The universal migration checklist: URL mapping, 301 redirects and monitoring

Whether you are migrating from WordPress, Squarespace, Shopify, Joomla, Drupal, Weebly, GoDaddy, or any custom-built platform to Wix, the fundamental SEO migration principles are identical. This lesson provides a platform-agnostic migration framework that applies to every migration scenario regardless of origin platform. It distils the collective lessons from hundreds of real migrations into a structured, repeatable process. Every single step exists because we have personally witnessed migrations fail when it was skipped. Use this as your master checklist and never deviate from it.

The Migration Success Formula

Successful migrations follow a consistent formula: exhaustive preparation, meticulous execution, and disciplined monitoring. The ratio of time spent should be approximately 40% preparation, 20% execution, and 40% monitoring. Most failed migrations invest the ratio backwards: minimal preparation, rushed execution, and panicked monitoring. The preparation phase is where migration success is determined.

Phase 1: Pre-Migration Documentation (1-2 Weeks)

The pre-migration phase creates a forensic snapshot of your current SEO state. This documentation serves three purposes: it is your benchmark for measuring migration success, your diagnostic tool if something goes wrong, and your evidence base for reporting to stakeholders. Every metric you fail to document before migration is a metric you cannot compare after migration.

Search Performance Data Export

Analytics and Conversion Data

Technical SEO Crawl

A comprehensive site crawl is your definitive source of truth for what currently exists on the old platform. Configure your crawler to capture every possible data point because you will reference this data repeatedly during and after migration.

Backlink Profile Audit

Your backlink profile is the accumulated authority from years of link building, press coverage, directory listings, and content marketing. Every backlink points to a specific URL. If that URL changes during migration without a redirect, the backlink equity evaporates.

Structured Data and Rich Results Inventory

Phase 2: Building the Master URL Redirect Map (3-5 Days)

The URL redirect map is the single most critical document in any migration. It is a complete, verified mapping of every old URL to its new Wix equivalent. The quality of this map directly determines the percentage of SEO equity preserved during migration.

URL Categorisation Framework

Every URL from your crawl and backlink audit must be categorised into one of four groups. This categorisation determines how each URL is handled during migration.

• Category A - Migrate and Redirect (1:1): pages being recreated on Wix with a direct equivalent. The old URL redirects to the new Wix URL for the same page. This is the ideal scenario for every important page.
• Category B - Consolidate and Redirect (Many:1): multiple old pages being merged into a single Wix page. All old URLs redirect to the consolidated destination. Common for thin content pages being combined into comprehensive resources.
• Category C - Retire and Redirect (1:nearest): pages being permanently removed with no Wix equivalent. Redirect to the most topically relevant alternative page. Never redirect to the homepage unless there is genuinely no better option.
• Category D - Ignore (no action): system URLs with no SEO value (admin pages, login pages, API endpoints). These generate expected 404s that do not affect rankings.

Building the Redirect Map Spreadsheet

Redirect Map Template (CSV columns):

old_url           | new_url          | type | priority | category | backlinks | traffic | notes
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
/about-us/        | /about           | 301  | high     | A        | 12        | 450/mo  | Top backlinked page
/services/seo/    | /services/seo    | 301  | high     | A        | 8         | 320/mo  | Core service page
/blog/seo-tips/   | /post/seo-tips   | 301  | medium   | A        | 3         | 180/mo  | Popular blog post
/old-service/     | /services        | 301  | low      | C        | 1         | 15/mo   | Service discontinued
/team/member1/    | /about           | 301  | low      | B        | 0         | 8/mo    | Consolidated into about
/wp-login.php     | --               | --   | none     | D        | 0         | 0       | System URL, ignore

Required columns:
- old_url: the full path from the old platform (without domain)
- new_url: the full path on Wix (without domain)
- type: always 301 for SEO preservation
- priority: high/medium/low based on backlinks and traffic
- category: A (migrate), B (consolidate), C (retire), D (ignore)
- backlinks: number of external backlinks pointing to this URL
- traffic: monthly organic sessions from GSC data
- notes: any special handling instructions

Redirect Map Quality Assurance

Phase 3: Redirect Implementation and Testing (2-3 Days)

Importing Redirects into Wix

Systematic Redirect Testing

Phase 4: Content Parity Verification (1-2 Days)

Before going live, verify that every important page on Wix contains identical SEO elements to its old-platform counterpart. Content parity means: same title tag, same meta description, same H1, same heading structure, same body content, same internal links (updated to Wix URLs), same images with same alt text.

Phase 5: The Domain Switch (1 Day)

Phase 6: Immediate Post-Launch Actions (Day 1)

Phase 7: The 30-60-90 Day Monitoring Framework

Days 1-7: Critical Phase

• Check Google Search Console daily for crawl errors and 404 pages. Fix any within 24 hours.
• Test 20 random redirects daily from your redirect map.
• Monitor real-time traffic in GA4 to confirm organic sessions are flowing.
• Review the Index Coverage report for trends in indexed page count.
• Compare daily organic sessions to the same day in the previous year.

Days 7-30: Stabilisation Phase

• Track keyword positions for your top 50 keywords using a rank tracking tool.
• Flag any keyword dropping more than 15 positions that does not recover within 7 days.
• Compare weekly organic traffic to the same week in the previous year.
• Check for redirect chains or loops that may have formed.
• Verify Core Web Vitals scores meet "Good" thresholds in Search Console.
• Review structured data validity for your top pages in Rich Results Test.

Days 30-60: Recovery Assessment

• Generate a formal 30-day migration report comparing all key metrics to baseline.
• Investigate keywords still down more than 10 positions: check content parity, redirect accuracy, and competitor activity.
• Organic traffic should be within 10-20% of baseline at 30 days. Larger gaps require investigation.
• At 45 days, most rankings should be stabilising. Persistent drops indicate specific issues.

Days 60-90: Final Benchmark

• Generate a comprehensive 60-day report. Traffic should be within 10-15% of baseline.
• At 90 days, generate the final migration success report.
• Success criteria: organic traffic within 10% of baseline, 90%+ of keywords within 5 positions of baseline, no significant crawl errors, all redirects functioning.
• After the 90-day benchmark, transition to monthly maintenance monitoring.
• Only after confirming 90-day success should you begin content improvements or site changes.

Emergency Response Protocol: Diagnosing Traffic Drops

Preparing DNS for Minimal Downtime

DNS configuration before migration is a frequently overlooked technical step that can mean the difference between minutes of downtime and days of inconsistent access. Proper DNS preparation ensures the domain switch happens as quickly as possible across all geographic regions.

CDN and Caching Considerations During Migration

If your old site uses a CDN like Cloudflare, Sucuri, or a hosting-provider CDN, the caching layer adds complexity to migration. Cached versions of your old site may continue serving content even after DNS points to Wix, and Cloudflare proxy settings can interfere with the Wix SSL certificate.

• If using Cloudflare: disable the proxy (orange cloud) for your domain records before pointing to Wix. Wix requires direct DNS resolution for SSL to work correctly.
• Purge all CDN caches on the old provider immediately after the DNS switch to prevent stale content being served
• If the old site used aggressive browser caching headers, returning visitors may see cached versions of the old site. This resolves itself as caches expire but can cause confusion in the first 24-48 hours.
• Wix provides its own CDN automatically. Do not layer an external CDN on top of Wix as it can cause SSL conflicts and performance issues.
• If using Cloudflare for security features (WAF, DDoS protection), note that Wix includes its own security infrastructure. You generally do not need Cloudflare in front of Wix.
• Test the live Wix site from multiple locations using a VPN or tools like GeoPeeker to verify the new site is serving correctly across regions

Hreflang Migration for International Sites

International sites with multiple language or country versions must migrate their hreflang tag infrastructure alongside the content. Hreflang tells Google which version of a page to show users in different languages or countries. Breaking hreflang during migration can cause Google to show the wrong language version to users, dramatically reducing click-through rates in international markets.

Content Management Workflow Post-Migration

After the technical migration is complete, your team needs to adapt to the new content management workflow on Wix. Staff who were trained on the old platform will need onboarding on the Wix Editor. Without this transition planning, content updates stall and the site becomes stale during the critical recovery period.

• Create a Wix Editor training guide for content team members covering: adding and editing pages, managing blog posts, updating images, editing SEO settings, and managing forms
• Document the SEO checklist for new content: every new page or blog post must have a custom title tag, meta description, H1, alt text on images, and proper internal links
• Set up editorial roles in Wix: assign appropriate permissions so content editors can publish without accidentally changing site structure or design
• Establish a content review workflow: new content should be reviewed for SEO compliance before publishing during the recovery period
• Create a template for new blog posts that includes all required SEO fields pre-formatted
• Document the process for adding new URL redirects in case old URLs are discovered that were missed during migration
• Schedule weekly content team meetings during the first month to address questions and workflow issues on the new platform