Website Migration Checklist: Redirects and Broken Links

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By Justin Zwick for Free Micro Apps · Published October 4, 2026

This website migration checklist covers the steps that protect your traffic when URLs change: redirects, sitemaps, robots.txt and broken links.

Moving a website is one of the riskiest things you can do for its search traffic. Whether you're switching domains, changing platforms, restructuring URLs or just moving to HTTPS, every old address that stops working is a potential lost visitor and lost ranking. Redirects are how you avoid that. This checklist covers the planning, the redirects themselves and the cleanup, with free tools from Free Micro Apps.

Sitemap rules for your website migration checklist

After the move, submit a fresh sitemap so search engines find the new URLs. Google's sitemap documentation notes that each sitemap file can hold up to 50,000 URLs or 50 MB uncompressed, and that larger sites should split URLs across several sitemaps with a sitemap index. Also check robots.txt: the RFC 9309 standard says crawlers shouldn't cache robots.txt for more than 24 hours, so a mistaken Disallow rule left over from staging can take effect quickly.

Before the move

1. List every URL you have now

You can't redirect pages you don't know about. Build a list of your current URLs from:

• Your XML sitemap (if you don't have one, create one with the XML Sitemap Generator before you move)
• Your analytics, sorted by the pages that get the most visits
• Google Search Console, which shows pages that appear in search
• Pages that other sites link to, which you can explore with the Backlink Checker

Save this list. It's the foundation of everything else.

2. Decide where each old URL should go

For each old URL, pick the most relevant new page. Rules of thumb:

• Same content, new address: redirect to the new address.
• Merged content: redirect to the page that now covers it.
• Removed content with no replacement: redirect to the closest relevant page, such as the parent category. Only if nothing is relevant should a page return a "not found" error.

Avoid redirecting everything to the homepage. It confuses visitors and search engines tend to treat it like a missing page.

3. Choose the right redirect type

For permanent moves, use 301 (permanent) redirects. They tell browsers and search engines that the page has moved for good, and they pass along the old page's standing to the new one. Use 302 (temporary) only when the move really is temporary.

Setting up the redirects

How you add redirects depends on your platform:

• Apache servers commonly use an .htaccess file. The Htaccess Redirect Generator creates the rules for common cases, such as redirecting www to non-www or the other way around.
• WordPress has redirect plugins that let you add rules without editing server files.
• Shopify, Wix, Squarespace and similar have URL redirect settings in their admin areas.
• Nginx servers use rules in the server configuration.

Whatever you use, keep your redirects simple:

• Redirect directly from the old URL to the final new URL. Avoid chains where A redirects to B, which redirects to C.
• Keep redirects in place long term. People and other sites will keep using old links for years.

Pick one version of your domain

A site can usually be reached in up to four ways: with or without www, and over http or https. Choose one version and redirect the other three to it. The WWW Redirect Checker shows whether your domain redirects consistently.

After the move

4. Test your redirects

Go through your URL list and check that each old address lands on the right new page with a single 301 redirect. Start with your most visited and most linked pages. The Server Status Checker shows the status code a URL returns, which helps confirm redirects and spot errors.

5. Find broken links

Internal links on your new site may still point at old URLs, or at pages that no longer exist. Run the Broken Link Checker on your key pages and fix what it finds. Updating internal links to point directly at the new URLs is better than relying on redirects for your own links.

The Link Analyzer gives an overview of the internal and external links on a page, which is useful for spot-checking navigation and footers.

6. Update your sitemap and robots.txt

• Generate a new sitemap containing only the new URLs.
• Check robots.txt on the new site, especially that it isn't blocking everything, which can happen when a development site's settings get copied over. Our robots.txt and sitemap guide covers this.

7. Tell search engines

In Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, submit the new sitemap. If you changed domains, Google Search Console has a change of address tool for the old domain.

8. Update links you control

Change the website address on your social profiles, business listings, email signatures and anywhere else you control. Reach out to important sites that link to you and ask them to update their links if you can.

9. Watch for problems

For a few weeks after the move, check:

• Search Console for crawl errors and "not found" pages
• Your analytics for drops in traffic to specific pages
• Your own site with the broken link checker

Some fluctuation in search traffic after a move is normal. Large or lasting drops usually point to missing or incorrect redirects.

The checklist

• Full list of current URLs
• Every old URL mapped to the best new page
• 301 redirects, direct, no chains
• One canonical domain version
• Redirects tested
• Internal links updated, broken links fixed
• New sitemap, robots.txt checked
• Search consoles updated
• Profiles and listings updated
• Monitoring for a few weeks

A careful move takes some planning, but it protects years of work. If you're unsure about any step, contact us. For hands-on help with a migration, you can also reach Justin Zwick at justinzwick.com.

Key takeaways

• Map every old URL to its closest new equivalent
• Use permanent 301 redirects, not temporary ones
• Avoid redirect chains and loops
• Update internal links, the sitemap and robots.txt
• Check for broken links and 404s after launch

Frequently asked questions

Should I use 301 or 302 redirects when migrating?

Use 301 redirects for permanent moves. 302 redirects signal a temporary change.

How long should I keep redirects in place?

As long as possible, ideally permanently, since old links and bookmarks keep sending visitors.

What's a redirect chain?

When one URL redirects to another that redirects again. Chains slow visitors down and should point straight to the final URL.

Will I lose traffic during a migration?

Some short-term fluctuation is common. Careful redirects and updated sitemaps help keep losses small.

How do I find broken links after moving?

Run a broken link checker on your key pages and check Search Console for crawl errors.