A website content migration moves information into a new structure, platform or design. The difficult work is deciding what deserves to move and how its meaning will survive the change. Copying every old page preserves clutter; rewriting everything without an inventory can remove useful answers and break established links.
Build an inventory with decisions attached
List pages, downloadable files, images and reusable content blocks. Add the current address, title, owner, audience, last substantive review and known dependencies. Include material outside the main navigation, such as campaign landing pages and linked PDFs.
Give every item a proposed action: retain, revise, combine, archive or remove. The decision should have a reason and an accountable owner. “Looks old” is insufficient when a page still explains a service that customers buy.
Keep the inventory small enough to use. A clear spreadsheet with resolved decisions is more valuable than an elaborate tool containing unanswered fields.
Preserve the job each page performs
Ask what a visitor should understand or do after reading the page. A technical service description, a hiring page and an onboarding guide have different purposes, even if all currently live under “Resources.”
Consider a fictional engineering firm migrating these items:
| Existing content | Intended action | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Current inspection service | Revise and retain its address | The offer remains relevant |
| Two overlapping maintenance pages | Combine with deliberate redirects | Reduce repetition while preserving detail |
| Completed event announcement | Archive with context | Historical information may still be useful |
| Unapproved draft copied from an old system | Exclude from public migration | It was never intended for publication |
The new navigation should make these distinctions easier to understand. Avoid replacing specific content with one vague overview merely to reduce the number of menu items.
Review accuracy, rights and sensitive information
Migration is an opportunity to check claims, ownership and permissions. Confirm that photographs, customer references and project descriptions can be published. Remove personal data or internal notes that were accidentally included in exported records.
Label prototypes, demonstrations and historical results accurately. A design refresh must not turn a proof of concept into a production success story through stronger wording. If an old claim cannot be verified, revise or omit it rather than copying it indefinitely.
Check links to policies and external documentation. If a source has changed, review the statement it supports instead of mechanically swapping in a new URL.
Map addresses before implementation
Decide whether each retained page keeps its address or moves to a new one. Record the final canonical destination. Permanent moves need appropriate redirects, while genuinely removed content without a replacement should not be sent indiscriminately to the homepage.
Update internal links to final destinations. Include image and file addresses when they are linked from other pages or shared externally. A migration can preserve every article while still breaking its downloads.
Separate content approval from URL approval so editors and developers can review the decisions relevant to their responsibilities.
Verify the published result systematically
Review a sample from every content type and all high-value pages. Compare titles, headings, important facts, media, related links and calls to action with the approved source. Check special characters, tables and list formatting after conversion.
Test missing pages, redirects and mobile layouts. Confirm that drafts remain unpublished and that search, category listings and navigation use the intended content set. Regenerate the sitemap from canonical public pages.
Close the migration with a maintained record
Track exceptions until they are resolved or explicitly accepted. Keep the mapping sheet, publication decisions and content ownership record with the site documentation. Assign future review dates based on the material's risk and rate of change.
A migration is complete when the new site contains approved, useful information and the team knows how to maintain it. The final record should explain what moved, what changed and why a removed address no longer has an equivalent page.
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