Website Migration Plan Template: Phases, Owners, and Timeline
Find out how to improve your conversions in days not months.
Key Takeaways
This website migration plan template turns a platform switch into seven phases and 31 tasks, each with an owner and a clear finish line. Copy the free Google Sheet, change the example timeline to fit your site, and use it with our website migration checklist to run the project from the first crawl to day 90.
A checklist tells you what to do. A website migration plan tells you who does it and by when. When nobody owns the redirect map or the tracking, those are the tasks that get missed.
We built this template from the same seven phases as our Website Migration Checklist, so you can read the why there and track the work here.
Get the Free Website Migration Plan Template
This website migration project plan template is a Google Sheet, and you don't need to share an email to use it.
- Open the website migration plan template in Google Sheets. Google asks you to make a copy.
- Replace each owner role with a real name.
- Change the example timing to your own dates, starting from your launch date.
- Update the Status column as each task moves to done.
The full plan is also below, phase by phase, if you'd rather read it here first.
7 phases, 31 tasks, owner roles, and an example timeline. No email needed.
What Goes in a Website Migration Project Plan
A website migration project plan has five parts. Each task needs all five, or it tends to get missed.
- Phases: the order of the work, from benchmarking the old site to monitoring the new one.
- Tasks: one action each, small enough for one person to finish.
- Owners: one role per task, such as SEO lead or developer.
- Timing: when each phase starts and ends, counted back from launch day.
- Done when: the result that proves the task is finished, such as “every old URL has one new URL in the spreadsheet.”
The template uses six owner roles. On a small team, one person may hold several of them, and an agency partner may hold others:
- Project lead: owns the timeline, the content freeze, and launch day
- SEO lead: owns the crawl, the redirect map, staging checks, and monitoring
- Content lead: owns the content inventory and the review of moved pages
- Developer: owns the field map, the export, the import, and the DNS switch
- Analytics lead: owns Google Tag Manager tags and conversion events
- Marketing ops: owns forms, the CRM connection, chat, and ad pixels
The Seven Phases at a Glance
Here's the full website migration plan in one view. The timing is an example for a 10-week build; your dates depend on your site.
| Phase | Example Timing | Lead Owner | Done When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1: Plan and Benchmark | Weeks 1–2 | Project lead | Baseline saved and content freeze date set |
| Phase 2: Map Content Model and URLs | Weeks 2–3 | SEO lead | Field map and redirect map approved |
| Phase 3: Export, Clean, and Move Content | Weeks 4–7 | Developer | Sample approved and full import complete |
| Phase 4: Rebuild Forms and Tracking | Weeks 6–7 | Analytics lead | Every tag, event, and form tested on staging |
| Phase 5: Test on Staging | Week 8 | SEO lead | Staging passes every check with no open issues |
| Phase 6: Launch Day | Week 9 | Project lead | New site live with redirects working |
| Phase 7: The First 90 Days | Launch to day 90 | SEO lead | Traffic back at the baseline, or every drop traced to a cause |
The Website Migration Plan Template, Phase by Phase
Each phase below lists its tasks, the owner of each one, and what done looks like. The step numbers match the Website Migration Checklist, where each step is explained.
Phase 1: Plan and Benchmark
Record what the old site earns today, so you can measure the new site against it. If you haven't chosen the new platform yet, our Webflow vs. WordPress comparison covers the most common choice.
| Task | Owner | Done When |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Confirm the new platform fits your team | Project lead | Content types and editing needs signed off |
| 2. Crawl every URL on the old site | SEO lead | Full URL list exported with titles, H1s, and status codes |
| 3. Export Search Console data | SEO lead | 12 months of clicks, impressions, and positions saved by page and query |
| 4. Mark your most valuable pages | SEO lead and content lead | Top pages by traffic, leads, and links listed |
| 5. Set a content freeze date | Project lead | Date shared with everyone who publishes |
Phase 2: Map Content Model and URLs
Agree on where every field and every URL goes before anyone starts the build. The redirect map from this phase is the most important file in the project.
| Task | Owner | Done When |
|---|---|---|
| 6. List every content type and field | Content lead | Inventory of content types and fields complete |
| 7. Map old fields to fields in the new CMS | Developer | Field map approved, with dropped fields listed |
| 8. Set URL rules for the new platform | SEO lead and developer | URL rules written down and agreed |
| 9. Build the one-to-one redirect map | SEO lead | Every old URL has one new URL in the spreadsheet |
| 10. Remove any redirects to the homepage | SEO lead | No old URL points to the homepage |
| 11. Add the old site's redirects and set a keep-until date | SEO lead | Old redirects merged; keep-until date at least one year out |
Phase 3: Export, Clean, and Move Content
This is your website content migration plan, and it usually takes the longest. On our recent migrations, scripts and AI agents do much of this phase, and a person approves each sample; how we use AI agents to migrate a site explains the process.
| Task | Owner | Done When |
|---|---|---|
| 12. Export in a format the new CMS can read | Developer | Export converted (for WordPress to Webflow, XML to CSV) |
| 13. Clean out code the new platform can't use | Developer | No shortcodes or page builder markup left |
| 14. Fix special characters | Developer | Test import shows no broken characters |
| 15. Upload images and move hosted video | Developer and content lead | No page loads media from the old server |
| 16. Rebuild tables, embeds, and headings | Content lead | Most valuable pages checked against the originals |
| 17. Move a sample first and approve it | Content lead and project lead | Sample approved, then the full import is done |
Phase 4: Rebuild Forms and Tracking
Test every tag and form on staging, so your reports and your lead flow keep working on launch day. Our analytics and Google Tag Manager setup team can rebuild tracking during the move.
| Task | Owner | Done When |
|---|---|---|
| 18. Map every Google Tag Manager tag | Analytics lead | Spreadsheet lists each tag, trigger, and report |
| 19. Rebuild conversion events | Analytics lead | Events in GA4 match the old site |
| 20. Send a test lead through every form | Marketing ops | Every test lead reaches the CRM with all fields filled |
| 21. Check chat, cookie consent, and ad pixels | Marketing ops | All scripts listed and firing on staging |
Phase 5: Test on Staging
Run every check on a private copy of the new site, before anyone outside the team can see it.
| Task | Owner | Done When |
|---|---|---|
| 22. Password-protect the staging site | Developer | Staging can't be opened without a password |
| 23. Crawl the staging site | SEO lead | No 404s, missing titles, or wrong canonical tags |
| 24. Test every redirect | SEO lead | Every old URL reaches its new page in one step |
| 25. Compare titles, meta descriptions, headings, and schema | SEO lead | Most valuable pages match the Phase 1 crawl |
| 26. Check page speed on the main templates | Developer | Main templates checked in PageSpeed Insights and large files fixed |
Phase 6: Launch Day
Launch day is short when the earlier phases are done. Keep each owner available for the first few hours.
| Task | Owner | Done When |
|---|---|---|
| 27. Switch the DNS and remove staging protection | Developer | Live site loads with no password or noindex |
| 28. Turn on the redirects | Developer and SEO lead | A sample of old URLs redirects correctly |
| 29. Submit the new sitemap in Search Console | SEO lead | Sitemap submitted |
| 30. Use Change of Address only if the domain changed | SEO lead | Submitted, or marked not needed |
| 31. Check the top 20 pages by hand | Project lead | Forms submit and tags fire on all 20 pages |
Phase 7: The First 90 Days
Some movement in rankings is normal after a move. These checks show you the difference between normal movement and a missed redirect, field, or tag.
| Task | Owner | Done When |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1: check Search Console and leads every day | SEO lead and marketing ops | No new 404s; lead counts normal |
| Weeks 2 to 4: compare top pages with the baseline every week | SEO lead | Each drop traced to a redirect, field, or tag |
| Days 30 to 90: review traffic every month | Project lead | Traffic back at the baseline; old URLs leaving search |
How to Set Your Website Migration Timeline
Start from your launch date and work backward. Pick a launch date outside your busiest sales weeks, then place the phases before it.
The following four things decide how long each phase takes:
- Number of URLs: every URL needs a row in the redirect map and a test before launch.
- Amount of content: posts with custom fields, tables, and embedded media take longer to export and check.
- A redesign at the same time: new designs and new copy run on their own schedule.
- Integrations: each form, CRM connection, and tracking tag adds testing time.
For a sense of scale, our Scientist.com migration moved 1,200+ posts from four sites into one and launched in about 10 weeks. Add a buffer week before launch day, so a failed test doesn't move the date.
Adjust the Plan for Your Platform
The phases stay the same on every platform. The tasks in Phases 2 and 3 change with what you're moving from.
- WordPress: plan extra time for plugin data, such as Yoast SEO fields, and for shortcodes. Our WordPress to Webflow migration page covers the details.
- HubSpot CMS: forms and tracking often stay in HubSpot while the site moves. Our HubSpot to Webflow migration guide covers what stays and what moves.
- Static HTML: there's no CMS export, so pages are rebuilt instead. See our HTML to Webflow conversion service.
Use the Plan With a Migration Partner
The template works whether your team runs the migration or an agency does. With a partner, mark which owner roles they hold, so nobody assumes the other side has a task.
We've built 250+ Webflow sites as a Webflow Enterprise Partner, and our website migration services cover every phase in this plan.
If your plan shows more work than your team has time for, we can walk through it with you on a call. Just click on the button below to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions About Website Migration Plans
What should a website migration plan include?
A website migration plan should include the phases of the project, every task in each phase, one owner per task, the timing of each phase, and a done-when line for each task. It also needs a list of risks, such as missed redirects or broken forms, with the fix for each one and who owns it.
Who should own a website migration project?
One project lead should own the timeline and launch day, and every task should have its own owner. The SEO lead usually owns the redirect map and monitoring, a developer owns the export and import, and marketing ops owns forms and the CRM. On small teams, one person can hold several roles.
How do you build a website migration timeline?
Start from the launch date and work backward through each phase. The number of URLs, the amount of content, a redesign at the same time, and the number of integrations decide how long each phase takes. Add a buffer week before launch, so one failed test doesn't move the launch date.
What is a website migration mitigation plan?
A website migration mitigation plan lists what could go wrong during the move and how you'll fix it. Common risks are missed redirects, lost content fields, broken forms, and tracking gaps. For each risk, name an owner, the check that catches it, and a rollback step, such as restoring the old redirect map.
Is this website migration plan template free?
Yes. The template is a free Google Sheet, and you don't need to share an email to use it. Open the link, make a copy in your own Google Drive, and edit it as you like. The full plan is also on this page, phase by phase, if you'd rather read it before copying it.
How is a migration plan different from a migration checklist?
A migration checklist lists what to do and explains why each step matters. A migration plan adds who does each step and when, so the work can be tracked. Use them together: our website migration checklist explains each of the 31 steps, and this template assigns and schedules them.
What's next?
Lucas is Development Team Lead at Curio Digital. Self-taught from childhood and building in Webflow since 19, he now leads the team shipping enterprise work for US clients. His focus: process and technical oversight that keep quality steady as volume grows.
