Site Migration:
Pre-Release:
- GSC - Ensure historical and new domains have GSC accounts
- URLs
- Historical URLs - create list of historical urls sourced from existing XML sitemaps, GA, site:mysite.com , GSC (errors), Xenu
- New URLs - review historical URLs and take oppertunity to decresae root path
- Content house-keeping - review content and cull redundant pages
- Consider creating a 410 (permanently gone) page
- Customise 404 and 410 page
- 301 redirect mapping – create rules and try to implement one to one redirects without daisy chains for key pages
- XML sitemaps - Create 2 XML sitemaps, historical and new URLs, to upload after release
- Test extensively e.g. redirects, 404 pages, internal links (to ensure no historical links exist on the site), validate HTML, schema mark-up, page speed
On-Release:
- Test - immediate post-launch extensive testing e.g. content, redirects, 404 pages, internal links
- XML sitemaps - upload relevant sitemaps to relevant GSC accounts
- GSC
- Request change of address*
- Fetch key pages e.g. homepage
* search.google.com/search-console/settings/change-address
Post-release:
- Linkwheel - change links across social media and directories
- External Links - send out email to key referrers asking if they could kindly change the URL on their site
- Monitor:
- Google search results (site command) to watch historical URLs drop off
- Google search console
- Checklist
