A small business website migration checklist should end with a usable handoff: an inventory of existing URLs, an approved destination for each changed page, tested contact routes, and named people responsible for launch and follow-up. Agree on that handoff before replacing the live site. A new platform or domain does not make the old customer journey disappear.
For a local-service business owner, the migration needs to preserve the information and contact paths customers already use. Treat visual design decisions as a separate discussion so the team can identify which problems come from the move itself.
Record what is moving and what must keep working
Ask the website provider to describe the proposed change in plain language. Is the domain changing? Are page addresses changing? Which services, articles, downloads, and contact destinations will remain available?
Build an inventory from the existing website and the records your business already has. Include important service pages, coverage information, project entries, articles, and useful downloadable material. Add pages linked from business profiles, advertising, printed materials, or customer messages when you know about them.
Record why an item matters to the business. A service page may support suitable inquiries; a document may be something the office sends after an assessment. Available traffic or search information can inform the inventory, but a page can have operational value even when you have little measurement.
Keep a separate dependency list for the contact journey: phone destinations, inquiry recipients, booking tools, acknowledgment messages, and accounts the provider needs. If the domain also supports business email, have the responsible provider explain how that dependency is being handled.
The inventory should identify the person who can approve each decision. Avoid leaving a writer or developer to guess which service information is still current.
Approve the URL map before implementation
Google’s site-move guidance recommends preparing the replacement site, mapping old URLs to new ones, implementing redirects, and monitoring the move. It recommends permanent server-side redirects where possible and warns against redirecting unrelated old pages to a general homepage.
Use a working map with an explicit decision for each item:
| Existing item | Owner’s decision | Handoff requirement |
|---|---|---|
| A page retaining its address | Keep its purpose and approved content | Confirm the same address works on the replacement site |
| A page getting a new address | Approve the relevant replacement | Record the old address, destination, and redirect owner |
| Pages being combined | Confirm the new page still answers their useful questions | Document why the combined destination is appropriate |
| Content being retired | Approve removal and explain the reason | Have the provider document how requests for the old address will be handled |
Do not approve a map containing unexplained gaps. If the new site drops a service page your office still relies on, resolve the content decision before launch. If an old article is being combined with another, read the proposed destination rather than accepting a match based on its title alone.
Ask the provider to keep the final map with the handoff materials. It becomes the reference for resolving a missing page or an unexpected destination after the move.
If you are commissioning website design and development, include this map in the agreed scope. Migration work should have deliverables beyond a replacement layout.
Assign launch checks and a recovery decision
Give the owner, website provider, and office coordinator distinct responsibilities. The owner approves business information and unresolved tradeoffs. The provider handles technical implementation. The coordinator verifies that inquiry information reaches the people who use it.
Define what would stop the launch: an important service destination missing, the main inquiry route failing, required account access unavailable, or a significant issue with no assigned fix. Record who decides whether to proceed.
Ask the provider to explain the recovery plan in terms the business can understand. Which saved materials are available? Who can restore the previous working state if necessary? What happens to inquiries already received during the transition? Restoration may depend on the platform and move, so do not assume it is automatic.
Keep account access under business control and confirm that the people responsible can use it. Document roles and access needs without putting passwords in the migration worksheet.
Test the customer’s route and the office’s receipt
Choose a service your company actively accepts. Begin with its old URL, follow the expected route to the replacement page, and continue to the inquiry destination. Check the page’s business information as well as whether it loads.
Then send a clearly labeled test inquiry. Verify the service choice, contact details, attachments when supported, and the message delivered to the office. Read the visitor’s acknowledgment and confirm that it describes the real next step.
Use the same exercise for a contact route your office depends on outside the website, such as a business-profile link. Assign updates to those destinations rather than assuming the website provider controls every account.
Have the provider confirm that redirects reach their intended destinations, internal links use the replacement URLs, and launch-only indexing restrictions have been addressed. Keep the results with the map. A test marked “done” should identify what was tested and any unresolved defect.
These acceptance checks support the business handoff. They do not establish that search engines have finished processing the move or that visibility will stay unchanged.
Monitor both sides of the move
After launch, keep a shared exception record: affected old URL, new destination, observed problem, responsible person, and resolution. Check the important paths again when a correction is made.
Google’s migration guidance describes monitoring old and new URLs with Search Console and other available tools, and notes that search visibility can fluctuate during a move. Ask whoever handles local SEO to distinguish an observed problem from an assumption about rankings.
A missing destination or failed inquiry needs a concrete correction. A change in search activity needs investigation using the available evidence. Avoid treating a live homepage as proof that every service page, redirect, and contact route works.
Your next action is to request the inventory and URL map before approving launch. Review the priority service and contact paths with your office, then name the person responsible for unresolved items. If you need help defining that migration scope, discuss your existing website with Axon Media.