Migrating into GoHighLevel from another platform is straightforward in principle and easy to get wrong in practice, usually by skipping the unglamorous mapping step in favor of just exporting and importing everything at once. This checklist covers the steps worth not skipping.
Before you migrate anything
- Export a full backup of your current platform's data, independent of the migration itself
- Document every custom field, tag and segment currently in use — and what each one actually means
- List every active automation or campaign currently running, and whether it needs to keep running through the transition
- Confirm your sending domain can be authenticated for GHL (SPF/DKIM) before you plan to send anything from it
Map before you move
For every field, tag and segment in your current platform, decide its GHL equivalent before importing anything. Some things won't map one-to-one — a segment based on complex old-platform logic might need to become a combination of a tag and a custom field in GHL. Deciding this in advance avoids discovering it halfway through an import.
Migrate in stages, not one bulk import
Import a small batch first and verify record counts and data accuracy before moving the rest. A single all-at-once import that goes wrong is much harder to diagnose and fix than catching an issue in a batch of fifty records.
Rebuild active automations natively
Don't assume an automation or campaign will import and function correctly — GHL's workflow logic doesn't map one-to-one with every other platform's automation builder. Treat active automations as something to rebuild deliberately in GHL, and test them before switching traffic over, rather than assuming a direct import will work.
Plan the cutover date
Decide, in advance, the specific point at which the old platform stops being the source of truth. Running both systems indefinitely "just in case" tends to create more confusion (and more risk of contacts falling out of sync) than a clean, planned cutover with proper verification beforehand.
If this checklist looks like more process than you have time for alongside running the business day-to-day, that's the exact situation our migration service exists for — see GHL Migration.