You need a full inventory of your current site, your new hosting or platform details, login access, content files, SEO settings, and tracking data before a website migration starts.
At a practical level, that means we need to know what is moving, where it is moving, who controls each system, and what cannot break during the switch. For most small and mid-size businesses, the migration fails when pages go missing, forms stop working, email tied to the domain gets overlooked, or redirects are not mapped page by page.
| What we need | Examples | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Domain and DNS access | Registrar login, DNS host, nameserver details | This controls where your domain points and whether the new site can go live correctly. |
| Hosting and CMS access | Current host login, cPanel or server access, WordPress admin, plugin list | We need this to copy files, databases, themes, settings, and media. |
| Full URL inventory | All live pages, blog posts, service pages, PDFs, images with traffic | This prevents valuable pages from disappearing during the move. |
| Redirect map | Old URL to new URL list | If page addresses change, visitors and Google need a clean path to the new location. |
| SEO data | Title tags, meta descriptions, canonicals, sitemap, robots.txt, schema | This protects rankings and helps search engines process the move faster. |
| Tracking and forms | GA4, Google Tag Manager, Google Ads, call tracking, Meta Pixel, contact forms | You want leads, calls, and conversions tracked the same day the new site launches. |
| Third-party connections | CRM, booking tools, chat widgets, payment tools, email marketing tools | These tools often break after a migration if domains, scripts, or webhooks change. |
| Content and brand assets | Logos, images, videos, copy docs, legal pages, privacy policy | This keeps the new site complete and consistent. |
If the migration includes a new domain, HTTPS version, folder structure, or page naming system, we also need your highest-value pages and backlinks identified first. That is where most SEO risk sits. Google treats site moves and URL changes as a real change, so redirects, canonicals, internal links, and updated sitemaps all need to match the new setup. If your business depends on local search in Orlando or anywhere in Florida, we also check your Google Business Profile website link, citation listings, and landing pages so your local signals stay consistent.
For WordPress sites, we usually ask for theme details, custom code snippets, plugin licenses, staging access, database access, and a recent backup. That is one reason our WordPress hosting service is built around cleaner updates, backups, and faster recovery when something goes sideways.
A simple migration checklist usually includes five parts: access, content, SEO, tracking, and launch testing. Before launch, we test forms, phone links, mobile speed, indexing rules, redirect rules, analytics events, and thank-you pages. After launch, we recheck Search Console, crawl errors, and page indexing. If you are not sure when to use permanent redirects during the move, our page on 301 vs. 302 redirects explains the difference in plain English.
If you are planning a redesign at the same time, it helps to treat the migration and the build as one project, not two separate jobs. Our web design service is often paired with migrations so the new site keeps the pages, structure, and conversion paths your business already depends on.
The short version is this: before moving a website, we need every login, every live URL, every tracking setup, every form destination, and a clear map from the old site to the new one. That is what keeps traffic, leads, and rankings from dropping the moment you switch.
