August 20, 2026 · 6 min read
WordPress to Next.js migration: the checklist that protects your SEO
Redirects, metadata, images and sitemaps: what I check on every migration so rankings don’t drop.
WordPressNext.jsSEO
Moving from WordPress to Next.js makes a site faster and removes plugin maintenance. The risk is SEO: if URLs change without redirects, rankings drop. Here is the checklist I follow.
Before the build
- Crawl the live site and export every URL
- Export titles, meta descriptions and canonical tags
- Note top pages from Search Console so they get extra care
- Design the Sanity content model around how the team edits
During the build
- Keep the same URL structure wherever possible
- Migrate content with a script so nothing is missed
- Re-host images on Sanity’s CDN and serve them in WebP/AVIF
- Add structured data (Organization, Article, FAQ) where it fits
At launch
- 301 redirect every changed URL
- Generate sitemap.xml and robots.txt
- Submit the sitemap in Search Console
- Check 404s daily for the first two weeks
Done this way, most sites keep their rankings and many improve because the pages are much faster.
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Sagar Bharvadiya is a Top Rated Next.js + Sanity developer on Upwork. Get a free review of your site →