Website migrations are one of the most common causes of broken links. (Already migrated and dealing with dead URLs? Jump to our post-migration broken links guide.) Whether you're changing domains, switching CMS platforms, restructuring URLs, or redesigning your site, the risk of breaking links is high. A single migration can generate hundreds or thousands of broken links if you're not careful — wiping out months of SEO progress. This checklist will help you prevent that.

Why migrations create broken links

During a migration, URLs change. Pages move, get renamed, or are removed entirely. Internal links that pointed to old URLs now lead to 404 errors. External sites that link to you still use your old URLs. Search engines have your old URLs indexed. Everything breaks unless you plan for it.

The most common migration scenarios that create broken links:

Domain change — moving from olddomain.com to newdomain.com
CMS change — switching from WordPress to Shopify, or vice versa, often changes URL structures
URL restructure — changing from /blog/post-title to /articles/category/post-title
HTTPS migration — moving from HTTP to HTTPS
Site redesign — pages are consolidated, removed, or reorganized

Pre-migration checklist

1. Crawl and document every existing URL

Before you change anything, you need a complete inventory of your current site. Run a scan with Broken Link Scan to get a baseline of all your pages and their current link status. This serves two purposes: you'll fix any existing broken links before they compound with migration issues, and you'll have a complete URL list for redirect mapping.

2. Export your URL list

Create a spreadsheet with every URL on your current site. Include:

Current URL
Page title
New URL (after migration)
Redirect status (pending, implemented, verified)

3. Map every redirect

For every URL that will change, create a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new URL. This is the single most important step in preventing broken links during a migration. Every redirect should be:

One-to-one — each old URL points to the most relevant new URL, not a generic homepage redirect.
301 permanent — not 302 temporary. You want search engines to transfer link equity.
Direct — avoid redirect chains (old URL → intermediate URL → new URL). Each redirect should go directly to the final destination.

4. Identify high-value pages

Not all pages are equal. Identify pages that receive the most organic traffic, have the most backlinks, or drive the most conversions. These pages deserve extra attention during migration to ensure no link equity is lost.

5. Back up everything

Before starting the migration, back up your entire site — database, files, and server configuration. If something goes wrong, you need to be able to roll back.

During migration

6. Implement all redirects

Set up every 301 redirect you mapped in step 3. Depending on your server, this might be done in:

.htaccess for Apache servers
nginx.conf for Nginx servers
Redirect rules in your CMS or hosting platform
Edge redirects in your CDN (Cloudflare, Netlify, Vercel)

7. Update internal links

Don't rely solely on redirects for internal links. Update your content, navigation, footer links, and sitemap to use the new URLs directly. Redirects add latency and, over time, may be removed accidentally. Direct links are always better.

8. Update your XML sitemap

Submit a new XML sitemap with your updated URLs to Google Search Console. Also submit the old sitemap temporarily so Google can discover the redirects from old URLs.

Post-migration checklist

9. Run an immediate post-migration scan

As soon as the migration is live, run a full scan with Broken Link Scan on your new site. This is the most critical moment — you need to catch broken links immediately, before search engines crawl the broken URLs and before visitors start hitting 404 pages.

Compare the results with your pre-migration baseline. Any new broken links are migration-related and need immediate attention. For step-by-step repair instructions, see our guide to finding and fixing broken links.

10. Test your redirects

Spot-check a sample of your redirects to confirm they work correctly. Pay special attention to:

Your highest-traffic pages
Pages with the most backlinks
Pages with complex URL parameters
Category and tag archive pages

11. Monitor Google Search Console

Over the next 2-4 weeks, check Google Search Console daily for new crawl errors. Google will recrawl your old URLs and report any that don't redirect properly. Fix issues as they appear — don't wait for them to accumulate.

12. Run a follow-up scan after two weeks

Two weeks after migration, run another full scan. Some broken links only surface after caches expire, CDN configurations propagate, or users report issues. A second scan catches anything the immediate post-migration scan missed.

13. Set up ongoing monitoring

After a migration, your site is in a fragile state for several months. Redirects may be accidentally removed during server updates. New content may reference old URLs. Set up automated monitoring with Broken Link Scan to catch new broken links as they appear, rather than discovering them weeks later in your traffic reports.

Common migration mistakes to avoid

Redirecting everything to the homepage — this is treated as a soft 404 by Google and wastes all the link equity from your old pages.
Forgetting external links — your redirects handle incoming links from other sites, but make sure your outgoing links to external resources still work on the new site.
Removing redirects too early — keep your redirects active for at least one year. Some search engines and external sites will reference your old URLs for months.
Not updating social media profiles — links in your Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other profiles still point to old URLs.
Skipping the pre-migration scan — if you don't know what links existed before, you can't verify they all work after.

The cost of getting it wrong

A poorly executed migration can drop organic traffic by 30-70% — and recovery can take months. Most of that damage comes from broken links and missing redirects. The investment of a few hours in proper link management before, during, and after migration is trivial compared to the cost of lost traffic and rankings.

Start with a free pre-migration scan to know exactly where you stand, or use bulk check to verify many URLs at once. Then follow this checklist step by step. Your future self — and your search rankings — will thank you.

Website Migration Checklist: Prevent Broken Links