An IR website migration checklist should prove that information and investor journeys survive the move. The new homepage is only one part of acceptance. Documents, dates, links, feeds, forms, access controls, and historical context also need verification.
For each check, record Pass, Fix, or Not applicable, with an owner and evidence. This checklist covers technical and content cutover; use the provider-change guide for contracts, ownership, and transition coordination.
Before migration Establish the record
- Inventory live URLs, documents, assets, forms, and external services.
- Identify current, historical, superseded, and retention-sensitive content with the company owner.
- Record page titles, dates, metadata, redirects, and important inbound destinations.
- Confirm account ownership and access for domains, hosting, analytics, and integrations.
- Export the agreed materials and retain a verifiable copy for reconciliation.
Include content outside the main site, such as document hosts and event platforms. A page inventory alone can miss the files and services that investors actually use.
Map old destinations to new ones
- Keep stable URLs where the intended page remains equivalent.
- Map changed URLs to the most relevant approved destination.
- Include documents, archive filters where relevant, and old subdomains.
- Avoid redirect chains and unrelated blanket redirects to the homepage.
- Record who will maintain old-domain and redirect arrangements after cutover.
Google's site-move guidance calls for URL mapping, appropriate redirects, and post-move monitoring. [1] Treat the mapping as a deliverable that can be reviewed and tested.
For a merger or name change, use the transaction transition guide to preserve issuer identity and archive meaning.
Reconcile the content and integrations
- Compare migrated pages and files with the approved source inventory.
- Verify reporting periods, publication dates, document versions, and historical labels.
- Test recent and older filings, amendments, and links to the official record.
- Confirm market-data instruments and required display labels with the supplier.
- Test event access, investor contacts, and authorized subscription workflows.
The SEC's public search provides a reference for checking filing destinations. [2] Verify actual documents rather than assuming an imported list points to the right issuer.
Review usability and publication controls
- Test priority journeys on representative desktop and mobile layouts.
- Include keyboard use, focus, forms, filters, and representative downloads in accessibility review.
- Confirm that permissions support the approved publishing workflow.
- Protect private previews and remove test data from public release materials.
- Verify backup, restoration, and rollback responsibilities with the operator.
Record the tested scope and findings. Include human accessibility evaluation; W3C explains that tools alone cannot establish whether a site is accessible. [3]
Check search settings before production release
- Confirm preferred URLs and canonical settings for migrated pages.
- Remove unintended production noindex instructions and review crawl rules.
- Update internal links and the sitemap to the intended public destinations.
- Verify company access to the relevant webmaster tools.
- Inspect representative pages after release and investigate unexpected exclusions.
Google needs crawler access to read noindex, so a robots block and a page directive must be considered together. [4] Keep draft protection separate from public indexing decisions.
Control cutover and verify the live result
- Reconcile updates published after the initial export.
- Obtain the authorized release instruction and record the version released.
- Apply the approved production changes and test from outside the editing environment.
- Check old links, current results, filings, forms, events, and contacts.
- Keep an issue log and agreed recovery option through final acceptance.
Do not terminate a dependency until its role has ended or moved successfully. The timeline guide helps place these gates in the project schedule.
Questions companies ask
Is a content import enough to complete migration?
No. Verify dates, relationships, documents, links, controls, and investor tasks on the public implementation.
Should every old URL redirect to the homepage?
No. Use a relevant destination or an approved removal treatment. Preserve the meaning of the original request wherever possible.
What happens to updates made during the project?
Track them in a change log and reconcile them before cutover. Assign an owner so the new site does not launch with an older content state.
When is migration complete?
When the agreed acceptance checks pass, ownership is transferred, material issues are resolved or formally assigned, and ongoing support is operating.
Use this evidence record when reviewing a migration with VendorGroup, so acceptance covers the full investor experience.
Related VendorGroup resources
- Transitioning an IR Website After a Merger, Acquisition or Business Combination
- How to Change Investor Relations Website Providers
- How Long Does an Investor Relations Website Redesign Take?
