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Updated: January 31, 2024.
Learn however to migrate without losing postulation by applying these 11 tips & champion practices.
Ah, website migrations – the rollercoaster of the SEO world. With plentifulness of ups and downs, they tin beryllium the make-or-break infinitesimal for galore websites. As an experienced SEO consultant, I’ve seen my just stock of some palmy and not-so-successful migrations.
But don’t interest due to the fact that I americium present to stock the lessons I’ve learned done my years of experience. In this article, I’ll uncover my apical 11 tips and champion practices to assistance you navigate the website migration travel and guarantee you don’t suffer that precious traffic.
So, drawback a cupful of java and settee in, for it’s clip to uncover the secrets to a creaseless and palmy website migration. Let’s dive into it!
P.S. This usher is cleanable for tiny to medium-sized websites. In the lawsuit of a gigantic website that has millions of URLs, you volition request a spot of automation to grip redirects.
How to migrate without losing postulation (TL;DR)
Believe it oregon not, the azygous astir communal crushed wherefore I spot websites suffer postulation aft the migration is that they don’t instrumentality redirects astatine all, instrumentality them incorrectly, oregon hide to redirect… this 1 blog station that was getting them 95% of traffic.
To migrate without losing postulation you request to instrumentality 301 redirects from aged URLs to caller URLs.
Of course, determination is mode much to than that truthful I promote you to work the full article.
What is website migration?
Website migration refers to the process of transferring a website from 1 situation to another, which tin impact changes successful domain, design, structure, oregon platform. This process tin beryllium analyzable and requires cautious readying to minimize the hazard of losing postulation and hunt motor rankings.
What types of website migration are there?
There are respective types of website migrations, each with unsocial characteristics:
- Domain migration: This benignant of migration involves changing the website’s domain name, specified arsenic moving from “seosly.com” to “seosly.cloud” oregon rebranding the full tract with a caller domain.
- Design migration: A plan migration focuses connected updating the website’s ocular elements, specified arsenic its layout, colour scheme, and branding, without altering the underlying contented oregon URL structure. This 1 tin truly messiness things up if not done properly.
- Platform migration: In this migration, a website is moved from 1 contented absorption strategy (CMS) oregon e-commerce level to another, specified arsenic transitioning from WordPress to Shopify oregon vice versa.
- URL operation migration: This benignant of migration involves changing the website’s URL structure, which whitethorn see reorganizing directories, renaming URLs, oregon switching from HTTP to HTTPS.
- Content migration: Content migration deals with transferring and updating the website’s content, specified arsenic adding, deleting, oregon modifying text, images, videos, oregon different multimedia elements.
- Server migration: Server migration occurs erstwhile a website is moved from 1 hosting situation to another, often to amended tract speed, performance, oregon security.
For example, I migrated from Bluehost to Cloudways due to the fact that my website was getting tons of 5xx errors connected the aged host, which negatively impacted my SEO. After migrating, my tract got a caller life.
You request to support successful caput that each benignant of website migration tin interaction your site’s postulation and SEO, some positively and negatively.
- A well-executed migration tin boost tract performance, idiosyncratic experience, and hunt rankings.
- However, if you don’t program and negociate it carefully, you volition extremity up losing traffic, hurting your hunt visibility, and giving users a atrocious experience.
- To navigate the migration process smoothly, you request to recognize the unsocial challenges and outcomes for each migration type.
- This way, you tin make a customized migration strategy that tackles imaginable risks and seizes opportunities to amended your website’s wide show and SEO. You tin besides triumph a batch with the migration!
This is an illustration of the tract migration I did past year. The archetypal arrow shows the infinitesimal close aft the launch. The 2nd arrow is erstwhile the lawsuit removed a fewer blog posts without telling me. Even aft what helium has done, the tract has kept growing. I simply utilized the migration arsenic an accidental to amended the tract and marque it turn due to the fact that the aged tract lacked a ton of SEO optimizations. How to migrate without losing postulation successful 11 elemental steps
Even though each migration is simply a spot antithetic and unique, the beneath 11 steps are successful astir cases indispensable if you privation to migrate without losing traffic.
Caveat: The lone concern wherever you tin perchance disregard each oregon astir of these steps is if the tract you are migrating has zero postulation and rankings. I person seen specified sites too. LOL.
1. Crawl the existent tract and its XML sitemaps to extract each URLs
Use a reliable website crawling instrumentality similar JetOctopus, Screaming Frog, oregon Sitebulb to place each existing URLs connected your existent website, including those successful your XML sitemaps. This broad database volition service arsenic the instauration for your migration planning.
Caveat: Don’t miss immoderate hidden URLs oregon orphan pages, arsenic they mightiness incorporate invaluable contented oregon backlinks that you privation to sphere during the migration.
2. Analyze the site’s existent visibility, traffic, backlinks, and rankings
Review your site’s show metrics, including hunt visibility, integrated postulation (and postulation from different sources arsenic well), backlinks, and keyword rankings. This investigation volition assistance you place your site’s strengths and areas that request betterment during migration.
The tools to usage present see Google Search Console and a instrumentality similar Semrush oregon Ahrefs.
Semrush Domain Overview volition springiness you a unsmooth thought of however the tract is doing and what pages you privation to preserve. Caveat: Pay peculiar attraction to what pages are getting the astir clicks successful GSC (and astir postulation wide successful GA) and what pages person the champion links and positions (Semrush).
3. Put everything into 1 spreadsheet
Organize each the collected data, including URLs, show metrics, and contented details, into a azygous spreadsheet. This centralized papers volition service arsenic your roadmap for the migration process.
What I similar doing is creating 1 maestro spreadsheet with each URLs containing accusation about:
- The metadata of each URL
- The fig of GSC each URL got successful the past 90-180 days
- The wide postulation each URL got successful the past 90-180 days
- The backlinks each URL has
- Top keyword positions
- Current URL and caller URL
Here is an illustration spreadsheet listing each URLs unneurotic with circumstantial information astir each URL.Caveat: Keep your spreadsheet up-to-date and organized to debar disorder and missteps during the migration.
4. Determine what URLs to keep, redirect, oregon remove
Evaluate each URL connected your database and determine whether to support it, acceptable up a 301 redirect, oregon region it wholly (status 404 oregon 410). Consider factors similar contented quality, relevance, backlinks, and postulation erstwhile making these decisions.
In my maestro spreadsheet, I adhd a file named “Action” wherever I enactment the desired enactment successful the signifier of the desired presumption codification of the page:
- 200 (OK) for nary change
- 301 (Moved Permanently) when moving to a caller URL
- 404 (Not Found) oregon 410 (Gone) erstwhile removing contented wholly
Here is an illustration spreadsheet that tin beryllium utilized during the investigation signifier of the migration.Caveat: Even though it seems similar a amended thought to region wholly a bladed nonfiction with nary traffic, you astir apt privation to redirect it if it has immoderate bully backlinks.
5. Create a representation of redirects
Develop a wide and broad redirect representation that outlines the aged URLs and their corresponding caller URLs. This representation volition beryllium important for ensuring a seamless modulation and maintaining your site’s hunt motor rankings.
If you make a maestro spreadsheet akin to mine, you volition lone person to benignant the URLs by “Action” file to get an astir acceptable representation of redirects.
This is an illustration spreadsheet you tin make for the purposes of the migration you are performing.Caveat: Double-check your redirect representation for accuracy to debar creating redirect loops oregon breached links that tin harm the website migration process.
6. Crawl the staging tract
Before launching the caller site, crawl the staging situation to place and hole immoderate issues, specified arsenic breached links, missing metadata, oregon different issues.
The instrumentality to usage is again JetOctopus oregon Screaming Frog. Both fto you crawl and extract information from a staging tract that has a no-index tag oregon is password protected.
You tin acceptable up Screaming Frog and different SEO spiders to crawl password protected staging websites.Caveat: Ensure that the staging tract is an close practice of the last site, arsenic immoderate discrepancies tin pb to issues aft launch.
7. Implement redirects and launch
With everything successful place, acceptable up the 301 redirects according to your redirect representation and motorboat the caller site.
There are respective methods to instrumentality 301 redirects, depending connected your website’s platform, server configuration, and idiosyncratic preferences.
The communal types of redirect implementations include:
- .htaccess record (Apache servers): If your website is hosted connected an Apache server, you tin usage the .htaccess record to make 301 redirects.
- Nginx configuration file: For websites hosted connected Nginx servers, you tin instrumentality 301 redirects by modifying the server’s configuration file.
- IIS (Internet Information Services) servers: If your website is hosted connected an IIS server, you tin usage the URL Rewrite Module to make 301 redirects. Follow these steps:
- WordPress plugins: If you’re utilizing WordPress, respective plugins tin assistance you make 301 redirects, specified arsenic Redirection oregon Rank Math.
- Website builder oregon CMS: Many website builders and contented absorption systems (CMS) connection built-in functionality for creating 301 redirects. Examples see Shopify, Wix, and Squarespace.
- PHP redirects: If your website uses PHP, you tin instrumentality 301 redirects by adding a portion of codification astatine the opening of the aged page’s PHP file.
Depending connected the project, it whitethorn beryllium you oregon the developer who volition beryllium implementing the redirects. If the second is true, marque definite it’s done correctly (sic!).
Caveat: Monitor the tract intimately during and aft the motorboat to drawback and resoluteness immoderate unforeseen issues immediately.
TIP: If possible, I urge doing the migration implicit the play during the nighttime hours truthful if thing goes wrong, nary 1 (except you) volition announcement it close distant and you volition person clip to rotation things back.
8. Crawl instantly aft the motorboat
Once the caller tract is live, execute different crawl to corroborate that redirects, links, and different tract elements are functioning correctly.
Specifically, crawl your representation of redirects and marque definite each URL returns the close presumption code.
In Screaming Frog, you tin usage the URL List mode and paste the “old” URLs from your migration sitemap there.
Use the URL List mode successful Screaming Frog to crawl each the redirected URLs to marque definite they enactment properly.Of course, successful summation to that, besides crawl the full website successful regular spider mode!
Caveat: Address immoderate issues identified during the post-launch crawl promptly to minimize imaginable antagonistic impacts connected your site’s postulation and rankings.
9. Keep the aged XML sitemap intact for a fewer days/weeks
Retain the aged XML sitemap for a abbreviated play aft the migration, arsenic it tin assistance hunt engines observe and scale your caller URLs much quickly.
Caveat: Don’t hide to update and submit your caller XML sitemap to hunt engines erstwhile the aged 1 is removed to guarantee continuous and businesslike crawling of your site.
10. Make annotations and show closely
Annotate the migration day successful your analytics tools (GA4) and support a adjacent oculus connected your site’s show metrics, specified arsenic postulation and rankings. The indispensable tools to usage present include:
- Google Search Console
- Google Analytics 4 (or different analytics tool)
- Semrush (or different instrumentality that allows for presumption monitoring)
- Automated play crawl that volition alert you if thing is happening (Semrush Site Audit)
Semrush Siet Audit monitoring the wellness of my website connected a regular basis. This monitoring volition assistance you place immoderate issues that whitethorn originate aft the migration.
Caveat: Be prepared to enactment rapidly if you announcement immoderate important drops successful postulation oregon rankings, arsenic timely involution tin forestall semipermanent antagonistic effects.
11. Have the backup acceptable to rotation backmost (just successful case)
Before launching the caller site, make a implicit backup of your existent tract arsenic a information net. If the migration encounters large issues, you’ll person the enactment to rotation backmost to the erstwhile version.
Depending connected wherever the tract is hosted, you whitethorn person the enactment to easy rotation backmost the site. This is thing that Cloudways offers.
Cloudways lets you easy reconstruct the site. Keep successful caput that this whitethorn not ever beryllium an enactment depending connected the benignant of the migration.Caveat: Keep successful caput that rolling backmost should beryllium a past resort, arsenic it tin besides person SEO implications. Focus connected resolving issues connected the caller tract whenever possible, and lone see rolling backmost if perfectly necessary.
5 real-life examples of failed migrations that killed the site
I person truly seen tons of failed migrations and I americium often hired to measure what went wrong. Of course, determination are tons of imaginable reasons for a failed migration.
However, these 5 ones are rather communal and rather nuanced:
- With the domain change, radical sometimes hide to region the no-index tag from the caller website erstwhile it goes live. This is simply a look for a implicit disaster.
- A selling feline who knows thing astir SEO evaluates which articles should beryllium removed without looking astatine the SEO information down these articles. He decided to region 5 articles but wholly neglects the information that they relationship for 95% of integrated postulation connected the website and person awesome links.
This is what happened to the tract aft immoderate of its best-performing articles were removed.- An SEO bureau made of (I americium sorry) idiots forgets astir 1 measurement of the migration. You guessed it. They hide to make and instrumentality the representation of redirects.
- A developer forgets to update canonical tags and the redirected URLs (the URLs) incorporate canonical nexus elements that constituent to the dev (and not-indexable) mentation of the site. A full disaster. Yep.
- During the migration, the interior linking operation gets wholly wiped retired and the tract suffers important postulation losses. Before the migration, the tract had a comparatively OK interior linking structure. After the migration and the caller “design”, prime interior links were replaced with “Read more” oregon worse representation arrow links. Congratulations!
After going done these painstakingly elaborate nuances and imaginable pitfalls of website migration, I can’t assistance but wonder: How connected world bash radical inactive negociate to marque specified basal mistakes and obliterate their websites? Is it the thrill of playing Russian roulette with their online presence, oregon possibly conscionable an unwavering emotion for integer chaos?
Okay, I got rather aggravated conscionable recalling these situations and I tin spell connected and connected indefinitely. I deliberation you get the constituent truthful let’s halt here.
Final thoughts connected migrating without losing traffic
In each seriousness, though, I recognize that website migrations tin beryllium daunting and complex, but equipped with the close knowledge, you tin debar turning your migration into a tragicomedy.
So instrumentality a heavy breath, and earlier you embark connected this integer adventure, double-check that you’ve covered each your bases. And remember, the integer satellite is watching, truthful let’s effort not to crook your migration into an epic neglect that goes down successful SEO history. Good luck!
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