How Should the Migration Process be Managed in SEO?

What is SEO Migration?

When a website is first designed, it usually would have to undergo certain adaptations as your business grows and changes. As these changes occur, it is imperative that you are not doing anything that could impact your SEO. So what is a site migration and how can I ensure that this process does not damage my SEO? A site migration is referred to as any changes that a website undergoes that will lead to substantial differences in the way that your website functions, it could be the site’s location, its design or even changes in elements that impact the user experience. If these changes are made in a certain way, it can lead to a loss of important information and features that contribute to your SEO and the ranking of your page. In short, if done incorrectly, your site can lose the authority that search engines associate with it and may lead to losses of traffic and revenue. It is therefore important that you understand the impact of SEO site migration and the best methods to use when performing these changes. 

Why is SEO Migration Matter?

When it comes to developing a website’s SEO, a lot of time and effort goes into building up every feature, from the backlinks you gain to the keywords you have scattered throughout your website, to build up a good ranking and authority can often take months of hard work and time. As these elements take time to build up, it is important that they be looked after when migrations or changes are made on any of your web pages. 

What are The Types of Site Migration Processes?

There are many different types of SEO website migration processes to consider if you are thinking about making changes to your website. As different types of processes would require different things, having a good idea of what these different types of migrations are can help to ensure that you follow the correct steps without compromising your website’s SEO. This is an important part of the process when it comes to having a reliable SEO migration plan and strategy. The following is a brief look at the most common types of SEO migration processes. 

• Site move migration: This type of migration occurs when a website is moved to an entirely new URL.
• Replatforming: This type of migration occurs when you move from one CMS to another, usually bringing about changes to the URL and the design of the website. 
• Hybrid migration: Probably the most tricky type of migration, this process involves moving on-premises mailboxes to on-site. 

How Should the SEO Migration Process be Managed?

When it comes to SEO migration, it is important to remember the importance of completing every single step exactly right. Just one small error or missed step can lead to you no longer having the ranking that you once did, leading to losses of revenue and when it comes to your web traffic. Many people assume that when migrating your website, loss of SEO features and ranking is unavoidable, but when managed correctly, you can be prepared for moving the different features in a way that will not harm your SEO or your ranking and traffic, in some cases, a new website launch can actually gain you traffic! 

How Long Does the SEO Migration Process Take?

The length of the process depends on the type of migration that you are completing and how big your website is. It is important to remember that each of the steps that need to be taken needs to be done with care and consideration, as to ensure that no mistakes are made in the process. Losing your ranking and the SEO features that give your website its authority can take months, and even years, to get back, so taking your time and doing it properly is the best way to ensure that an SEO migration does not negatively impact your rankings, traffic and other SEO features. 

What are Things to Consider in the SEO Migration Process?

The following are just a few considerations to make when planning your SEO migration checklist and the plans you intend to make around the migration of your website. 

Taking Site Backup

Any SEO migration guide will state that you should make considerations around things going wrong, and when it comes to SEO migration, this planning comes in the form of a site backup. If your move does not go according to plan and information and SEO features are lost, you will be able to revert back to the old page without having lost any of your data. 

Creation of Test Site

A test site is able to help determine whether changes that are made have an impact on your SEO. Often referred to as a staging site, these different elements can be monitored without the public being able to access the page, giving website designers ample time to configure all elements correctly. When it comes to having an SEO migration plan and strategy, the creation of a test site can be extremely beneficial! 

Determining URL Structure

During an SEO migration, the URL structure will more than likely have to change to something new. Not only is it important the URL structure be well thought out, not being too long or too complex, but it is also important to change all existing links that would contain your own URL. For example, your social media pages would more than likely be connected to your old URL and this will need to be updated as soon as your new site has been launched! URL structures should be short, easy to read and they should contain the name of your business that can be clearly seen. Determining your new URL structure is important and you should check whether the one you have in mind is available whilst preparing your new website! 

Crawl Launch & Technical Audit

In order to ensure that you are fully aware of the different elements on your web page and that they are in functioning order, it is important that you take the time to crawl your web page. A crawl will help you to see what search engines are going to take note of and make any changes that could help increase your ranking. With a migrated page, you want to ensure that you perform this crawl check again as it can help you to pick up on any mistakes that may have been made within the structure of your website. 

Pick a Date That Works For Your Business

You will need to ensure that you set aside enough time to get all of the redesigning and migrating done without having to rush anything. There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to SEO migration, and even the smallest error can lead to your ranking and traffic being impacted. You should also ensure that the time and date that you pick to launch your migrated website is a day where there is a low amount of traffic, as this can help you to troubleshoot any problems without these issues impacting too many people.

Schema Structures

Schema structures help search engines better understand your webpage by relaying information in a language that these search engines can understand. You do not need to create an entirely new schema structure if you had one in place on your old website, but it will need to be moved. Schemas can be moved by copying and pasting the code into your new HTML or they can be added through a plugin. 

Backlink Controls

This is a step in the process that is often unfortunately out of your control, so it should be considered quite early in the SEO migration process. You will need to inform websites that have backlinks to your website that they will need to update these links to ensure that they lead back to your new website. This is partially important if you have a new URL and location of your page.

Mobile Compatibility & Mobile-First Indexing

Just because your old website was mobile-friendly does not mean that this is transferred if you are migrating your website. Search engines place a lot of importance on the mobile-friendliness of your website and ensuring that it has been designed with this in mind will ensure that you retain your ranking when it comes to your SEO! It is important that you have a responsive design and not an entirely new website, so keep this in mind when looking at the mobile-friendliness of your new website. 

Keep Control of Your Previous Domain

When it comes to instances of domain migration, it is important that you still have control of your previous domain even though you are moving your site to a new location. Having this domain ensures that any backlinks that are leading back to it are correctly redirected. If you let go of your old domain it means another person or business could potentially take it over and create a site, leaving you with lost backlinks.

301 Redirects

The last thing you want is to design a new website only to have users still being directed to your old web pages. By creating a 301 map that is designed to redirect users, you can guarantee that the old website URLs redirect properly to their new URLs. Implementing a 301 redirect is vital when it comes to the user experience and is, therefore, an important part of SEO migration. 

Add Noindex Tags To Pages

On your new website you may have a few pages that you do not want to be crawled and indexed by search engines. It is important that noindex tags be placed on these pages as this is the only way to ensure that your content will not be ranked. There are many reasons why you may not want a page to be indexed, some pages are often duplicated or they may contain information that is not relevant to your business. SEO migration needs to be done with noindex pages taken into consideration and it is imperative that these tags be placed on a website as quickly as possible to ensure they are not crawled. 

Updating Internal Links

The internal links on your website will have to be updated to ensure that these links are in working order. If internal links are not properly updated, you run the risk of having internal redirects or broken pages being displayed to your site visitors, which can lead to the lowering of your ranking and less traffic. 

Robots.txt

It is important that you update your robots.txt as this file lets search engines know which pages and parts of your website they should crawl. There may be certain replicated or irrelevant pages that you do not want to be included when your site is crawled, and a robots.txt file is precisely what this is for. This can ensure that your website is ranked according to certain searches and is only being based on certain pages on your website, which is vital when it comes to SEO migration. 

Sitemaps

With a new website after SEO migration will come a need for a new sitemap that will need to then be uploaded onto Google Search Console. Sitemaps help search engines to have a better understanding of your website structure when they crawl a web page, and it is imperative that your new site be updated with a brand new sitemap that configures and includes all new features and pages relating to the structure. 

Google My Business

Google My Business is a tool that Google uses to verify websites and their owners, and it is important when it comes to the authority of a site. When you migrate your website, updating the URL is an important step in the process and can help to ensure that the authority you would have gained on your old website is not lost. 

Tracking Codes

A large part of SEO migration involves ensuring that elements that helped you better understand your content are present on your new website, and tracking codes are one of these elements. A tracking code is built into a website to collect data and information that is sent off to analytical tools. You may have had a tracking code built into your old website, but that does not mean that it will be carried over to your new website. By ensuring that your tracking codes are present and working on your web pages, you can trust that the analytical information that needs to be monitored is being streamed to your tools to be analysed.

Google Ads & Social Ads

When it comes to Google Ads and social ads that may be placed on different platforms, it is imperative that you ensure that any links going back to your website are updated with the new information and URL. Not doing this would mean that the traffic you receive from advertisements would not be measured and the users who follow an advertisement to your page will not reach your website. To avoid this, it is important to ensure that Google ads and social ads are updated with your new information! 

Update Analytics Tools

In order for analytic tools to function and work properly, they need to be connected to the right web pages. You should ensure that all the correct tags have been placed within the HTML of your new website so that your analytics tools can begin reviewing and monitoring your website immediately. When it comes to SEO migration analysis, this is important because these tools will help to notify you if something is not working correctly or if changes need to be made! 

What are the Results After SEO Migration?

If SEO migration has been done correctly and all elements from your old website have been transferred over, you should retain your ranking, authority and traffic even though your website has dramatically changed. SEO migration has many different steps to consider and the checklist you devise before starting the process should be carefully analysed and checked to be sure that every change that is needed has been made.