Optimal Transition from Pre-Production to Official Website Setup in 2 different websites Webflow

Publishing help Project settings
1

Hello everyone,

I’m facing an issue and haven’t been able to find a solution on the forum. Here’s the situation:

I currently have three websites:

CleanShot 2023-10-02 at 17.45.36@2x
CleanShot 2023-10-02 at 17.45.36@2x2454×777 188 KB

  1. The third one on the screen is the official website, which is connected to the correct domain name with the appropriate DNS settings.
  2. The second one is the new website I’d like to use.
  3. The first one is a purchased template that I’m using for testing purposes (not published).

I’m currently on two subscriptions because I needed to:

  1. Keep my official website online.
  2. Test, iterate, and publish on my pre-production version (no DNS setup at the moment) on the second one.

What’s the best way to achieve a clean setup in terms of:

  • SEO
  • DNS
  • Google Search Console

So that my second site (image) becomes my new website with all the correct DNS setups?
What about the official website?
Can I remove it from Webflow and discontinue my involvement with that site, as it won’t be needed anymore?
Should I republish a sitemap on the search console?

Certainly, if needed, I can share the read-only links of both entities to facilitate a smoother transition. This migration is a crucial step, and I greatly appreciate your expertise and assistance in this matter.

Thank you for your assistance and support.

2

Probably a number of steps depending on your site but you can have your new site setup as needed and then simply remove the custom domain on the old one and connect it to the new one. You’ll want all of the settings on the new site to be configured for the switch. So getting site verification ready for GSC, GA4, etc, and prepare 301 redirects for any page name changes.
Your DNS should already be good to go if currently pointing to Webflow.

I’m not sure what you mean about two subscriptions. You should be able to test the new site without purchasing anything. Cancel the old site and then start the new site.