By Mehdi HassanWhat should a website migration plan template include?
A website migration plan template needs five parts: the scope and goal, the workstreams with named owners, the phases and milestones, the go/no-go gates with pass criteria, and a post-launch monitoring plan. Everything else, such as a Gantt chart or a status color, is optional.
The template below works for any platform move: Webflow to Framer, WordPress to Webflow, a builder to Next.js or the reverse. Copy it into a shared sheet, fill in names and dates, and treat the gates as hard stops. If you haven't priced the project yet, our hub on website migration cost sets the ranges, and how long a website migration takes gives realistic schedules to fill in the dates.
Part 1: how do you write the scope and goal?
Write one paragraph that says why you're migrating, what's in and out of scope, and how you'll know it worked. This is the reference point for every later decision, especially when someone asks to add a feature halfway through.
- Why: the problem the migration solves, such as editing speed, cost at scale, CMS limits or languages.
- From and to: the current platform and the destination, with the reason the destination was chosen.
- In scope: pages, CMS collections, languages, integrations and whether design changes.
- Out of scope: what you're deliberately not doing, such as rewriting blog copy or adding a locale.
- Success measures: organic traffic and leads back to baseline within an agreed window, no unredirected 404s, and the editing workflow the team asked for.
Part 2: who owns each workstream?
Give every workstream one accountable owner, even on a small team where one person holds several. Shared ownership is how the redirect map ends up half-done on launch day. Copy this table and replace the roles with names.
Workstream | Owner | Owns these deliverables |
|---|---|---|
Project lead | One named decision-maker | Scope, schedule, gate sign-off |
SEO | SEO lead or agency | URL inventory, redirect map, metadata, monitoring |
Content | Content or marketing lead | Keep or drop list, export, cleanup, freeze date |
Design | Designer | Templates, components, responsive states |
Build | Developer or builder | Pages, CMS, performance, staging |
Integrations and analytics | Marketing ops | Forms, CRM, analytics, consent, tracking plan |
Launch | Developer plus project lead | DNS, redirects live, rollback plan |
If analytics events need rebuilding on the new platform, write them down before the build starts. Our website tracking plan template gives you the format.
Part 3: what are the phases and milestones?
Break the project into six phases, each ending in a milestone you can check. Dates depend on site size and team speed, so fill them in from your own estimates or your agency's quote.
Audit
Milestone: full URL inventory with traffic data, a keep, merge or drop decision per URL, and a list of every integration and script on the old site.
Plan
Milestone: content model for the new CMS, a first draft of the redirect map and a signed scope. Ends at Gate 1.
Build
Milestone: every template built on staging with real content in at least one example of each.
Content
Milestone: all content imported, images re-hosted, metadata copied and content frozen on the old site. Ends at Gate 2.
QA
Milestone: staging reviewed by every owner, redirect map tested, forms and analytics verified. Ends at Gates 3 and 4.
Launch and monitor
Milestone: DNS switched, sitemap submitted, daily checks for the first week and weekly checks for the following weeks.
Part 4: what go/no-go gates should a migration have?
Use four gates, each with written pass criteria and a named person who signs it off. If a criterion fails, the next phase doesn't start. That rule is what turns a plan into protection.
Gate | Before | Pass criteria | Signed off by |
|---|---|---|---|
1. Scope locked | Build | Scope signed, content model approved, URL inventory complete | Project lead |
2. Content ready | QA | All content imported, images re-hosted, metadata present on every page | Content lead |
3. Staging approved | Launch prep | Every template reviewed on desktop and mobile, performance checked, forms tested | Design and build owners |
4. Launch ready | DNS switch | Redirect map tested on staging, analytics firing, rollback plan written, team available for 48 hours | SEO owner and project lead |
Gate 4 launch-readiness checklist to copy
Every old URL has a row in the redirect map, and every row has been tested to return a single 301 to a 200 page.
Titles, meta descriptions, canonicals and structured data are present on every template.
The XML sitemap lists only new, live URLs.
Forms submit to the right destination and send confirmation emails.
Analytics and consent tools fire on every template, including thank-you pages.
The robots file and noindex settings are correct for production, not staging.
DNS changes are written down, with the current records saved for rollback.
The SEO owner and developer are available for 48 hours after launch.
Part 5: what goes in the post-launch monitoring plan?
Plan at least several weeks of monitoring after launch, with named checks and a cadence. Most migration problems surface early, and catching them early is far cheaper than recovering later.
- Day 1: crawl the live site, check redirects, submit the sitemap and inspect top pages in Search Console.
- Days 2–7: check Search Console coverage and 404 reports daily; fix any missed redirects the same day.
- Weeks 2–4: compare impressions, clicks and leads against the baseline weekly, by page group.
- Weeks 5–8: review Core Web Vitals and conversion rates; schedule copy and design improvements left out of scope.
- Escalation rule: if a page group falls well below baseline for more than a week, run the recovery checklist.
If a launch has already gone wrong, our 30-day website migration recovery plan walks through diagnosis and fixes in order.
Which supporting templates should sit alongside the plan?
The plan is the spine; a few supporting documents do the detailed work. Link them from the plan so every owner can find them.
- Redirect map: one row per old URL with its new URL, status and test result. Use our 301 redirect map template.
- Quote and scope checklist: if an agency is involved, use our migration quote checklist to confirm what's included.
- Running cost sheet: what the site will cost after launch; see ongoing costs after a migration.
- Accessibility statement: if you publish one, update it for the new site with our accessibility statement template.
- Ongoing support: decide who maintains the site after launch; our comparison of care plans and design retainers helps.
If you're using coding agents for the build, add an extra line to Gate 3 requiring a human review of metadata and redirects. Our guide to AI-assisted website migration explains why, and our notes on hiring a migration agency cover what to expect if you hand the plan to a partner.
