Inventory and back up
List pages, media, downloads, forms, integrations, DNS records, and access owners. Back up the WordPress files and database before moving, following WordPress migration guidance.
Identify what changes: hosting, domain, URL paths, design, or several of these. Keep a copy of the current configuration and define the conditions for rolling back.
Map the URLs
Map each important old URL to its relevant new destination. Google recommends direct permanent redirects and warns against sending unrelated old pages to one destination in its site-move guidance.
Include downloads and image URLs when their locations change. Record deliberately removed content separately and decide the correct response for each item.
Test the new environment
Check menus, layouts, forms, email notifications, checkout, search, and other required actions. Confirm that integrations use the intended environment and credentials.
Review titles, canonical URLs, sitemap output, and development-only indexing blocks. Check internal links for old-domain or preview-domain references.
Release with named responsibilities
Agree on the release window, the person making DNS changes, and the person verifying customer-facing behavior. Preserve unrelated email and service records.
Check HTTPS, redirects, key pages, and forms from the public site after the switch. Record actual results rather than relying only on a deployment success message.
Monitor after launch
Review search indexing, errors, and performance after the move. Google notes that search visibility can fluctuate during a migration and recommends retaining redirects for at least a year in its migration documentation.
Keep the old configuration and recovery plan available until the agreed checks pass. Document any unresolved issue and who will handle it.