1

Pre-Migration Audit

Do this before you cancel a single plugin license or touch DNS

Site Crawl & Inventory

Run Screaming Frog crawl on the live WordPress site - export all URLs returning a 200 statusFree version handles up to 500 URLs. This becomes your redirect map source.

Export full keyword position report from Google Search Console (last 90 days)Filter by all queries. This is your before-state baseline for rankings.

Screenshot your top 20 pages by organic clicks in GSC

Inventory every active plugin: name + what it actually does + GHL equivalent (see Section 3 below)

Backlinks & Traffic at Risk

Pull backlink profile from Ahrefs or Semrush - filter for pages with at least 1 referring domainEvery URL on this list is a mandatory 301 redirect - no exceptions.

Cross-reference backlinked URLs with your Screaming Frog crawl - flag all as high-priority

Document all form submission destinations - where do current leads land after submission?

Note any scheduled posts or time-sensitive content that must go live during the migration window

2

URL Redirect Map

The single most important technical task - get this wrong and you hand Google a 404 graveyard

Build the Map

Create a Google Sheet with 3 columns: Old URL / New GHL URL / Redirect Type (always 301)

Map every URL from your Screaming Frog export - blog posts, pages, category archives, tag pages

For category or archive pages with no GHL equivalent, redirect to the main blog index - NOT the homepage

For URLs with zero traffic and zero backlinks, decide: redirect to closest page or let it 404 (either is acceptable)

Implement in GHL

Enter all redirects in GHL under Settings > URL RedirectsGHL accepts CSV bulk imports for large redirect lists.

Verify each redirect returns a 301 (not 302) using httpstatus.io before going live

Test redirect chains - no URL should pass through more than one redirect before landing

3

Plugin-to-GHL Substitution Map

Use this to confirm what consolidates cleanly and where gaps exist before committing

WordPress Plugin	What It Does	GHL Replacement	Gap Level
Elementor Pro	Page building	GHL Funnel / Website Builder	Minor
Yoast SEO / RankMath	SEO meta + XML sitemap	GHL SEO settings + auto-sitemap	Moderate - no live content scoring
Gravity Forms	Form capture + notifications	GHL Forms + Workflow triggers	None for most use cases
WP Rocket	Page caching + speed	GHL CDN + hosting infrastructure	Minor - test Core Web Vitals post-launch
WooCommerce	E-commerce	GHL Order Forms / Payments	Significant - don't migrate complex stores
MemberPress	Membership / gating	GHL Memberships	Moderate - works for courses, limited for complex tiers
WP Mail SMTP	Transactional email	GHL email + Mailgun integration	None
MonsterInsights	Google Analytics integration	Add GA4 code to GHL header settings	None

4

Content Transfer

Moving posts and pages without losing on-page SEO value

Export & Method

Export WordPress XML via Tools > Export > All Content

Choose transfer method: manual (under 30 posts) or tool/API workflow (30+ posts)Tools like WordPress2GHL or a custom API script. Manual gives the cleanest result for small sites.

Per-Post SEO Checklist (repeat for every page & post)

Set URL slug to match your redirect map exactly

Set meta title (don't let GHL auto-generate from the post title)

Set meta description (copy from Yoast's existing output - it was already working)

Re-add image alt text on every image (GHL does not pull alt text from WordPress media)

Set canonical URL to the new GHL URL to prevent duplicate content issues during transition

Fill Open Graph fields (title, description, image) - GHL exposes these natively in blog settings

Set post status to Published (not Draft) - confirm each post is live on preview URL before cutover

5

Pre-Cutover Checklist

Complete every item before touching DNS - this is your go/no-go gate

All pages rebuilt in GHL and reviewed on the GHL preview subdomain

All redirects entered in GHL Settings > URL Redirects

All redirects verified with httpstatus.io - every one returning 301, none returning 302

Meta title and description set on every page and post

XML sitemap confirmed active - visit yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml on the GHL preview domain

Google Analytics 4 property connected to GHL site

Google Search Console property verified on GHL subdomain

DNS TTL lowered to 300 seconds at least 24 hours before the cutover windowThis shrinks propagation time from hours to minutes.

Cutover scheduled for a low-traffic window (evenings work well - problems surface before business hours)

Cutover Sequence

Update DNS A record or CNAME to GHL servers (find the values in GHL Settings > Domains)

Confirm site loads on new GHL infrastructure within 30 minutes

Keep WordPress hosting active for at least 72 hours post-cutover - do not cancel yet

Submit XML sitemap in Google Search Console immediately after cutover confirms

6

30-Day Post-Launch Monitoring

Most migration problems surface in the first 4 weeks - this is what to watch

Week 1 - Technical Health

Check Google Search Console daily for crawl errors and 404 spikes

Run Screaming Frog on the new GHL site - compare against pre-migration crawl

Verify all redirects returning 301 (GHL defaults to 301, but spot-check 10+ URLs)

Confirm sitemap is indexed in Search Console - status should show "Success"

Week 2-3 - Ranking Stability

Pull keyword positions from Search Console - compare to pre-migration baseline screenshot

Flag any keyword that drops more than 5 positions5-10% fluctuation is normal for any domain move. More than that warrants investigation.

For each flagged keyword: trace to its URL → check for missed redirect or missing meta title

Week 4 - Traffic Confirmation

Compare organic sessions in GA4 week-over-week and year-over-year using GA4 comparison feature

Check Search Console Coverage report for "Excluded" URLs - these are pages Google stopped indexing

If organic traffic is within 90% of pre-migration levels: migration is clean ✓

Cancel WordPress hosting only after 4-week clean bill of health

WordPress → GoHighLevel
Migration Checklist

Need a done-with-you migration?

WordPress → GoHighLevelMigration Checklist

Need a done-with-you migration?

WordPress → GoHighLevel
Migration Checklist