Migrating your website can be a significant undertaking. You need to have a solid plan to minimise any hiccups that may occur during the process.
Ensure your team includes system admins, developers, SEOs, designers, UX designers, copywriters, and data analysts. This will ensure that everyone understands their role and what is involved with the migration process.
Decide on a new platform
A website migration is a process that changes your site’s structure, content, design, domain, and location. It can be a significant overhaul or switch from HTTP to HTTPS, but all website migrations have SEO implications. A website migration can improve site performance and user experience when done correctly. It can also help to address security threats.
Performing a website migration can be lengthy and complicated, especially if you have multiple platforms or sites to migrate to. It’s essential to decide on a new platform before beginning the process and ensure that your migration plan includes an audit of existing links to ensure everything is appropriately redirected. This will help you avoid losing valuable organic search traffic and improve your PPC conversion rate.
A website migration can positively impact your SEO, especially if you’re switching to a faster web host or a more user-friendly platform. However, you’ll need to be prepared for a drop in traffic levels during the transition period, as Google will have to re-crawl and re-assess the new site. This is normal, but a significant and long-term drop can signify bigger problems that must be addressed.
Create a plan
A website migration is a severe undertaking with many pitfalls, and it requires careful planning to execute. A team of experts and a clear strategy are essential to ensure the transition goes smoothly and doesn’t negatively impact SEO visibility. This is why it’s important to forecast how the new site will perform before executing the actual migration.
Using Google Analytics to analyse the current performance of your website’s current URLs can provide valuable insights that will help you plan for the migration. For example, you can identify pages with a high traffic volume and prioritise those for redirection. This can save time and resources while ensuring that all critical metrics like organic traffic, page views, and engagement remain the same after the migration.
After determining your goals and creating a timeline, it’s time to start putting a plan in place. The first step is to break down the tasks into deliverables and assign them to teams. It’s best to involve a cross-department team that includes system admins, web developers and designers, UX and copywriters, and SEOs. By assigning tasks and setting deadlines, everyone can work together efficiently. Setting up 301 redirects is also essential so you don’t lose out on existing traffic.
Set a budget
If you’re planning to migrate a website, set a budget for the project. This will help you avoid unnecessary expenses and ensure the work is done promptly. Make sure to consider all costs that may come up during the process, including any tools or services needed for the migration.
When you’re setting a budget, it’s also essential to create a timeline for the migration. This can be done by creating a milestone chart and assigning tasks to different teams. Using a collaborative tool like Wrike or Trello is best to manage this task. This will help you keep track of each milestone and keep the team on schedule.
Setting a contingency budget is essential in case something goes wrong during the migration. This is why testing everything in a closed environment is necessary before going live. This will also allow you to catch errors before they impact your SEO rankings.
You might need to migrate a website for various reasons, including improved site performance, security, scalability, and integration. Whether you’re moving to a new server, domain, or CMS, preparing thoroughly for the change is essential.
Map out the URLs
Before you start the migration, you must map out all the existing URLs on your site. This will help you decide which pages should be redirected and which should go away. It’s also helpful in identifying any issues during the migration. You can use tools like Screaming Frog to find and extract your existing URLs, including their metadata and associated images.
The biggest mistake you can make during a website migration is failing to redirect old web pages. This can lead to a massive loss of search engine visibility and traffic. It’s essential to 301 redirect all old pages to their corresponding new pages to avoid losing SEO value. Make sure to update the XML site maps to reflect the new URLs. You should also update any canonical tags that you have in place.