A website migration checklist for before, during and after

People are tempted to skip straight to copying files, because that feels like progress. But most migration problems come from something forgotten: an email account, a DNS record, a scheduled task or a login nobody can find. A short list written before you start prevents nearly all of them.

Preparation also gives you a way back. A tested backup and a copy of your DNS records mean that if anything goes wrong, you can return to a known good state within minutes.

The technical steps of a migration are the same on any day, but the risk is not. Moving a site on a quiet day, ideally early in the week and in the morning, leaves you the whole working day to test and fix anything unexpected while the old account is still running. Avoid launches, sales and the last working day before a holiday.

It also helps to tell anyone who edits the site that changes should pause for the move. Orders, form entries and new posts made on the old copy after you take your final backup are the commonest way to lose data without noticing, so agree a short freeze and a clear time when it ends.

Keep the old account running for at least a week after the switch. Email that was delayed in transit, cached DNS and forgotten files all tend to show up in the first few days, and having the original to compare against turns a stressful problem into a quick check.

Every site has its own quirks, so add to the list as you learn. If you run a shop, add checks for payment gateways, shipping rules and tax settings. If you have a booking system, add a test booking. If the site integrates with other services, list each integration and test it.

Keep the final list with your project notes. The next migration will be quicker and safer, and anyone who takes over the site will have a record of what was checked.

Copy the three checklists into a note, a spreadsheet or onto paper, and tick items off as you go. Date each tick. If something goes wrong later, a dated record shows you exactly what was done and in what order, which makes the problem much quicker to find.

Share it with anyone else involved, such as a web designer or a colleague who handles email, so everyone knows who is doing what and nothing falls between two people.

A week later, review the new site. Check that scheduled jobs ran, emails arrive and no errors appear in logs. Look at your analytics for a drop in traffic that could suggest a missing redirect or a broken page.

Then close the old account, keeping your own backup of its final state for a while. Store this checklist with your notes for the project, because the next person to move the site will thank you.