A practical guide to a successful website migration ​

SEO | 5 minute read

A practical guide to a successful website migration

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Website migration is a significant milestone for any business. Whether you’re launching a full redesign, upgrading to a new platform, or moving to a different domain, it presents an opportunity for growth. However, it also comes with substantial risks. If not handled properly, a migration can lead to a loss of organic traffic, a drop in search rankings, and disruptions in user experience. The challenge is not just to avoid these pitfalls but to use the migration process as a way to improve your website’s performance, usability, and search visibility.

A well-planned migration ensures that your SEO remains intact, helping search engines and users transition smoothly to the new site. With the right strategy, you can turn migration from a potential setback into a powerful step forward for your SEO. This guide walks you through the critical phases of a successful migration, covering pre-launch preparation, execution, and post-launch tracking.

Preparing for the migration

A successful website migration begins long before launch. The first step is to set a migration plan and conduct an audit of your current website. This will help identify potential risks, understand what’s working, and determine how to best to transition to the new site.

1. Set a migration plan

Create a detailed migration plan that outlines the entire process, from technical setup to content migration and tracking. The plan should include a timeline, milestones, and responsible parties. Make sure to build in buffer time for any problems that might arise. Errors will appear, and it is important to deal with them as quickly as possible.

Tip: Ensure that all internal teams are aligned on the migration plan. Don’t forget to share relevant information with other departments, such as customer service or IT, that might be directly or indirectly affected by the changes.

2. Create a testing environment for your new site

Create a testing environment for your new site, also known as a development or staging environment. This will allow you to implement changes and test new features without impacting the functionality of your live site. We recommend adding password protection to your staging site to keep both users and website crawlers out during testing.

3. Create a list of current URLs

Use tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to crawl your site and create an inventory of current URLs. Identify your high-performance pages, those that generate the most traffic and have strong keyword rankings. These pages should be protected during the migration to ensure they don’t lose their authority.

4. Create pages on new site

Start creating pages for content that will be migrated to the new site. Try to keep titles, headings, meta descriptions and alt-texts the same, unless there are obvious improvements to be made. If your new site will have a different URL structure, ensure that changes are mapped out carefully so that no valuable content is lost in the transition.

Tip: Minimize changes to content that is currently performing well to avoid lost rankings. Once the new site is indexed, you can revisit and refine your content.

5. Set internal and external links

Next, consider any changes made to the link structure. Pages with backlinks contribute to your domain authority, so any changes to these URLs should be carefully managed as failing to do so can result in lost rankings and reduced referral traffic. 

Tip: Use Screaming Frog to export a list of all internal and external links for each page. Update internal links and redirect external links to avoid losing link equity.

6. Set redirects and removals

One of the most critical aspects of migration is ensuring that old URLs properly redirect to new ones. For content that will be migrated to the new site, implementing 301 redirects will tell search engines that content has permanently moved and allow you to retain as much link equity as possible.

If there’s no equivalent URL on the new site, avoid redirecting the page as this have a negative impact on SEO and UX. In these cases, it is better to use a 410 status code to indicate that the page has been permanently removed.

6. Final checks

Before launching your new site, thorough testing is essential. Make sure redirects, internal links, site functionality, navigation, and structural elements are working properly to avoid issues once the site goes live. Addressing these aspects before going live will help you avoid any operational disruptions.

Completing the migration

On the day of the migration, it’s essential to work methodically to ensure that everything functions as expected.

1. Inform your customers

A migration is likely to temporarily affect the user experience, so it’s crucial to proactively inform your customers ahead of time. Notify them through newsletters, social media, or website notifications to help maintain customer trust and minimize potential frustration.

Tip: Migrations should be scheduled during low-demand hours to minimize disruptions. For larger migrations, consider rolling out changes in phases rather than launching everything at once.

2. Create a backup

Before proceeding with any changes, make sure to back up your old website, including critical elements like meta tags, meta titles, images, and page data. This ensures that you have a copy of everything should anything go wrong during the migration process.

3. Update DNS settings

If you’re switching to a new server, you need to change your DNS record so it points to the new IP address. To do this, contact your hosting company and request the change. Then, make sure your new website is publicly available by removing any password protection or restrictions.

4. Update robots.txt file

The robots.txt file provides instructions to search engines on how to crawl and index pages on your website. We recommend blocking any pages related to administration, development, as well as any subdomains or pages you don’t want search engines to index.

4. Enable redirects and removals

Next, it’s time to enable all of your redirects to ensure that users and search engines are properly directed to the new URLs. Make sure you’ve set up 301 redirects for all content that’s moved to a new location and that any pages that are no longer being used or that do not have a corresponding page on the new website is deleted or return a 410 status code.

5. Verify your new domain

Inform search engines of your domain or website change by verifying the new domain in Google Search Console and requesting indexing for the updated site.

6. Create a new XML-sitemap

Generate a new XML sitemap or update your existing one, then upload it to the Sitemaps section in Google Search Console. This step is crucial for ensuring Google can crawl and index all your pages on the new site.

7. Update external links

Once your new site is live, update external links in your marketing campaigns, social media profiles, and other online properties to point to your new URLs instead of outdated ones. This ensures that users and search engines are directed to the correct pages and avoids any unnecessary redirects that could impact user experience and SEO.

Monitoring the migration

Even after your site has launched, the work isn’t over. The post-migration phase is just as important as the execution stage, requiring constant monitoring and optimization to ensure that SEO performance remains strong and continues to improve over time.

Monitor changes in organic traffic and tracking

In the first weeks after the migration, it’s critical to monitor your site’s organic traffic closely. Tools like Ahrefs can help you track traffic fluctuations and identify potential issues early on. You can expect some ranking volatility, but if traffic and rankings don’t stabilize within a few weeks… It’s a red flag.

Check for any technical issues

As you monitor your site, be on the lookout for 404 errors, missing pages, or other technical problems. Errors or broken redirects can confuse search engines and users, resulting in lower rankings or poor user experience. Tools like Screaming Frog help identify these issues quickly so you can resolve them before they become larger problems.

Delete your old website

Once your new site is fully functional, it’s essential to delete the old site if it’s hosted on the same server. Despite implementing 301 redirects, old pages can still be crawled by search engines and accessed by users which can harm your SEO. To prevent any issues, we recommend backing up the old site before removing it completely from the server.

What's next?

By carefully planning, executing, and monitoring your migration, you can not only retain your SEO strength but also position your new website for increased visibility, better engagement, and stronger conversions. If you need expert guidance to ensure a seamless migration, reach out to our team. We help businesses protect and enhance their SEO, turning website migration into an opportunity for long-term success.

Henrik Stjernberg Hahn

SENIOR DIGITAL ANALYST

Henrik is a Senior Digital Analyst with years of experience in analytics, business development, and digital marketing.
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