Across 12 years in SEO, I have orchestrated and rectified hundreds of website migrations for a variety of sites, each with its unique challenges. Often, I’ve stepped in to fix migrations that were mishandled, despite being overseen by ‘SEO experts.’
Time and time again I’ve had conversations with potential clients that begin with the dreaded phrase, “So, we had a site migration…”— a sure-fire indicator that things have likely gone pear shaped. These experiences have only highlighted the importance of skilled management during website migrations and have taught me lessons that I believe are crucial for any SEO professional.
I've had conversations with potential clients that begin with the dreaded phrase, "So, we had a site migration..."— a surefire indicator that things have likely gone pear shaped
In this piece, I’m not aiming to provide a step-by-step guide on how to execute a perfect site migration. Instead, I will share some of the most impactful lessons and tips that have shaped my approach to SEO during these critical moments and hopefully you can find some valuable takeaways from these insights.
Lesson 1: Involve your SEO team early
Incorporate your SEO team, whether it’s an individual expert or an agency, at the outset of your project. Discussions about site architecture and design considerations start very early on. If you hear, “We’ll involve SEO after X,” alarm bells should ring.
Decisions made during these early stages are critical for SEO success. I’ve observed web designers persuading clients to remove vital content for aesthetic purposes, not realising the potential negative impact this could have on the SEO – Google’s algorithms primarily use content to determine your site’s ranking!
Ensuring that your SEO team is involved from the beginning helps safeguard your site’s visibility.
Lesson 2: Do not solely rely on Web Developers or Designers to consider the best interests of your SEO
It’s important to recognize that while some web developers and designers have a decent understanding of SEO, such expertise is not common across the board. This isn’t a critique of their skills but a reflection of their different focus areas.
Investing in the specialised knowledge of an SEO professional or agency can make a significant difference. The real difference lies in the fact that they can not only spot decisions that might undermine your SEO efforts, but also suggest improvements which can take your SEO performance to the next level.
Take, for example, a client who transitioned to the Shopify platform. We found a plugin that enabled the creation of separate collections by distinguishing between product variants. This adaptation significantly enhanced our ability to target new traffic opportunities related to searches by color and size in their SEO strategy. After discussions with their web developer, the plugin was configured to integrate with their custom theme. Post-migration, these pages have become a crucial factor in their sustained SEO growth.
Lesson 3: Use migration as an opportunity to enhance Your SEO
A website migration isn’t just about preserving your existing online presence and minimising search engine traffic loss. In some cases, it also presents an opportunity to emerge stronger than before. For instance, you might have some legacy technical issues on your current platform that weren’t possible to solve previously, and now they can.
During a migration, extensive development work is typically underway, making it the ideal time to implement best practice SEO optimisation. Addressing these improvements early in the development process is far more effective than scrambling to make changes close to launch—or, worse, after going live. Consider these key aspects:
- Can you set unique SEO meta title tags and meta descriptions for each page?
- Is the canonical URL structure effective and customisable?
- Does the site dynamically generate XML sitemaps?
- Is there one <h1> heading per page, and is it customisable for each page?
- Does the responsive version of the site hide any important content?
Lesson 4: Verify with search console as quickly as possible
As your website nears completion, it’s crucial to verify the development URL in Google Search Console. Once verified, use the “Inspect URL” feature to inspect all your key pages, and conduct live URL tests.
While tools like Screaming Frog are invaluable for in-depth site analysis, the Search Console’s URL inspection tool offers a unique peace of mind by allowing you to see your site as Google does. It’s essential to check a variety of page templates—such as the homepage, regular pages, product categories, product pages, service pages, and blog posts—using the live tests in GSC. This ensures you can detect any potential issues Google might encounter while crawling and indexing your content.
Pay particular attention to the rendered ‘screenshot’ provided for each page. Compare these screenshots with what you see in your browser. Any significant discrepancies should be investigated further, as they might indicate that Google is being blocked from accessing crucial resources needed for properly rendering the page.
Lesson 5: Update Your Backlinks
If you’re changing your domain name during a migration, it’s vital to update the backlinks from your previous domain to direct to your new domain. Although this step isn’t strictly necessary if you have set up proper redirects, directly updating backlinks can help you retain more link equity—since some is typically lost through redirection.
By directly updating these links, you can accelerate the process of building domain authority on your new domain, which should help you regain your rankings and organic traffic faster than you would have otherwise.
Begin with the easiest targets: update links on your social media profiles, any directories you are listed in, and other low-hanging fruit you have a relationship with. Then, move on to an email outreach campaign targeting other websites that link to you. For particularly influential sites, consider making phone calls to ensure these crucial links are updated much faster.
These insights represent just a few of the many lessons I’ve gathered through years of managing website migrations – hopefully you’ve found this somewhat useful.
If you are in the midst of planning a website migration, find yourself needing assistance with an ongoing one, or simply want to pick my brain, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re here to help ensure your migration is successful and sets your site up for continued SEO success.
