How to move a site off Vercel or Firebase without losing rankings
A step-by-step checklist for moving to new hosting: copy, parallel launch, 301 redirects, DNS, SSL, Search Console. Zero downtime.
Published — 6 min read
Site migrations usually break three things: URLs, the certificate and email. Google rankings drop not because of the move itself but because of 404s on old URLs and temporary downtime. Here is how we avoid that.
Migration checklist
- Export every URL: sitemap, Search Console, internal links.
- Build the site on the new host in Docker and open it on a technical address.
- Check every old URL returns 200 or a 301 to its new address, never a 404.
- Move environment variables: payment keys, bot tokens, database access.
- Lower the DNS TTL a day before switching.
- Switch the A record, issue SSL, check www → apex.
- Submit the sitemap to Search Console and check coverage after 3–7 days.
- Detach the domain from the old host once traffic has fully moved.
Vercel specifics
Next.js on Vercel relies on their image and function infrastructure. On your own server you need standalone output, an image cache and correct cache headers for static files. Middleware and server actions work the same.
Firebase specifics
Firebase Hosting usually comes with Firestore and Firebase Auth. Hosting moves in an hour; data and users are better moved to PostgreSQL as a separate stage, which we do without taking the site down.