Website migration and redesign can negatively impact SEO, but you can lower the odds of this by planning and executing it well. It involves creating a team of experts, including web developers and designers, SEO specialists, and analytics teams.
It’s like swapping out your car’s engine: it won’t change the look but will provide new benefits “under the hood.” That’s how website migrations work, too. For more information about the web migration and redesign, click here.
Define Your Goals
It’s essential to set clear goals for a website migration before starting. It will help ensure the project stays on track and everyone involved is on the same page. It’s also a good idea to communicate these goals with internal stakeholders so they can provide feedback and raise any red flags.
For example, if your goal is to improve organic traffic and search engine optimisation, ensure that’s in your plan. You’ll also want to monitor social shares, as they can signal site performance. It’s also worth noting that it’s common for sites to experience a temporary drop in traffic during the migration process, so it’s essential to manage expectations accordingly. You can do this by letting your audience know what to expect and encouraging them to continue supporting the brand.
Create a Timeline
Your business evolves, and with that comes changes to your website. In minimising downtime, a well-crafted and executed web migration timeline is essential.
Start by assessing the complexity of your project. Determine what is needed to complete the work and then create a timeline for each task that needs to be completed. Identify dependencies and assign team members to these tasks. For more information about the web migration and redesign, click here.
Site migrations can be divided into two major types: with and without URL changes. When a company is moving a website, it’s important to keep SEO in mind from the very beginning of the process. Otherwise, companies could end up rolling out a new site structure or URL structure that destroys years of SEO strength. Glenn has seen this happen more than once.
Build a Team
Although the specifics of a website migration may vary, some steps are universal. For example, it’s critical to involve SEO experts early on. Having them on the team helps to avoid crucial mistakes and ensures that all pages are correctly redirected during the changeover.
A content inventory can help identify pages impacted by the migration so they can be taken offline during the transition. This step also helps reduce the risk of losing organic search traffic.
Set Up Tracking
As part of a website migration, setting up tracking is essential. It will help you identify any issues that may arise and allow you to make any necessary adjustments.
If your site migration involves making visible alterations to the URL address, you’ll need to take extra steps to minimise the impact on SEO performance. It includes setting up a running content inventory, creating a list of redirects to preserve existing links, and assessing your backlink profile. For more information about the web migration and redesign, click here.
Limiting new page launches while the site is being migrated is also a good idea. It will help minimise traffic dips. It would be best if you also aimed to launch at a time when traffic levels are lower, such as during off-hours or the weekend. It will prevent potential lost business opportunities while the site is down.
Test Your Site
Migration can affect your search engine visibility in several ways, including changing URLs, adding or removing pages, and altering the content structure. It would be best if you had a solid plan to avoid losing your hard-earned visibility.
During planning, freeze new pages and crawl your existing site to create a comprehensive content map. You can also use tools like Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider to check your 301 redirects and find any errors before the migration so you can fix them before going live.