E-commerce Platform Migration Checklist: Avoid SEO Disasters

A Complete Operational Audit for Safe, Controlled, SEO-Preserving Migrations

Migrating an e-commerce platform (Shopify → WooCommerce, Magento → Shopify, custom platform → SaaS, etc.) requires exhaustive planning. The greatest risks stem from broken redirects, URL mismatches, content loss, indexation errors, and metadata inconsistencies.
This checklist provides a full migration framework addressing pre-migration benchmarking, URL mapping, content transfer, technical readiness, launch execution, and post-migration validation.

1. Pre-Migration Planning & Benchmarking

URL & Asset Inventory

• Export a complete list of all existing URLs:

   

• Pages

   

• Products

   

• Categories/collections

   

• Blog posts

   

• Media files

   

• Parameterized URLs (filters, ?page=, ?sort=, tracking links)

   

• Legacy URLs still receiving traffic

   

• Document how many URLs require redirects vs retirements.

   

SEO Baseline Benchmarking

• Capture current SEO performance:

   

• Organic traffic (last 3–6 months)

   

• Top landing pages

   

• Current keyword rankings

   

• Backlink profile and highest-value link targets

   

• Conversion rate + revenue segmentation (organic vs other channels)

   

Content Quality Assessment

• Audit for thin, duplicate, outdated, or cannibalized content.

   

• Decide which pages to: keep, improve, consolidate, or delete.

   

• Document where content updates are required on the new platform.

   

Migration Environment & Workflow

• Confirm a staging environment will be used for development and QA (never build directly on live).

   

• Prepare a complete migration project plan:

   

• Milestones and owners

   

• Redirect responsibilities

   

• Content migration steps

   

• Development QA

   

• SEO QA

   

• Analytics & tagging transfer

   

• Final go-live steps and rollback plan

   

Operational output: Master migration plan + SEO baseline report + content consolidation plan.

2. URL Mapping & Redirect Strategy

URL Mapping Discipline

• Create a URL-mapping spreadsheet with:

   

• Old URL → New URL → Redirect Type → Notes

   

• Include all site sections, not only products and pages.

   

Redirect Strategy

• For any URL changes, use 301 redirects, not 302.

   

• Ensure one-to-one redirect mapping never redirect all URLs to homepage.

   

• Avoid redirect chains:

   

• Old → New (direct)

   

• Never Old → Temp → New

   

• Redirect special URLs:

   

• Parameter URLs

   

• Sort/filter URLs

   

• Old media URLs

   

• Pagination URLs

   

• Legacy CMS paths

   

• Outdated landing pages still earning backlinks

   

• Validate redirect rules on staging before launch.

   

Operational output: Final redirect map + redirect QA checklist.

3. Content & On-Page SEO Transfer

On-Page SEO Preservation

• Transfer or improve all metadata:

   

• Title tags

   

• Meta descriptions

   

• H1/H2 structure

   

• Alt text

   

• SEO-friendly images

   

• Canonical tags

   

• Ensure canonical tags reflect the new URLs, not outdated ones.

   

Internal Link Health

• Update internal links to point to new URLs directly.

   

• Remove dependencies on redirects for navigational or contextual links.

   

Technical Content Transfer

• Validate schema / structured data (product, article, organization, breadcrumbs, local business).

   

• Validate hreflang tags if the site supports multiple languages.

   

Media Assets

• Transfer all images with correct file names, alt attributes, and directory structure.

   

• Validate that no image URLs return 404 or reference old paths.

   

Operational output: On-page SEO parity report + internal link update log.

4. Technical & Performance Considerations

Hosting, SSL, & Infrastructure

• Confirm stable hosting with:

   

• SSL/HTTPS

   

• Caching layers

   

• CDN configuration

   

• Server-side optimization

   

• PHP/DB versions compatible with the new platform

   

• Validate uptime and load capacity during migration.

   

Technical SEO Foundation

• Review robots.txt to ensure no accidental blocks.

   

• Generate a new XML sitemap for the new URLs.

   

• Validate sitemap accuracy before submitting to Search Console.

   

• Ensure mobile responsiveness and Core Web Vitals readiness.

   

Protocol / Domain Considerations

• If switching domains or HTTP → HTTPS:

   

• Confirm DNS changes

   

• SSL installed correctly

   

• Canonicalization rules updated

   

• No duplicate protocol indexing issues

   

Analytics & Tracking

• Launch GA4, Search Console, and tag manager on staging and production.

   

• Validate tracking before go-live to maintain continuous data flow.

   

Operational output: Technical readiness report + sitemap + robots validation.

5. Launch Day / Migration Execution Checks

Pre-Launch Safeguards

• Full backup of old site: database + files + media.

   

• Lower DNS TTL (time-to-live) to allow faster propagation.

   

• Plan go-live during low-traffic window.

   

Technical Deployment

• Deploy redirects immediately at cutover.

   

• Conduct full site crawl post-launch:

   

• 404 errors

   

• Redirect chains/loops

   

• Canonical errors

   

• Missing metadata

   

• Broken internal links

   

• Missing images

   

• Validate structured data using official testing tools.

   

• Validate checkout, cart, account pages, and all revenue-critical paths.

   

Search Engine Tasks

• Submit new XML sitemap to Search Console and Bing Webmaster.

   

• Validate indexing behavior within first 24–48 hours.

   

Operational output: Launch-day crawl report + redirect validation log.

6. Post-Migration Monitoring & Validation

Performance Tracking

• Compare pre-migration benchmarks with post-migration metrics for:

   

• Organic traffic

   

• Ranking volatility

   

• Conversion rates

   

• Revenue

   

• Bounce rates

   

Error Monitoring

• Monitor Search Console for:

   

• Crawl errors

   

• Coverage issues

   

• Soft 404s

   

• Redirect anomalies

   

• Parameter handling

   

• Run periodic crawls to catch:

   

• Orphaned pages

   

• Broken internal links

   

• Misconfigured canonicals

   

• Missing or duplicate meta tags

   

Backlink Preservation

• Track high-value backlinks that still point to old URLs.

   

• Update manually where possible (partners, directories, media sites).

   

• Ensure 301 redirects pass full link equity.

   

Contingency Plans

• If major ranking drops occur:

   

• Review redirect mapping for gaps

   

• Re-submit important URLs

   

• Fix technical blocks or duplication

   

• Restore sections temporarily if necessary

   

Operational output: 30/60/90-day migration performance report + remediation log.

7. Special & Edge-Case Considerations

International & Multi-Language Sites

• Migrate hreflang attributes carefully to avoid cross-language conflicts.

   

• Validate alternate URLs for each locale.

   

• Rebuild language-specific sitemaps.

   

Parameterized & Dynamic URLs

• Include filter pages, query parameters, sort URLs, and auto-generated URLs in redirect mapping.

   

• Avoid soft 404s caused by missing legacy parameters.

   

Content Consolidation

• When retiring pages, redirect to the closest semantic match, not homepage.

   

• Use consolidation as a strategic opportunity to fix cannibalization or fragmentation.

   

Documentation

• Maintain a version-controlled record of:

   

• URL mapping

   

• Redirect rules

   

• Metadata changes

   

• Technical configurations

   

• Content modifications

   

• QA logs

   

• Deployment notes

   

Operational output: Migration archive for future audits and troubleshooting.

Why This Checklist Matters: Core Migration Risks It Prevents

Redirect Failures

• Wildcard or missing redirects lead to indexing losses, ranking crashes, and link-equity loss.

   

Metadata & Canonical Errors

• Missing titles, canonical mismatches, or incorrect meta tags cause duplication and ranking instability.

   

Content Gaps

• Missing pages or broken media lead to reduced relevance and user abandonment.

   

Technical Blocks

• Incorrect robots.txt, missing sitemaps, or noindex tags cause major indexing problems.

   

Lack of Benchmarking

• Without baseline data, diagnosing performance drops becomes guesswork.