Designing Blog Post Templates for Explaining Website Content Migration Checklists
Why a Content Migration Checklist Needs a Design Template
Website content migration fails quietly. Redirects work, the CMS looks clean, and yet three months later someone notices that a high-performing pricing page now says "coming soon". The cause is rarely technical. It is almost always an inventory problem: nobody defined, item by item, what should move, what should be rewritten, and what should disappear forever.
A structured blog template solves this by turning migration from a vague project into a repeatable editorial process. On design-logix.co.uk we treat the checklist as a content asset in its own right, with headings, tables, and decision rules that any writer or developer can follow without asking the same questions twice.
Start With a Three-Way Decision Table
Every URL in the old site should get exactly one verdict. Three categories keep the conversation honest and stop "we will decide later" from becoming a permanent state.
| Verdict | When to use it | Required action |
|---|---|---|
| Move | Page ranks, converts, or is legally required | Map old URL to new URL, preserve copy and metadata |
| Rewrite | Topic is valid but tone, facts, or keywords are stale | Assign an editor and a publish date before launch |
| Retire | Thin, duplicated, outdated, or off-brand | Remove, then redirect to the closest relevant page |
Publishing this table inside the template makes the migration auditable. Anyone can open the sheet and see why a page was retired rather than silently deleted.
Build the Item-Level Checklist
Under each verdict, the template should break the work into concrete tasks. A numbered sequence prevents the classic mistake of rewriting before the URL map exists.
- Export the full sitemap and log every URL in a spreadsheet.
- Add columns for traffic, conversions, owner, and verdict.
- Draft the new URL for every Move and Rewrite item.
- Write new metadata for rewritten pages before design begins.
- Confirm redirects for retired content with the SEO lead.
- Schedule a post-launch crawl to catch orphaned pages.
Give Editors Clear Rules, Not Vague Advice
Templates fail when they assume judgement. Instead, attach short prompts to each row so a junior writer can make the same call a senior editor would.
- Move only if the page has earned traffic in the last twelve months.
- Rewrite if the topic still matches a current service or campaign.
- Retire if two or more pages answer the same query.
- Escalate anything legal, financial, or regulated to the content lead.
"A migration checklist is not a spreadsheet. It is an editorial contract between the people who wrote the old site and the people who will launch the new one."
Review, Sign Off, and Reuse
Before launch, run a final pass where each owner initials their rows. This simple ritual catches the pages nobody wanted to claim, which are usually the ones that break. After launch, archive the completed checklist next to the redirect map so the next migration starts with evidence instead of guesswork.
Design the template once, and every future migration becomes faster, calmer, and far less likely to lose the content that actually mattered.
