Website Migrations
Perhaps one of the most critically important areas of digital marketing (SEO in particular) is the proper management of website migrations.
n our experience, a poorly managed Website Migration is the single greatest reason for a significant drop in visibility, traffic, and sales. The more established a website is, the more critical it becomes to thoroughly plan every aspect of the migration before initiating any web re-design or development — let alone switching the site over.
Web developers often overlook the SEO aspects of a website migration, as their primary focus tends to be on design elements and user experience (UX). However, this oversight can have serious implications on a site’s search performance. This is why it’s essential to have Digital Marketing Specialists with specific experience in website migrations oversee the process. Their role is to identify potential issues before they arise and manage various aspects of the migration strategy to minimize risks and maintain online visibility.
At Cool Media Marketing, we’re well-versed in handling even the most complex Website Migrations, including large-scale internationalization projects spanning up to 15 countries and extensive e-commerce sites with tens of thousands of product pages. Our expert team ensures that every element — from redirects to page indexing — is handled with precision.
Common Website Migration Issues
Loss of Page Rankings: Failure to maintain proper URL redirects can lead to broken links and a significant drop in rankings. Our SEO Migration Strategy includes setting up 301 redirects to preserve SEO equity.
Crawling & Indexing Errors: Ensuring that search engines can properly crawl and index the new site is essential. Our technical SEO team ensures clean site architecture and optimizes the crawl path.
Content Duplication: Duplicate content issues can arise during migration if canonical tags are not properly implemented. We employ a content audit to maintain a single, authoritative version of each page.
Page Speed Reduction: New design elements or scripts may impact site speed, which affects both user experience and search rankings. Our Website Development Team ensures optimal performance and loading times.
Broken Links: Broken internal and external links can degrade user experience and SEO. We conduct a comprehensive link audit to identify and correct broken links.
Common Website Migration Issues
Restructuring your website can significantly impact its performance, especially if not managed carefully. Here are key considerations to ensure a smooth transition:
Significant Website Structural Changes
Altering your website’s structure—such as removing pages, reorganizing menus, or adding new elements—can disrupt established rankings and lead to a decline in traffic. It’s crucial to plan these changes meticulously to maintain your site’s performance.
Implementing Redirects
Proper redirects are vital during restructuring. They guide visitors to the correct pages and preserve link authority, which helps maintain rankings for essential pages.
Monitoring Migration
Amidst the numerous tasks in a website migration, tracking elements can be overlooked. Ensure all analytics tools—such as Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Google Ads, and retargeting pixels—are correctly transferred without duplication to maintain accurate data.
Internationalization
Managing international versions of your site is complex. It’s essential to use appropriate attributes for each country’s site version to display the correct languages and currencies. Additionally, address canonicalization issues for sites with similar content across different regions (e.g., UK, USA, Australia). Consider server locations to ensure each site version is hosted appropriately and correctly geo-located.
Balancing Design and User Experience
Focusing solely on aesthetics can be detrimental. While a modern design is appealing, it should not compromise user experience or the information provided. A successful website balances design and functionality, ensuring it remains informative and user-friendly to sustain traffic and engagement.
Avoiding 404 Errors
Incorrect redirects or a new URL structure can lead to inaccessible pages, resulting in 404 errors. Regularly audit your site to identify and resolve these issues promptly.
Indexing and Re-Indexing
Timing is crucial when re-indexing your site. Premature re-indexing with unresolved issues can cause a rapid decline in rankings. Ensure all aspects of the migration are flawless before initiating re-indexing to maintain your site’s visibility.
By addressing these factors, you can effectively manage your website’s restructuring, preserving its performance and user engagement.
What we do & how it works
Website Migration projects are priced on a case by case basis, purely on the number of days’ work necessary to complete the project. There are many factors that go in to a website migration, from how many pages the site has to the extent of the overhaul and whether any SEO work needs to be done on any new pages being added.
When we take on a migration project, we will get involved in every aspect of it, communicating with stakeholders at all levels including project managers, web developers, marketing managers and graphic designers.
Although each website migration is different, we will typically monitor and consult on the following aspects of the project:
- Website Structure
- Redirects
- 404 errors
- On page optimisation
- URL structure
- Tracking changeover
- Goal completion/purchase URL’s
- Page size/load speed
- HTTPS
- Canonicalisation
- Hreflang tags