What should you check on website launch day and after migration?

On launch day, the priority is to confirm that the live site is accessible, old URLs redirect correctly, and the functionality and SEO settings from the test environment have actually been deployed. After migration, continue tracking indexing, errors, and performance trends to identify and fix anything missed. Neither stage replaces the other: passing launch-day checks does not mean later updates will not introduce new problems. If you are only soft-launching to a subset of customers, first confirm whether the site should also be accessible through organic search at this stage.

Launch day: first confirm that search engines can access the live site

Google’s documentation on hosting migrations reminds site owners to remove temporary crawling restrictions when starting a migration and to confirm afterward that Search Console verification remains valid. These checks should distinguish between content intended to be public on the live site and areas that were never meant to be accessible, rather than lifting all restrictions indiscriminately.

• Check robots.txt and any temporary noindex settings to ensure no testing-stage restrictions remain.
• Depending on the original verification method, confirm that the new site still has the verification file, meta tag, or required Google Analytics elements.
• Use the URL Inspection tool to confirm that Googlebot can access the new hosting environment, and check whether a firewall or denial-of-service protection is mistakenly blocking access.

Launch day: follow the old URLs, then audit the new site

Backlinko’s 2024 migration guide recommends crawling the site again after launch to check internal links, page titles, descriptions, canonical tags, and hreflang. Settings completed in the test environment may still be missing from the live site if the correct code version was not deployed.

• Test redirects using the list of old URLs and check their final destinations. If you encounter redirect loops or destination pages that no longer work, record the cause and update the URL mapping.
• Test URLs used in other channels to confirm that any parameters that need to be retained are still present after redirection.
• Check whether robots.txt is mistakenly blocking CSS or images. Crawl the new XML sitemap and confirm that the listed URLs return a 200 status code before submitting it. The guide notes that submission may speed up indexing, but does not guarantee it.

Completing the migration: functional testing must go beyond the homepage

The testing checklist in Semrush’s 2020 article on CMS migrations covers loading, layout, navigation, images and videos, as well as search, buttons, and forms. If the site supports user accounts, registration and login should also be tested, along with checks in commonly used browsers. Performance and technical SEO issues should also be checked. The article places these acceptance checks before launching the new CMS and deactivating the old one; it should not be interpreted as advising you to deactivate the old system before testing.

Weeks to months after launch: track omissions and changes

According to Backlinko’s guide, you should crawl the site regularly after launch and review indexing status, redirects, missing pages, and server errors in Search Console, because subsequent releases can also introduce problems. Community advice on Stack Exchange recommends logging 404 requests and reviewing them regularly during the new site’s first few months to find overlooked URLs. This is practical advice, not an official timeframe.

For performance, compare KPI trends over the weeks following launch and over the longer term. If performance falls short of expectations, compare the old and new sites’ metadata, redirect destinations, or conversion design, and use those differences to plan fixes rather than assuming a cause based solely on a traffic decline. Redirects also require ongoing maintenance when URLs or categories change later.