Launch day: a cutover checklist with a rollback plan

A migration launch should be boring. The new site has been on staging for weeks, redirects are tested, and the switch itself takes minutes. Here's the sequence we follow.

A week before

• Lower the DNS TTL for the records you'll change, so the switch spreads quickly
• Confirm who has access to the domain registrar and DNS. Find this out now, not on launch day
• Agree on the content freeze window with marketing
• Run the full redirect test and the SEO crawl on staging one more time
• Write the rollback steps down and share them

The day before

1. 01Start the content freeze on the old platform
2. 02Run the final content import into the new CMS
3. 03Spot-check the newest content, since that's what changed last
4. 04Add the production domain to the new host and prepare the certificate

Launch

1. 01Remove the noindex from the new site
2. 02Switch DNS records to the new host
3. 03Check HTTPS on the root domain and www, and that one redirects to the other
4. 04Test the top 50 URLs and a sample of redirects
5. 05Submit a real form and confirm the lead arrives in the CRM
6. 06Check analytics and conversion tags in real time
7. 07Submit the new sitemap in Search Console

Rollback

Keep the old site running and untouched for at least two weeks. If something serious breaks and can't be fixed quickly, point DNS back to the old platform. With a low TTL, visitors are back on the old site within minutes. Then fix the problem on staging and try again.

You'll rarely need the rollback. Having it ready is what keeps everyone calm on the day.

The weeks after

• Watch Search Console daily for the first week for 404s and indexing drops
• Compare organic clicks per page against your benchmark every week
• Ask the editors what's annoying them in the new CMS and fix the small things fast
• Cancel the old platform plan only when you're sure, and export everything first