Types of website migrations

There are many different types of website migrations, including:

Redesign or rebranding migration

If your business re-brands or undergoes a design overhaul, you may need to change your website to reflect this. Redesign website migration can refresh the look and feel of your website, improve user experience and align your website with new branding or marketing strategies.

Server migration

You may need to move your website from one server to another if you are changing web hosting providers, upgrading to a new server or consolidating multiple websites onto a single server. This can be a complex process so it’s important to work with experienced professionals.

Content migration

Content migration is when you move content from one website, platform or system to another. This may be necessary if your website is being redesigned or rebuilt, if your company is merging with another and needs to consolidate content or if your website is moving to a new content management system (CMS).

URL migration

A URL migration describes the process of changing the URLs of your website's pages. Perhaps due to a redesign, new domain or restructuring for SEO.

CMS migration

This is when you move your website from one Content Management Service (CMS) to another. For example, moving from WordPress to Umbraco.

Domain migration

This is when you move your website from one domain to another. This requires moving all data over to the new domain.

HTTPS migration

HTTPS migration is the process of changing your website's protocol from HTTP to HTTPS. HTTPS migration is important for website security and user privacy and can also improve search engine rankings.

It may be that you require a hybrid migration that involves two or more of the above migration types.

What causes SEO migration to go wrong?

Most website migrations involve lots of moving parts. This means there’s lot’s that could potentially go wrong and harm your SEO if not dealt with correctly.

Some of the most common ways migrations can go wrong are down to a lack of:

• Strategy and planning - this is the most common downfall for migration projects. A comprehensive strategy that takes all elements into account is vital
• Achievable deadlines - the time and resources needed to complete a successful website migration are often underestimated. A clear and achievable timeline is essential
• Content optimisation - if content isn’t updated and optimised during the process, you could lose keyword rankings and organic traffic
• SEO and UX expert involvement - migration is a complex process that benefits from experience and a network of experts
• Technical expertise - a poorly planned migration can result in broken links and 404 errors which negatively impact site health and SEO
• Proper redirects - if URLs aren’t redirected properly, you are left with broken links and lost rankings
• Site architecture planning - changes to site structure such as navigation or internal linking can affect user experience and SEO so needs to be properly thought out and optimised

To mitigate any negative impact, it's important to plan and execute the migration carefully and to work with experienced professionals who can help to ensure that the migration is done correctly. This includes properly redirecting old URLs to new URLs, ensuring that content is properly optimised for search engines and that the new site architecture is properly structured for SEO.

SEO migration checklist

Make sure all of these steps are covered for a successful migration…

• Audit your current site - take stock of your current site with an organic health audit to identify strengths, weaknesses and crawl errors. Analyse existing content, structure and URLs and determine which pages are currently ranking well
• Set up a comprehensive strategy plan - this should include objectives, risk assessments and a checklist of all the required tasks
• Set achievable and strategic deadlines - include a project plan that lays out timelines and responsibilities
• Back up your existing site - it’s important to keep a record in case anything goes wrong
• Plan your new site structure - keep SEO in mind when developing new information architecture that reflects the way users search for your products or services
• Map URLs - map out all current URLs and create a redirect map to ensure that all old URLs redirect to the corresponding new ones. Prioritise the URLs that are to be redirected to the new website
• Perform a backlink audit - identify the URLs that backlinks point to and map them to the new URLs on the migrated website
• Create a staging site - create a staging site to test the migration process and ensure that everything works as expected before making changes live
• Update your sitemap - create a new sitemap file that lists all the pages on the new website to help search engines crawl and index the new website structure
• Create 301 redirects - use 301 status codes to ensure that your old pages are redirected to the new pages. This will help preserve your search engine rankings and ensure that your users can still access your content
• Create a custom 404 page - implement custom 404 server responses for pages that no longer exist to improve the user experience and prevent negative effects on SEO
• Update internal links - update all internal links on your site to point to the new pages
• Resolve duplicate content issues - redirect ULRs, consolidate duplicate content and use canonical tags to avoid harming your SEO
• On page optimisation - review and optimise all on-page SEO elements, including meta tags, header tags, internal linking and keyword targeting
• Optimise for mobile - verify that the new website or pages are mobile-friendly and have a fast page load time
• Update your XML sitemap and robots.txt - update your XML sitemap and robots.txt files to ensure that search engines can crawl your new site
• Update structured data and schema markup - this will help search engines to continue to understand the site's content and provide accurate search results to users
• Employ canonical tags - preserve SEO and avoid duplicate content issues by implementing canonical tags on all pages to tell search engines which version of a page is preferred
• Update Google My Business and Google Search Console - set up new accounts and verify ownership of the new domain
• Perform a pre, during and post QA - Quality Assurance at each stage helps to ensure that the website functions properly and meets specifications. QA will identify any issues or bugs that may have arisen during the migration process and address them before the website goes live
• Promote the new site - when it’s ready, remember to share the new site with your audiences through other communication channels such as social media or email
• Post migration monitoring and evaluation - monitor and benchmark performance to ensure everything is going as planned and there are no drops in rankings. Check your traffic and rankings regularly and make any necessary adjustments

It’s important to note that every website is different and will require a bespoke migration strategy to ensure the new site meets the specific objectives and aims. This is where an experienced agency can help.

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