We’ve all heard a horror story about website migration, but it doesn’t have to be that way. With proper planning and preparation, a smooth transition can be achieved with minimum downtime.
The key to success is a cross-departmental team, including system admins, web developers, UX designers, copywriters, and SEOs. In addition, breaking the project into deliverables and setting realistic timelines is crucial.
Preparation
A web migration is a significant change in your platform, structure, content, location or design. It has a considerable impact on SEO and PPC, so it’s essential to take the time to carefully plan the migration and prepare for any challenges that may arise. This checklist will help you ensure your migration is successful and minimise the impact on your business.
First, you must create a timeline to guide your team and ensure all tasks are completed on time. It can be as simple as a bullet list in a project management tool like Wrike, Trello or Asana. It’s best to work with a cross-department team during this process, as each department will have a role to play. This team should include system admins, web developers, designers, UX developers, copywriters, and SEO specialists. By enlisting a multi-disciplinary team, you can reduce the risk of errors during the migration and improve the overall quality of your website.
Another critical step in preparing for the web migration is to back up your existing website. It will save you time and headaches in a crash or other unforeseen circumstance. Ideally, you should also set up a staging or development site to test the new website before the live launch.
During the testing phase, it’s critical to check that all URLs are migrated correctly and that all pages are still working. It can be done by crawling the legacy website, exporting the CMS or using analytics software to find all of the pages that have been migrated.
It’s also helpful to contact websites linking to your old site and ask them to update the link to point to the new one. It lowers load times for visitors, passes on more SEO value and can help boost your online visibility.
Finally, it’s essential to track your progress throughout the migration. It will allow you to identify and fix issues as they arise. In addition, it will give you a clear understanding of how your new website is performing and can help determine whether the migration was a success.
Testing
During this phase, businesses should prepare the server for web migration and test the website. It should include running a full site crawl, verifying 301 redirects and checking the XML site map for errors.
It’s essential to get all stakeholders involved in the process and clearly define what each team will be responsible for. It’s also necessary to manage expectations and keep everyone up to date. The best way to do this is by creating a timeline and using a project management tool like Wrike, Trello or Asana. It will ensure that everyone has the information they need and can communicate with each other in one place. It’s also essential to include the SEO, UX and Content teams to ensure they know what’s happening and their roles in the migration.
It will help them understand the migration’s impact on their rankings and traffic. It’s also important to let them know that it’s common for there to be a temporary drop in traffic after the migration and that this is normal.
Ensuring that all tracking codes are correctly set up after the migration is also essential. It can include reviewing analytics software tracking IDs and providing that all advertising campaigns refer to the new URLs. It’s also a good idea to conduct weekly KPI and monthly performance reports for one to three months after the migration. It will give you visibility of any performance improvements or declines and allow you to see if your strategy is working.
Launching
Website migration can be complex, so planning carefully and hiring the right team for the job is essential. An experienced service provider can help you navigate the process and can save you time and money in the long run. A good partner should have experience with both your old and new environment, including details like networking and storage. They should also be familiar with the different components of both systems and can provide you with valuable guidance and advice.
Web migration can be challenging, but it can also be highly rewarding with the right plan. Make sure to have a clear strategy and a budget for the project, and don’t be afraid to ask for professional help if you need it.