo-migration-plan
description	Plans website migrations with redirect mapping, risk assessment, and monitoring checklist. Use when changing domains, platforms, or redesigning your site.
allowed-tools	Read Write Glob
metadata	{"author":"matthewhitcham","version":"1.0"}

SEO Migration Plan

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Migrate a website to a new domain, platform, or URL structure
• Create a comprehensive redirect map to preserve SEO value
• Assess and mitigate risks of traffic loss during migration
• Build a monitoring plan for post-migration recovery

DO NOT use this skill for routine site updates, content changes, or adding new pages. This is for structural website changes that affect URLs, domains, or platforms.

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Core Principle

A BOTCHED MIGRATION CAN DESTROY YEARS OF SEO PROGRESS OVERNIGHT — THE GOAL IS ZERO LOST PAGES, ZERO BROKEN LINKS, AND MINIMAL RANKING DISRUPTION THROUGH METICULOUS REDIRECT PLANNING.

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Phase 1: Migration Brief

Required Inputs

Input	What to Ask	Default
Migration type	"What is changing? (domain, platform, URL structure, redesign, HTTPS)"	No default — must be provided
Current site	"What is the current domain and platform?"	No default — must be provided
New site	"What is the new domain/platform?"	No default — must be provided
Timeline	"When is the migration planned?"	No default — must be provided
Current traffic	"How much organic traffic does the site get monthly?"	Unknown
Page count	"Approximately how many pages does the current site have?"	Under 100

GATE: Confirm migration details before building the plan.

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Phase 2: Pre-Migration Audit

Current Site Inventory

## Site Crawl Checklist

- [ ] Crawl entire current site (Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or manual)
- [ ] Export all URLs with status codes
- [ ] Document all pages with organic traffic (Google Analytics)
- [ ] Document all pages with backlinks (Google Search Console or Ahrefs)
- [ ] Save current rankings for top 50 keywords
- [ ] Screenshot key pages (homepage, top landing pages)
- [ ] Export Google Search Console data (last 16 months)
- [ ] Document all current redirects already in place

Redirect Map

## Redirect Map Template

| Old URL | New URL | Status | Priority |
|---------|---------|--------|----------|
| /old-page-1 | /new-page-1 | 301 | High (has traffic) |
| /old-page-2 | /new-page-2 | 301 | High (has backlinks) |
| /old-page-3 | / (homepage) | 301 | Low (no traffic) |
| /removed-page | /relevant-alternative | 301 | Medium |

**Rules:**
- EVERY old URL gets a 301 redirect — no exceptions
- Redirect to the most relevant equivalent page
- If no equivalent exists, redirect to the parent category or homepage
- Preserve redirect chains from previous migrations

Risk Assessment

## Migration Risk Level

**Low Risk:** HTTPS migration, minor URL changes
- Expected traffic dip: 5-10% for 2-4 weeks

**Medium Risk:** Platform migration with URL changes
- Expected traffic dip: 10-20% for 4-8 weeks

**High Risk:** Domain change or major restructure
- Expected traffic dip: 20-40% for 2-4 months

**Mitigation:** Thorough redirect mapping, staged rollout if possible, immediate monitoring

GATE: Approve the redirect map and risk assessment before proceeding.

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Phase 3: Migration Execution Plan

Pre-Launch Checklist

## Before Flipping the Switch

- [ ] All redirects configured and tested on staging
- [ ] New sitemap.xml generated
- [ ] Robots.txt updated for new site structure
- [ ] Canonical tags pointing to new URLs
- [ ] Internal links updated to new URLs (not relying on redirects)
- [ ] Google Analytics/tracking code installed on new site
- [ ] Google Search Console verified for new domain (if domain change)
- [ ] Schema markup updated with new URLs
- [ ] Social media profiles updated (if domain change)
- [ ] Email links and signatures updated

Launch Day Checklist

## Migration Day

- [ ] Deploy redirects
- [ ] Submit new sitemap to Google Search Console
- [ ] Request indexing for top 20 pages via URL Inspection
- [ ] Test 20 random old URLs — confirm redirects work
- [ ] Test all main navigation links on new site
- [ ] Verify analytics tracking is firing on new site
- [ ] Check for crawl errors in Search Console
- [ ] Monitor server response times (migration load)

Post-Migration Monitoring (First 30 Days)

## Daily (Week 1):
- Check Google Search Console for crawl errors
- Monitor organic traffic vs. pre-migration baseline
- Test random URLs for redirect functionality
- Check server logs for 404 errors

## Weekly (Weeks 2-4):
- Compare keyword rankings to pre-migration snapshot
- Review indexation rate of new URLs
- Check for redirect chains or loops
- Monitor Core Web Vitals on new platform

## Monthly (Months 2-4):
- Full ranking comparison vs. pre-migration
- Traffic recovery trend analysis
- Backlink profile check (ensure links pass through redirects)
- Address any remaining 404s or redirect issues

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Phase 4: Polish

1. Communication Plan

• Notify key stakeholders of expected traffic dip
• Prepare customer-facing communication if domain changes
• Update third-party listings and directory citations

2. Recovery Timeline

Set expectations: most sites recover within 4-12 weeks. Full recovery to pre-migration levels takes 2-4 months for medium-risk migrations.

3. Rollback Plan

If critical issues arise:

• Define rollback triggers (traffic drop >50%, major functionality broken)
• Keep old site accessible on staging for 30 days
• Document how to reverse redirects if needed

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Anti-Patterns

• No redirect map — launching a new site without redirecting old URLs is the fastest way to lose all organic traffic.
• Using 302 redirects instead of 301 — 302 is temporary and does not pass full SEO value. Always use 301 for permanent migrations.
• Redirect chains — old-page → intermediate-page → new-page loses value at each hop. Redirect directly from old to final URL.
• Removing old content without redirecting — even "low traffic" pages may have backlinks. Redirect everything.
• Not monitoring after launch — problems surface in the first 48 hours. Watch closely or they compound.

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Recovery

• Migration already happened without redirects: Implement redirects immediately. Some rankings can be recovered even weeks later. Check Search Console for crawl errors.
• Traffic dropped more than expected: Verify all redirects are working, check for noindex tags on new pages, and ensure the sitemap is submitted.
• Too many pages for manual redirect mapping: Group old URLs by pattern (e.g., /blog/YYYY/MM/slug → /blog/slug) and use regex-based redirect rules.
• Old domain expiring: Renew the old domain and keep redirects active for at least 12 months, ideally 24 months.