Post Migration WordPress Website Audit Checklist

Migrating a WordPress website is a big step for any business. Whether you are moving to a new host, upgrading infrastructure, or redesigning your site, the process does not end once the migration is complete. In fact, the most crucial phase begins after migration: the post-migration WordPress website audit.

A thorough audit ensures that your new WordPress site works smoothly, delivers the same or better user experience, and maintains its search engine visibility. Without it, you risk broken links, security issues, and SEO performance drops that could affect traffic and conversions.

In this guide, we’ll walk through an in-depth WordPress post-migration audit checklist. You’ll learn why it matters, the risks of skipping it, and the essential steps to keep your website secure, functional, and optimized for growth.

Why Are Post-Migration WordPress Site Audits Critical?

Skipping a post-migration audit can be costly. Migration involves moving files, databases, and configurations. Even a small error can cause broken functionality, downtime, or lost SEO rankings. Let’s look at some risks:

• Broken links can disrupt navigation and frustrate visitors.

• Improper redirects can cause 404 errors and damage organic rankings.

• SEO performance issues may occur if metadata, structured data, or sitemaps are not properly transferred.

• Security vulnerabilities can arise if plugins, themes, or hosting setups are not configured correctly.

• Downtime or speed issues can impact user experience and search engine indexing.

A comprehensive post-migration WordPress audit addresses these risks head-on and ensures your website continues to perform.

9 Points Post-Migration WordPress Audit Checklist

To make it easier and speed up the site audit process, we’ve created this nine-points checklist. So, without further ado, let’s get started.

Point 1: Planning and Strategy

Even though planning happens before the migration, your post-migration audit should begin by verifying that the strategy was properly executed. This step ensures that your website migration goals align with the final outcome.

• Define Goals and Scope: Review whether the migration achieved its objectives. Did it improve site speed, scalability, or add new features? Compare pre- and post-migration benchmarks to confirm progress.

• Target Audience Expectations: Evaluate if the migrated WordPress site provides a seamless experience across devices. Check navigation, mobile responsiveness, and load times to ensure user satisfaction.

• Backup Verification: Confirm that backups taken before migration are intact and that new backups of the live site exist. Store these securely in cloud storage or external drives for easy recovery.

• Risk Assessment: Identify potential gaps between your migration plan and actual results. Document any errors, missed redirects, or overlooked content to refine future processes.

Point 2: Technical Setup & Hosting Configuration

The hosting environment forms the backbone of your WordPress site, and a post-migration audit must confirm that every technical element is configured correctly. Even small oversights here can cause downtime, errors, or poor performance.

• Hosting and DNS: Verify that DNS records are pointing to the correct hosting server. Use tools like What’s My DNS to check global propagation and ensure no old records remain active.

• WordPress Installation: Confirm that the latest version of WordPress is installed. Test for core functionality issues and ensure all files are transferred without corruption.

• Essential Plugins: Double-check that SEO plugins, redirect managers, and security plugins are installed, activated, and configured correctly. These tools safeguard performance and rankings.

• CDN Setup: Make sure your content delivery network is properly integrated. Test assets like images, CSS, and scripts to confirm they are being delivered via the CDN.

• Security Basics: Activate SSL certificates, configure firewalls, and limit admin access to secure IPs.

• Backup & Recovery Plan: Run a test restore to confirm that both website and database backups are functional, ensuring quick recovery in emergencies.

Point 3: Content and Design Verification

After migration, you must thoroughly check your site’s content and design to confirm everything functions as expected. Even small errors can impact usability and SEO, so this step is critical.

• Interactive Features: Test all forms, search bars, checkout processes, and login systems. Ensure they send data correctly, display confirmation messages, and work across devices.

• Internal Links: Review and update your internal linking structure. Test links within menus, footers, and content to make sure they point to the right pages. Remove orphan pages to maintain a clear hierarchy.

• Redirects: Verify that old URLs redirect properly to their new counterparts. Implement 301 redirects to preserve SEO authority and prevent visitors from landing on error pages.

• Broken Links: Run a full site crawl using tools like Screaming Frog. Fix or replace broken links immediately.

• Performance Check: Use tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights to test site speed and optimize any flagged issues.

Point 4: SEO and Performance Monitoring

After migration, you must ensure that search engines can crawl, index, and rank your WordPress site correctly. Monitoring SEO and performance helps protect traffic and visibility.

• Google Analytics & Search Console: Reconnect your accounts and verify that tracking codes work. Also, monitor traffic trends, impressions, and crawl reports to identify issues early.

• Sitemap Submission: Generate and submit a fresh XML sitemap in Google Search Console. Plus, confirm that Google can access and crawl all essential pages without errors.

• Site Ownership Verification: Verify your domain ownership in Search Console. This step ensures you have full access to indexing reports and performance insights.

• Keyword Rankings: Track keyword performance before and after migration. Watch for ranking drops and adjust your SEO strategy if needed.

• Speed Checks: Test desktop and mobile speeds. Optimize Core Web Vitals, including Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).

• Content Indexing: Search for key site pages in Google. Additionally, confirm that important posts, landing pages, and product pages appear in search results.

Point 5: Plugins, Themes, and DNS Updates

After a migration, plugins, themes, and DNS settings often require close attention. This step ensures your WordPress site functions smoothly without errors or conflicts.

• Update Plugins and Themes: Update all plugins and themes to their latest versions. Outdated files can create compatibility issues, slow performance, or expose security risks.

• Check Compatibility: Test plugins with the new hosting environment. Some hosting configurations may conflict with caching, security, or eCommerce plugins, so confirm everything works as intended.

• Essential SEO Plugins: Reconfigure your SEO plugins, redirect managers, and sitemap tools. Make sure metadata, redirects, and canonical tags remain intact to protect rankings.

• DNS Settings: Review and confirm that your DNS records and domain registrar settings point to the correct server. This ensures smooth site access without downtime.

• Email Accounts: Verify that domain-related email accounts function correctly. Test sending and receiving emails to confirm proper integration with your hosting setup.

Point 6: Testing and Quality Assurance

User experience drives the success of your WordPress website, and thorough testing ensures your site delivers value after migration. A structured quality assurance process helps detect issues before they affect visitors.

• Usability Testing: Test navigation menus, buttons, and calls-to-action (CTAs). Confirm that they guide users smoothly through the site and support conversions.

• Accessibility: Review your site against WCAG accessibility standards. Use tools like WAVE or Axe to ensure content is readable by screen readers and accessible for all users.

• Responsiveness: Test the site across multiple devices, including desktop, tablets, and smartphones. Verify that layouts, images, and content adjust seamlessly without breaking.

• User Feedback: Collect feedback from real users through surveys, heatmaps, or testing sessions. This step helps you uncover overlooked issues, such as confusing navigation or unclear messaging.

By completing this stage, you validate that the migrated site delivers a seamless and inclusive experience.

Point 7: Browser and Device Testing

Cross-compatibility ensures your WordPress site delivers a consistent experience to all users, regardless of browser or device. Many migration issues surface only during this stage, so it’s important not to skip it.

• Browser Testing: Test your site on major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. Check for differences in rendering, font display, and interactive features.

• Device Testing: Verify compatibility across Android and iOS devices. Pay attention to responsiveness, touch interactions, and screen resolution adjustments.

• Functionality Check: Watch for layout shifts, broken images, or CSS conflicts. Make sure elements such as forms and navigation menus work smoothly.

• Fixing Issues: Adjust CSS rules, update plugins, or fine-tune code to fix inconsistencies and create a unified user experience.

Point 8: Security, Backup, and Recovery

Security plays a vital role in the success of your post-migration audit. A secure WordPress site protects data, builds trust with users, and ensures smooth performance. Backup and recovery measures add an extra layer of safety by preparing you for unexpected failures.

• SSL Installation: Install and enforce HTTPS across all pages. Test for mixed content errors to confirm a fully secure connection.

• Firewalls and Security Plugins: Activate tools like SolidWP Security. Configure them to block malicious traffic and provide ongoing monitoring.

• Regular Updates: Keep your WordPress core, plugins, and themes updated. Updates patch vulnerabilities and prevents exploitation.

• Monitoring Security Logs: Review error logs frequently to detect suspicious login attempts, malware scans, or unauthorized changes.

• Backup Automation: Schedule automated backups of both files and databases. Store backups securely offsite in cloud services or external drives to guarantee recovery during emergencies.

Point 9: Performance & Media Optimization

After migration, you must optimize your WordPress site’s performance to enhance SEO, improve user experience, and reduce bounce rates. A fast, responsive website keeps visitors engaged and supports higher search rankings.

• Caching: Implement browser, server, or object caching to reduce server load and speed up page delivery. Test caching plugins to ensure compatibility with your hosting setup.

• CDN Usage: Configure a content delivery network to distribute content across global servers. This reduces latency and delivers faster loading times for users worldwide.

• Image Optimization: Compress images and convert them into next-gen formats like WebP. Optimized images improve speed without sacrificing quality.

• Lazy Loading: Enable lazy loading so images and media load only when visible on screen. This prevents heavy files from delaying the initial page load.

• Database Optimization: Clean up unused tables, spam comments, and old revisions. Streamlining your database improves site speed and reduces resource usage.

Conclusion

Migrating to a WordPress site is only half the job; auditing ensures true success. A structured post-migration WordPress audit checklist helps you avoid costly mistakes, preserve SEO rankings, and deliver a seamless user experience.

By monitoring performance, testing functionality, updating plugins, and strengthening security, you set your website up for long-term growth. Remember, migration is not just about moving content; it’s about ensuring stability, speed, and security in the new environment.

A well-executed post-migration audit not only protects your investment but also gives your business the confidence to scale. So, treat it as a non-negotiable step in your WordPress journey.

FAQs on Post WordPress Migration Audits