A migration audit inventories data, integrations, SEO surface, and risk — outputting a data map, redirect outline, timeline, and fixed-price quote.
- Count products, variants, customers, orders, subscriptions.
- Classify integrations: native app, middleware, or rebuild.
- Crawl indexable URLs and score redirect complexity.
- Demand written zero data loss scope before delivery starts.
A migration audit is the difference between a fixed-price quote and a change-order nightmare. Use this framework to quantify scope, score risk, and compare agency proposals on equal terms.
1. Commercial and technical inventory
- Platform version, hosting, PHP/runtime dependencies
- Payment gateways, fraud tools, and BNPL providers per market
- Fulfilment model: 3PL, dropship, POS, click-and-collect
- Annual GMV, AOV, and peak traffic patterns
2. Data scope assessment
Count products, variants, customers, orders, subscriptions, and gift cards. Sample 50 random SKUs for attribute completeness. Flag orphaned variants, duplicate SKUs, and missing images.
3. Integration map
Document ERP, CRM, email, reviews, loyalty, and marketplace feeds. Classify each as native Shopify app, custom middleware, or rebuild required.
4. SEO and content crawl
Export indexable URLs, backlinks to top pages, and branded search terms. Score redirect complexity: simple slug change vs category tree restructure.
5. Risk register and timeline
Assign red/amber/green to subscriptions, custom checkout, multi-currency, and B2B pricing. Output: phased timeline, cost complexity rating, and go/no-go recommendation.
Audit deliverables you should demand
- Data mapping spreadsheet
- Redirect plan outline
- Integration approach per system
- Fixed-price migration quote with zero data loss scope definition
Common mistakes on this topic
- Signing time-and-materials SOWs without entity counts.
- Accepting quotes with no redirect plan outline.
- Skipping stakeholder interviews with CS and finance.
Questions about this topic
How long does an audit take?
Typically 1–2 weeks including data sampling, crawl, and stakeholder workshops.
What deliverables should I require?
Data mapping spreadsheet, integration RACI, redirect estimate, timeline, fixed-price quote.
Book a migration audit
Fixed-price discovery — your store stays live. No commitment to full migration until scope is documented.
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