CMS migrations are technically complex, but most failures are organizational: missed redirects, untrained editors, lost metadata, surprised stakeholders, and unclear definitions of done.
This checklist covers the project management layer of a CMS migration.
Phase 1: Discovery and planning
- Existing CMS platform, version, and limitations documented
- New CMS platform selected and contract/access confirmed
- Project scope defined: what is migrated vs. rebuilt vs. archived
- Project owner and DRI named
- Key stakeholders identified (editorial, dev, SEO, management)
- Timeline agreed with fixed milestones and hard dates
- Rollback plan sketched: what happens if launch is delayed
Phase 2: Content inventory
- Full content inventory completed (pages, posts, categories, media, documents)
- Content classified: migrate / rewrite / archive / delete
- Orphaned or low-value content flagged for removal
- Content owners assigned for any content requiring review or rewrite
- Media library audited (images, videos, attachments)
Phase 3: ⚠ SEO and URL mapping
- All current URLs documented (crawl or export from existing CMS)
- New URL structure confirmed and approved
- URL mapping table created (old URL → new URL or status)
- Top-traffic and high-value URLs prioritized for redirect mapping
- 301 redirect plan created and reviewed by SEO/dev team
- Canonical tag strategy defined for new platform
- Sitemap generation confirmed on new platform
- robots.txt reviewed for new platform
Phase 4: Technical migration
- Database or content export completed from old CMS
- Import/migration scripts tested on staging
- Custom fields, metadata, and taxonomies mapped
- Media and file migrations tested
- Internal links updated or redirected
- Third-party integrations (analytics, forms, CRM, CDN) configured on new platform
Phase 5: Editorial workflow
- New CMS publishing workflow documented
- User roles and permissions configured
- Content templates and editor views set up
- Editorial team trained on new interface
- One full publish-to-live walkthrough completed by editorial lead
Phase 6: QA
- Staging site reviewed against content inventory (sample check)
- Top-traffic pages reviewed for content accuracy
- All redirect rules tested and verified
- Images and media rendering correctly
- Forms and conversion flows tested end-to-end
- Analytics and tracking verified on staging
- Mobile rendering reviewed
- Performance baseline measured on staging
Phase 7: ⚠ Launch readiness
- All critical redirect rules confirmed live or queued
- Analytics tracking confirmed as ready to switch
- DNS and CDN configuration ready
- Stakeholders notified of launch date and window
- Editorial team aware of any blackout periods (freeze on publishing during launch)
- Support/escalation contact confirmed for launch day
- Monitoring plan for first 48 hours post-launch
Phase 8: Post-launch
- Redirects verified live (spot-check top 20 URLs)
- Analytics tracking confirmed firing
- Search console recrawl requested
- Post-launch review meeting or async update with stakeholders
- Issues log created and assigned for any post-launch fixes
- Editorial team debriefed — are there workflow issues?
Most migrations underestimate Phase 2 (content inventory) and Phase 3 (URL mapping). These are not technical tasks — they require editorial involvement and sign-off.