Are you looking to update your old website but worried about losing important data? There’s no need to worry because Springboard Digital has you covered. In this blog, we’ll cover all there is to know about site migration and how our services could help you in the process.
For many businesses, a website is your main digital asset. As companies evolve, you might need to upgrade or make significant changes to a website over time. This process is known as a site migration, and it goes beyond just changing the look and feel of the website. An SEO migration is about ensuring the site keeps (or improves) its search engine visibility, organic traffic, and keyword rankings throughout these changes.
This process involves careful planning and execution, as mishandling can lead to traffic loss, broken links, or even damage to a brand’s online presence. Here, we’ll dive into what this migration is, why it’s important, and the 7 steps involved to ensure a successful website migration. So put your reading glasses on and let’s dive in!
What is SEO Migration?
An SEO migration is a process of moving or changing a website in a way that preserves or enhances its SEO performance. This could involve moving to a new domain, redesigning the website structure, updating URL structures, or switching to a new content management system (CMS). Since search engines like Google and Bing rely on certain elements to understand and rank a site, any significant changes must be made carefully to avoid impacting search visibility.
In short, the process ensures that search engines can still find and understand your website. When done correctly, it not only protects your search rankings but can also lead to improved performance, faster loading speeds, and even a better user experience!
Why is SEO Migration Important?
A proper SEO migration is super important when updating a website because it preserves the existing SEO efforts and maintains your search engine rankings. Here are some of the key reasons why an SEO migration is important:
- Protecting Search Engine Rankings
Achieving strong rankings in search engine results is a long-term investment. Without a migration plan, major website changes could disrupt those rankings. When search engines encounter broken links, missing pages, or a drastically changed site structure, they may not know how to interpret the new site, potentially resulting in lost rankings. - Retaining Organic Traffic
SEO migrations help ensure that organic traffic (the visits to your website from search engines) stays stable or even increases after the migration. If not properly managed, a broken migration can lead to a drop in traffic as users and search engines struggle to find your pages. No one wants that! - Enhancing User Experience
Often, the motivation behind a site migration is to improve the website’s design, structure, or functionality. This can make the site faster, more mobile-friendly, and easier to navigate, which all contribute to a better user experience. Search engines reward these improvements, as they align with Google’s goal of delivering a great experience to users. - Supporting Business Growth
Many site migrations are tied to business growth goals like rebranding, targeting new audiences, or expanding services. A well-managed migration can help you reach those goals by increasing your site’s visibility, reach, and alignment with your target audience.
How long does SEO migration take?
When it comes to the site migration process, timing can vary based on several factors, including the number of URLs involved and the complexity of your existing website and its content. For a typical migration of around 30 URLs, thorough redirect mapping usually takes about 2-4 hours.
Next, conducting a content audit is crucial; it helps assess the keyword value and traffic of your existing pages to determine if a 1:1 redirect is necessary. This can take approximately 4-6 hours, depending on the content density of each page. Additionally, optimising or preserving your metadata (page titles and descriptions) is vital for maintaining your site’s rankings in Google search results, which generally requires another 1-3 hours.
What’s Involved? SEO Migration Checklist
Conducting a successful migration involves a step-by-step approach. Here’s a look at the process, direct from the SEO experts at Springboard:
1. Planning and Preparation
Effective migration starts with detailed planning. It’s essential to understand the reason behind the migration (e.g., moving to a new domain, rebranding, or restructuring the site) and to create a thorough website migration checklist.
- Map Old and New URLs: Every page on the old site should have a designated location on the new site. A URL map outlines where old URLs redirect to the new website, ensuring a seamless transition.
- Update Internal Links and External Links: Every internal link on the site and any important external links should be updated so that they point to the new pages, preserving their SEO value.
2. Content Audit
A content audit is a key part of any SEO migration. It helps identify which content is worth keeping, what could be improved, and what might need updating or removing. This keeps valuable, high-performing content front and centre on your new site while tidying up anything that no longer adds value. During the audit, we will:
- Spot High-Value Pages: Identify URL pages that bring in the most traffic or conversions. These are the pages you’ll want to prioritise and maintain.
- Refresh or Remove Low-Value Content: Look for pages with low engagement or outdated information—these can often be improved or merged with other pages.
- Optimise SEO Elements: Double-check that title tags, meta descriptions, and internal links are in good shape, making minor tweaks where needed to enhance SEO performance.
3. Setting Up a Staging Environment
A staging site is an environment where the new version of the website is created and tested. It’s a safe place to check the new setup before making it live. Testing here helps identify issues like slow loading times or misconfigured links, which could harm the live site’s performance in the long run.
4. Crawling Your Current Site
Before you make any changes, it’s essential to capture an accurate record of the current site as part of the website migration process. This involves a site crawl using tools like Screaming Frog or Sitebulb, which collects data on every page, URL, and link. Crawling the current site also helps create a backup list of URLs and internal links, which will help with redirect mapping later.
- Generate an XML Sitemap: An XML sitemap lists all the pages on a site and serves as a roadmap for search engine crawlers. Both the old site and the new site should have updated sitemaps submitted to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Review the Robots.txt File: This file tells search engines which pages to crawl. Updating it ensures that they understand which pages of the new website to index.
5. Implementing 301 Redirects
301 redirects are essential. They permanently guide users and engines from an old URL to a new URL. Without redirects, users trying to access old pages would be met with error messages, which can hurt the website’s credibility and SEO.
- Redirect All Key Pages: Every existing page should have a redirect pointing to its corresponding page on the new site.
- Prioritise Important Pages: High-value pages that drive the most traffic and represent significant parts of your business should be redirected first.
6. Monitoring Using Google Search Console and Google Analytics
Throughout the migration, Google Search Console and Google Analytics are invaluable for tracking performance and diagnosing issues.
- Set Up Google Search Console for the New Domain: Setting this up allows you to monitor how search engine crawlers interact with the new site.
- Track Indexed Pages: Once the site is live, make sure that the new pages are correctly indexed and that no errors are flagged.
7. Testing and Verification
The new website should be thoroughly tested in the staging environment before it’s published. This involves checking that all new URLs work, making sure pages load quickly, and confirming that the design works on mobile devices.
8. Post-Migration Monitoring and Optimisation
Once the new website is live, it’s essential to follow a comprehensive website migration checklist to monitor search engine rankings, organic traffic, and crawl errors for a few months post-migration. Set up alerts to track any fluctuations in performance or issues that might arise.
- Verify Redirects: Use tools to check that all redirects are functioning properly and that no internal links are broken.
- Submit an Updated Sitemap: Submitting the updated XML sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools helps search engines index the new site.
3 Common Mistakes to Avoid During SEO Migration
- Neglecting Internal Links: If internal links are not updated to match the new URL structure, users and search engines will encounter broken links, disrupting the user experience and harming SEO.
- Skipping Mobile Testing: With Google’s focus on mobile-friendly design, ensuring that the site performs well on mobile devices is vital.
- Overlooking Redirects: Remembering redirects can prevent valuable traffic from getting lost, which can negatively impact user experience
Springboard Digital’s Approach
SEO migrations can be complex, but they don’t have to be daunting! At Springboard Digital, we assist clients by doing all the dirty work and meticulously planning each migration phase.
Why trust us? Well, by focusing on data-driven strategies and a comprehensive migration checklist, we help clients avoid common pitfalls and set up their new website for success. Our attention to detail ensures that every page transition is accounted for and that search engines can easily understand and index the new site.
Whether you’re moving to a new domain, refreshing your site’s structure, or changing your platform, a careful SEO migration will help you enhance your site’s online presence. Contact us to find out more about our services and how we can help your business grow online.