Website migrations make me nervous.
Not because migrations are bad.
Because they can change many SEO signals at the same time.
A store can keep the same products and branding while changing URLs, templates, rendering, internal links, metadata, canonicals, structured data, and sitemap behavior.
That's a lot of moving parts.
I Start With the URL Map
Before launch, I want to know which URLs are changing.
Not approximately.
Actually mapped.
Important old URLs should have known destinations.
For example:
Old product → New product
Old category → New category
Old brand → New brand
This prevents redirect decisions from being improvised after launch.
I Crawl the Old Website
Before changing the site, I want a snapshot.
That crawl becomes a reference point.
Useful data includes:
status codes,
titles,
descriptions,
canonicals,
headings,
internal links,
indexability,
structured data,
and crawl depth.
Once the new site launches, I can compare.
Redirects Need Relevance
A migration often creates removed or changed URLs.
The easiest solution is sometimes sending everything to the homepage.
That's rarely the best solution.
A redirect should preserve intent whenever possible.
A product should go to its replacement or relevant category, not automatically to the homepage.
Canonicals Need Template-Level Testing
One incorrect canonical implementation can affect thousands of pages.
So I don't just inspect one product.
I test templates.
Products.
Categories.
Brands.
Pagination.
Parameter states.
The goal is understanding the rule generating canonicals.
A Real Migration Example
This became particularly important while working on AsanGSM, where an e-commerce site moved from WordPress to a Next.js architecture.
That type of migration makes it obvious that changing technology and preserving search signals are two separate jobs.
The frontend can work perfectly while SEO behavior changes underneath.
Sitemaps Need Revalidation
After migration, the sitemap should contain URLs that are:
canonical,
indexable,
successful,
and intended for search.
Redirects and non-indexable pages shouldn't casually remain there.
Structured Data Can Break Quietly
Product pages can look normal while structured data becomes incomplete.
That's why schema should be retested after migration.
Especially Product and Offer information.
The Bigger Lesson
A migration isn't complete when the new website works.
It's complete when users and search engines can understand the new architecture correctly.
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