# SEO migration workbook

Meridian · Template version 2026-09-14

Copy and adapt this working document to your project. Empty results mean not checked. Illustrative rows are examples, not verified customer work.

## 1. Project brief

- Current website / new website:
- Migration type and reason:
- Changes included / excluded:
- Affected templates, languages, assets, and URL count:
- Intended launch window and timezone:
- SEO owner:
- Development owner:
- Release decision owner:
- Contact and escalation route:
- Staging location / access method (do not record passwords here):
- Agreed monitoring window, checkpoints, and handover date:

## 2. Baseline inventory

| Current URL | Page task | Template / language | Search data and date range | Leads and definition, if available | Important assets / links | Planned change | Priority reason |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | | | | | |

Record comparable dates, seasonality, and tracking limitations. An unavailable metric is missing, not zero.

## 3. URL map

| Old full URL | Decision | New full URL | Reason / content review | Expected response | Owner | Actual result | Evidence / date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | Keep / move / combine / retire | | | | | Not checked | |

Illustrative example only: `/features/team-planner` → `/product/team-planning`, move to the equivalent product page, expected 301 → 200. Test actual full addresses before marking a row complete.

## 4. Phase checks

Record each check below in the issue log with an owner, outcome, evidence, and review date.

### Before launch

- [ ] Agree the change brief, roles, deployment window, and recovery procedure.
- [ ] Save the old inventory, essential content, and dated baseline data.
- [ ] Review URL decisions and the content that must remain useful.
- [ ] Test representative templates and all agreed priority paths in staging.
- [ ] Check metadata, indexing directives, canonicals, language versions, and internal links.
- [ ] Check mobile and desktop navigation, language switching, downloads, and contact paths.
- [ ] Document production-only configuration changes while keeping staging protected.
- [ ] Agree release blockers, escalation responsibility, and the retest process.

### At launch

- [ ] Verify the actual release and intended production configuration.
- [ ] Test priority old URLs and their final destinations.
- [ ] Check public-page access, indexing signals, content, and sitemap URLs.
- [ ] Click critical customer journeys on the live site.
- [ ] Verify agreed analytics events; identify any controlled test activity.
- [ ] Apply Search Console Change of Address only if the migration is eligible.
- [ ] Record issues, decisions, owners, and retest results.

### After launch

- [ ] Compare affected page groups with the baseline.
- [ ] Distinguish technical completion, search performance, and actual inquiries.
- [ ] Investigate anomalies and retest fixes.
- [ ] Assign ongoing ownership of the old domain and redirects.
- [ ] Hand over open items, maintenance tasks, and the next review date.

## 5. Issue and acceptance log

| Phase | URL / flow | Expected | Observed | Business impact | Owner | Decision | Retest result / date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | Not checked | | | | |

Example only: pricing should be indexable; observed `X-Robots-Tag: noindex`; developer fixes the production header; SEO retests; release owner records the decision. Do not copy this observation as a real test result.

## 6. Handover

- Completed scope and evidence:
- Unresolved items and owners:
- Baseline comparison and limitations:
- Next checkpoint:
- Support end date and any agreed extension:
- Old domain and redirect maintenance owner:

References: [Google site moves](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes), [redirects](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/301-redirects), [Change of Address](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9370220?hl=en).

[Read the guide](https://withmeridian.org/blog/seo-migration-checklist) · [Migration service](https://withmeridian.org/services/seo-services/seo-migration)