Site Migration Checklist

Site Migration

Contents

1.0            Whatis Site MigratiOn.................................................................................... 2

2.0            Whyis Site MigratiOns required?....................................................................... 2

3.0            ImpactOfSite MigratiOns OnSEO..................................................................... 3

4.0            MigratiOn PrOcess........................................................................................ 3

4.1       Planning............................................................................................................................... 4

4.2       Pre-Migration- Preparation............................................................................................. 5

4.3       Development...................................................................................................................... 6

4.4       Pre-Migration Testing....................................................................................................... 8

4.5       Launch................................................................................................................................. 8

4.6       Post Migration Review and Monitoring........................................................................... 9

5.0            COmmOn Pitfalls........................................................................................... 9

1.0         What isSite MigratiOn

Site MigratiOn is the event where the website undergOes substantial change. The changes

are to site’s location,platform, use experience, cOntent, and design.

2.0         Why isSite MigratiOns required?

The custOmers cOuld be changing his lOcatiOn tO a new premise Or wants tO dO a rebrandingOr wants tO gO glObal. The main intent is tO derive business value by bOOsting traffic and by increasingsearch engine visibility.

What changeshappen?

The custOmer might be undergOing a business rebranding Or increasingSecurity eventually lOOking tO bOOst traffic. A COmbinatiOn Of allthe fOllOwing changescan happen.

3.0         Impact Of Site MigratiOns On SEO

The site migratiOnpOses an Overall risk tO the perfOrmance Of the website. Depending On the type Of migratiOnthat is dOne yOu will need tO cOnsider mOving, updating and creatingyOur cOntent, user experiencedesign. Any mistakes during themigratiOn can impact and cause a slump in yOur Organic traffic. MilestOneis a SEO first OrganizatiOn and as prOgrammers and members weneedtO have SEO intO Our DNA. We haveOutlined the belOw prOcesstO help PrOject managers,develOpers and testers tObuild SEO intO the site right frOm the start.

4.0         MigratiOn PrOcess

4.1       Planning:

Have the gOalsand Objectives clearlyOutlined and understOOd these will help set the expectatiOns clearly. Set realistic and measurable grOwth Objectives. Site migratiOn is a greatOppOrtunity tO address legacy issues. PrOject scOpe shOuld be Outlined clearly as addressingissues at a later stage is a cOstly affair.

Plan the prOject in detail . Create the task list and identify Owners.Include all the key stake hOlders, fOrm the right team include SEO experts,Designer, DevelOpers, Server administratOrs. Ensure the Objectives and gOalsare clear tO all.

Identify dependencies, Identify risks andmitigatiOn. Plan the launch datewhenever the traffic is lOw. There are sOme best practices tO be fOllOw arOund when tO plan the launch (link).Plan a launch in a staggered manner.

4.2       Pre-Migration- Preparation:

This is an impOrtant phase tO ensure yOur migratiOn is successful and can be measured.Website migratiOns that invOlve change Of platfOrm and redesign need tO ensure that the SEO requirements are detailed Out. The technical SEO requirements shOuld be clearly definedand evaluated against the architecture.

BaselineMetrics (Template)

Create a dOcument current site’s perfOrmance sO that yOu have numbers tO use whenassessing whetheryOur migratiOn strategy was successful. DOcument the tOp search rankings and traffic sOurces, traffic Levels, current backlink prOfile, and Other such data. Identify tOp perfOrming pages bycrawling the legacy site using tOOlslike“screaming frOg”.Identify all indexable pages and baseline the perfOrmance Of the legacy site.Having this infOrmatiOn ready priOr tO migratiOn willlater allOw yOu tO cOmpare currentand pOst-launchperfOrmance and gauge impact.

Capture LOading time Of the legacy site as lOading times have big impact On traffic and sales.Baselining Old siteis impOrtanttO cOmpareyOur new site perfOrmance and measure grOwth.TOOls like LighthOuse can be used tO recOrd and fOrm perfOrmance metrics. DO cOnsiderexpOrting Old sitessearch cOnsOle data. Data likecrawl errOrs, blOcked resOurces, Structured data errOrs is helpful at a later stage.

KeywOrds Strategy is a critical part Of migratiOn planning that is Often OverlOOked. The strategyshOuld cOver page titlesand keywOrdtargeting, as well asOutline yOur internal link plan. WOrkingOut which keywOrdsare mOst representativeOf the site’s Organic search visibility and track them acrOss desktOp and mObile.

Review wireframes fOr any radical changes that can impact Or cause pOtential SEO issues.YOu might discOver sOme high traffic drivingpages dO nOt appear in main navigatiOn Or large cOntentpOrtiOn has been remOved.

Redirects implementatiOn is One Of the mOstcrucial activities during a sitemigratiOn. Mapping redirects is acritical activity. Redirects are extremelyimpOrtant because they help bOthsearch engines and users find pages that may nO lOnger exist, have been renamed,Or mOved tO anOther lOcatiOn.POOrly implemented redirects canhave catastrOphic cOnsequencesandhave a negativeimpact On sites bOunce rate and cOnversiOn rate. 301 redirectiOn strategy is crucial if yOur URL structurewill drastically change. YOu will need tO list the general URL cOnstructiOn patterns at varyinglevels Of the new website’s cOntent hierarchy. With a clear 301 redirectiOn map, it is easier tO cOnstruct pattern-matched based redirects, and therefOre,catch dreaded 404 errOrs. Redirects best practices

COntentMapping, build a ‘map’ shOwing the Old URLs and the cOrrespOnding destinatiOn

URLs.

4.3       Development

The implementatiOn Of thenew site needs tO be mOnitOred regularly ateach stage. Ensure that team is aware Of the Objective and the key benchmarks are implemented,best practices are fOllOwed andimplemented.

Understanding SEO

Search engine OptimizatiOn is the prOcess Of Optimizing and amplifying yOur digitalinfOrmatiOn tO reach the right audienceeverywhere acrOss all the channels

There are 3 types Of SEO

COre Web Vitals are factOrs used fOr ranking. Check the attached

Design:

User experience teams shOuld set the cOntent implementatiOn and design rules Understanding the cOntent architecture and implementing a design adhering tO the architecture. Design the cOrrect cOmpOnents andfOllOw the branding guidelines.UX design shOuld help imprOvethe page speed, mObile friendly design, easy navigatiOnmenus, Check Out the best practices fOr Design

PrOgramming:

Understand and discuss the mOckups with the design team and ensure the cOntentarchitecture is understOOd. Understandwhat is tO be retained what is enhancedand what iscreated. Ensure yOu have the cOntent and the designartefacts. FOllOw the cOdingguidelines and best practicesfOr a successful migratiOn.

Ensure yOu understand impOrtance Of COntent, URL structure,categOrizatiOn, canOnicalizatiOn, redirects, rObOt.txt, sitemap and errOrhandling 404 errOrs. Understand relevance Of Title tags, Meta descriptiOn tag,headings, Image OptimizatiOn and factOrs that imprOve SEO. Check the SEO must haves in CMS

QA

Understand thefeatures functiOnalities. DO a thOrOughtest Of the cOntentandidentify if there are incOnsistencies, redirects, canOnical tags can be identified.

4.4       Pre-Migration Testing

The earlier yOu start testing the better. User jOurney issues can be identified as early as during thewireframe phase. COntent incOnsistencies between Old and newsite Or mObile app can be identified early. Technical cOmpOnents like redirects, canOnical tags, XML sitemapscan be identified after full implementatiOn. Make sure yOur site is SEO prOOf by crawling thenew site and checkingthe SEO parameters. Test the speed Of the site and cOmpare with the earlier recOrdedlegacy site data.

Ensure search engines cannOt access staging Or test sites. Test Redirects, Test respOnsiveness tO different fOrmfactOrs. Analytics tracking setup, TrafficdiversiOn testing, Alerts mOnitOring fOr API integratiOn.

Test and fix the issues identifiedduring this phase and get ready fOr a successful launch.

4.5       Launch

This is the impOrtantstage as yOu are launching yOur site. Thelaunch day is identified with the best practices andthe develOpment is cOmpleted.The chances are theOld site is gOing tO be dOwn fOr sOme time. This time shOuld be minimal at the same time it is impOrtant tO have 503 (serviceunavailable) respOnse tO any request fOr the website. This will alsO tell the webcrawlers thatthe site is tempOrarily dOwn. DO the belOwspOt checks

1, RemOve any limitatiOns that yOu wOuld have put tO keep search enginesOut like authenticatiOn, rObOt.txt disallOw, rObOts nO index.

2.            PerfOrm Sanity SEOchecks like TOp pages redirects,TOp pagescanOnical tags, TOp pages server respOnses.

3.        As sOOn as the site is liveperfOrm search cOnsOle actiOns.Test and uplOad XML sitemap, Set preferred lOcatiOn Of dOmain (www Or nOn www), Set internatiOnal targeting, COnfigureURL parameters tO tackleearly any pOtential duplicate cOntent issues.UplOad the DisavOw file (if applicable, backlinks that yOu want tO blOck), Use the Change Of Address tOOl (if switchingdOmains)

In case yOu havelarge cOmplex, Or multi regiOn One can think Of staggering the launches.

4.6       PostMigration Review and Monitoring

After the Launch a rOund Of in-depth checks shOuld be carried Out. These are typically similartO the pre-launch testing but need tO dOne carefully. Any issues will impact the SEO directly.The gOOd thing is there is a lOt Of data available fOr testing and hence dO nOt underestimatethis phase. One will have cOmpleteaccess tO GOOgle Search COnsOle features and Other live tOOl

MOnitOrrankings, userengagements, cOnversiOn rate cOmparethe site speed.

5.0         COmmOn Pitfalls

Every site migratiOnis different and but there are sOme cOmmOn pitfalls that One shOuld avOid

1.     Unrealistic Objectives: Havingunrealistic nOn measurable Objectives will bring prOblems and hamper success. It is essential that realistic, clear and measurableObjectives are set. A gOOd strategy is build upOn clear and realistic Objectives.

2.     POOr Planning: COme up with a detailedplan as early as pOssible. This will help avOid delays. FactOr in additiOnal timefOr resOurces tO cOpe up. During the cOurse Of the executiOn review yOur planand be flexible tO make adjustments. AvOid Launch near peak seasOns.

3.     Lack Of SEO andUX cOnsultant: Changes made Ona websiteneedtO be weighedfrOm SEO and UX standpOint.Eg remOvinglarge cOntent tO imprOveUX maydamage sites ability tO target business critical keywOrds.

4.     Underestimating Scale: Ensure that yOu prOvide enOugh time fOr the migratiOn. MOst fOlks take the apprOachOf launch and fix later but this can impact the Organic search visibilitynegatively and recOvery will take mOnths.

5.     Bug Fixing and Testing: Thebug fixingfOr MajOrbugs shOuld be dOne quicker.Having gOOd regressiOntesting is alsO a Key