WooCommerce to OpenCart: SEO checklist

Before the move: record what you have

• export every URL from sitemap.xml and Google Search Console (Pages → Indexed);
• save the top pages by traffic and queries from Search Console for the last 3 months;
• note current titles and descriptions of key categories and products;
• find pages with external backlinks: they’re the most expensive to lose.

What to migrate

• products: names, descriptions, prices, SKUs, stock, images and galleries;
• variable products: WooCommerce variations become OpenCart options with prices and stock, the most manual part;
• categories, attributes, brands with their hierarchy;
• customers and order history, so shoppers can log in and see their orders;
• pages and blog if they bring traffic;
• SEO fields: titles, descriptions, friendly URLs.

WordPress stores passwords in a different format than OpenCart. Either migrate them with a login tweak or ask customers to reset passwords; decide this up front.

URLs and 301 redirects

Ideally keep the same product and category URLs. If that’s impossible (e.g. /product/name/ in WooCommerce and /name in OpenCart), build a redirect map: each old URL gets a 301 to the matching new page, not to the home page.

Set redirects at the server level (nginx or .htaccess): they’re faster and don’t depend on modules.

Launch

• do the whole migration on a staging copy while the live store keeps taking orders;
• before launch, sync products, stock and orders that came in meanwhile;
• switch the domain at the quietest time, usually at night;
• place a test order with payment and shipping right after.

After launch: what to check

• go through the old URL list and confirm each one 301s to the right page, not a 404;
• submit the new sitemap.xml in Search Console;
• watch the Pages report and 404 errors for at least a month;
• check that analytics and ad pixels work on the new site.

Rankings may fluctuate for 2–4 weeks; that’s normal if redirects are right. If you’d rather move without risking traffic, I do WooCommerce to OpenCart migrations end to end, from the URL audit to post-launch checks.