Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration is less like installing an update and more like rebuilding your store on a stronger foundation. Adobe’s own migration docs explain that data migration is only one part of the process. Your theme, extensions, custom code, SEO structure, hosting, and launch plan all need attention.
If you’re also using this project to reconsider your ecommerce stack, compare platform tradeoffs early. Our Shopify vs BigCommerce guide can help if Magento 2 is not the only option on the table.
- Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration is a replatforming project, not a one-click upgrade.
- Choose between a lift-and-shift migration and a redesign before estimating budget or timeline.
- Database migration, extensions, custom code, SEO, and server setup should be planned together.
- SEO preservation needs to happen before launch, not after rankings drop.
- Post-migration optimization, including caching, performance monitoring, and possible PWA work, is where Magento 2 starts delivering long-term value.
Executive Summary: What Migration Means for the Business
A successful Magento 2 migration should protect current revenue while improving performance, security, scalability, and operational flexibility.
The ROI usually comes from several areas:
- Fewer technical limitations than Magento 1
- Better checkout and performance options
- Cleaner extension architecture
- Stronger long-term maintainability
- Better support for modern frontend approaches like Progressive Web Apps
The honest caveat is that ROI depends on execution. A rushed migration can create duplicate URLs, broken redirects, missing order data, checkout bugs, and confused customers. Not exactly the kind of launch-day excitement anyone wants.
Choose Your Migration Path
Before building the checklist, decide what kind of migration you actually need.
| Migration path | Best for | Main benefit | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lift-and-shift | Stores that need to move quickly with minimal design changes | Lower upfront scope | Carries old UX and technical debt forward |
| Redesign and rebuild | Stores with outdated UX, poor conversion, or heavy customizations | Better long-term ROI | Higher cost and longer timeline |
Choose lift-and-shift if operational continuity is the priority. Choose redesign if the current Magento 1 store is already holding back growth.
Technical Magento 1 to Magento 2 Migration Checklist
1. Audit Your Magento 1 Store
Start with a full inventory of:
- Products, categories, customers, orders, and CMS pages
- Custom modules and third-party extensions
- Theme customizations
- Payment, tax, shipping, and ERP integrations
- SEO-critical URLs, metadata, redirects, and structured data
If your store relies heavily on SEO modules, review current capabilities against Magento 2 options. Our guide to the best Magento SEO extensions is useful during that review.
2. Plan Database Migration
Magento provides an official Data Migration Tool, available in its GitHub repository, to help migrate settings and data from Magento 1 to Magento 2.
Your technical checklist should include:
- Confirm Magento 1 and Magento 2 version compatibility
- Back up the full database and media files
- Map custom attributes
- Test customer, order, product, and category migration
- Run trial migrations before the final cutover
- Validate totals, order history, customer accounts, and catalog data
3. Review Extensions and Custom Code
Magento 1 extensions do not simply move over to Magento 2. Each one needs to be replaced, rebuilt, or removed.
Focus on business-critical functions first:
- Checkout
- Payments
- Shipping
- Search
- Promotions
- Subscriptions
- Inventory
- ERP and CRM integrations
If you’re adding new fulfillment workflows after migration, plan them before catalog migration. For example, stores exploring supplier-led fulfillment may find our Shopify dropshipping guide useful for thinking through supplier, inventory, and customer experience risks, even if the final store stays on Magento.
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SEO Preservation During Migration
SEO should have its own migration checklist. Do not leave it as a final QA item.
Before launch:
- Crawl the Magento 1 site
- Export all indexable URLs
- Map old URLs to new URLs
- Preserve title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and canonical logic where appropriate
- Rebuild XML sitemaps
- Test 301 redirects
- Check robots.txt and noindex rules
- Validate structured data
- Monitor Search Console after launch
The goal is not to freeze the old site forever. The goal is to avoid unnecessary ranking loss while giving Magento 2 a clean structure to build on.
Post-Migration Optimization
Once the store is stable, shift from migration mode to improvement mode.
Magento 2 gives you more room to optimize:
- Configure full-page cache and Varnish where appropriate
- Review hosting and server environment performance
- Improve image delivery and frontend assets
- Consider a Progressive Web App if mobile speed and UX are major growth priorities
- Clean up unused extensions and legacy logic
This is also a good point to bring in experienced Magento support if your internal team is stretched. Our Adobe Commerce team can help with migration planning, development, and long-term optimization.
Long-Term Maintenance Checklist
A clean launch is not the finish line. Keep monitoring:
- Site speed and Core Web Vitals
- Checkout errors
- Search performance
- Broken links and redirect chains
- Extension updates
- Security patches
- Server logs
- Conversion performance
- Customer support issues after launch
For most growing stores, the best Magento 2 migration plan is the one that protects current operations first, then improves performance, UX, and scalability over time. Start with the migration path, validate the technical checklist, protect SEO, and keep optimizing after launch.
References
- GitHub: Data Migration Tool for Magento
- GitHub: Data Migration Tool releases for Magento
- Adobe Experience League: Performing a Magento System Upgrade
