1
Inventory existing URLs
Create a list of indexable pages and important historical URLs before changing the website.
REPLIXA GUIDE
Website Migration Checklist for a Safe Rebuild
Website migrations can lose traffic when important URLs, redirects or metadata change unnecessarily. A structured migration process reduces the risk of replacing a working site with a technically correct but search-damaging deployment.
2
Preserve URLs where possible
Keeping important existing paths avoids unnecessary redirects and reduces migration complexity.
3
Map required redirects
When a URL must change, redirect it directly to the closest relevant replacement instead of the homepage.
4
Preserve metadata and canonical intent
Titles, descriptions, crawl directives and canonical URLs should be intentionally reviewed rather than accidentally replaced.
5
Validate sitemap and internal links
Ensure the new sitemap contains only intended indexable pages and that internal links point directly to the final URLs.
6
Monitor after deployment
Check crawl errors, indexing and search performance after migration so unexpected problems can be corrected early.