Website migration checklist: 11 steps for success

Web site migrations are part of an enterprise’s pure evolution. Firms might migrate as a result of they’re rebranding, going to the cloud to scale their website simpler or quite a few different causes.

Nonetheless, whereas migration could seem easy on paper, one misstep can result in SEO issues, reminiscent of:

• 404 errors.
• Misplaced rankings.
• Lacking content material.
• Misplaced income.

Earlier than starting your migration, you’ll need to run a website crawler to stock your pages. The purpose is to have an inventory of all pages that you may check with when the migration is full to confirm that every thing is migrated accurately.

You’ll additionally need to establish when your website site visitors is highest so you’ll be able to keep away from performing a migration throughout these hours. When you’re prepared, it’s time to maneuver on to the primary a part of your strategy planning stage.

Communication plan

I see most guides go proper into the pre-migration part, and whereas this can be high quality if you happen to’re a one-person proprietor, it’s not OK when a number of stakeholders are concerned. 

A primary communication plan is critical, and it ought to embody:

• Inner communication and insights into the migration, when it should happen, who it should affect and what group members might help you.
• Exterior communication to alert purchasers and clients of the migration and potential downtime that will happen.

Make sure that everybody is aware of what’s happening to keep away from any crucial points that may disrupt the migration or another person’s work within the group.

Pre-migration planning

Screaming Frog is a superb software to assist with accumulating information in your website earlier than the migration, reminiscent of:

• Evaluating crawls.
• Staging.
• URL mapping.

However you’ll want extra information than this. You’ll additionally need to collect an inventory of your rankings earlier than and after the migration. Ahrefs and Semrush permit you to simply monitor and export your key phrases.

You may – and may – create an annotation inside your Google Analytics to mark the pre–migration information with the intention to check with it whenever you’re carried out with the location migration.

When you’ve created your checklist, you’re prepared to maneuver on. The next are 11 steps that may make it easier to efficiently migrate your web site.

Warning: Don’t delete your previous website. It’s good to have a fallback in case your new website fails for some motive.

Dig deeper: 12 SEO pitfalls to avoid during a website platform migration

Step 1: Setup internet hosting, DNS, CDN, mail

Migrations have a number of shifting components. First, make a backup of your website and database. If one thing goes improper, you’ll be grateful that you’ve got a backup to revive your website. Ideally, you’ll additionally create a staging website to check the migration to scale back any preliminary hiccups that may happen alongside the way in which.

Staging environments permit you to take a look at out the migration and establish any crucial errors that may pop up. In case you’re migrating a well known website that receives a number of site visitors and will even generate income, staging is essential.

Enterprise stakeholders will need solutions from you if one thing goes improper, and the presence of a staging website helps you stop undesirable points in manufacturing.

Use the staging setting to check redirects, duplicate content material and the quite a few different parameters talked about all through this text.

When you’re carried out with the staging website, you’ll need to:

• Arrange your internet hosting setting and switch all information.
• Arrange the DNS data.
• Change your CDN data.
• Change mail parameters.

Full these preliminary steps earlier than shifting into your redirects.

Step 2: Create an inventory of redirects

Internally, you and your group ought to have an inventory of redirects that you want to create and ones that exist already. You’ll check with this checklist to make sure that all present redirects are in place in your new website.

Fortunately, if you happen to don’t have many redirects and are altering domains, you’ll want a single redirect to redirect the location.

Dig deeper: How to speed up site migrations with AI-powered redirect mapping

Step 3: Evaluate your web optimization construction

web optimization specs must be put in place. You’ll must test the next to verify the migration is profitable:

• Crawlability.
• Customized URLs.
• Alt textual content.
• Canonical tags.
• Robots.txt.
• Sitemaps.
• Inner hyperlinks.
• Hreflang.
• Structured information.
• URL structure.
• Cellular setup.
• Pagination.

Evaluate your present website’s web optimization construction to make sure that you may test it when the migration is full. The important thing to website migration success is creating lists and reviewing them a number of instances.

Step 4: Run benchmarks

Benchmarks are going to inform you a large number about your migration and website. From a technical SEO standpoint, you’ll need to view the next information:

• Web page load pace.
• Web page indexing charges.
• Crawl errors.
• Key phrase rankings.

You’ll be returning to those benchmarks a number of instances over the approaching weeks. In case you discover that the location pace is sluggish otherwise you misplaced rankings, you’ll need to look by means of your website extra to pinpoint the problem.

In case you have this information accessible, you’ll even have one thing to point out your shopper (if you happen to’re working with one) that may spotlight the success of the benchmark.

Technical web optimization benchmarks

You need your customers to have an distinctive expertise in your website. To realize this, crawlability wants to stay excessive and speeds should even be monitored. A number of of the instruments that may make it easier to with these are:

• Cellular-friendliness: Websites have to be mobile-friendly. Two instruments that may make it easier to confirm that customers throughout cellular units can use your website seamlessly are Bing and Website Grader.
• Web site pace: Your website pace additionally issues, so that you’ll need to run exams earlier than and after the migration utilizing PageSpeed Insights.
• Duplicate content material: Generally, migrations go improper, and duplicate content material pops up. You need to confirm that you just don’t have a bunch of duplicate pages.

Operating Screaming Frog when the migration is finished will permit you to establish errors that you just’ll must appropriate to keep away from any crawlability points that will pop up, together with duplicate content material.

Step 5: Analyze key website pages

Your key website pages are a very powerful revenue-generating pages and must be the primary that you just goal. Analyze these pages to guarantee that they’re operating correctly. Even when you have 1,000+ pages, select the highest 5% pages and undergo them one after the other.

These are pages that:

• Have excessive key phrase rankings.
• Generate essentially the most income.

While you look by means of your analytics, you’ll need to hold an in depth eye on these pages whereas persevering with by means of the remainder of these steps.

Step 6: Rerun website crawlers to match

Rerunning your crawler is a good suggestion at this level. You’ve already gone by means of many of the tedious steps, however now it’s time to match your previous website crawl to the brand new one. The purpose is to test the next:

• Damaged website hyperlinks (404 errors).
• Redirects.
• Meta titles.
• Meta description.

Examine your metadata to make sure that every thing migrated correctly. Generally, metadata is misplaced throughout the migration, particularly if you happen to change content material administration programs that attempt pulling information from a database column or desk that doesn’t exist.

Step 7: Audit the location

Audits come subsequent, and you too can use a number of the information collected within the final step. Your audit ought to embody checking:

• Redirects.
• Inner hyperlinks.
• Server response instances.
• Noindex/index data.

You’ll additionally need to create your robots.txt file, arrange canonical tags and be certain that your key pages are operating properly.

In case you’re altering domains, add your website to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Instruments. You’ll need to comply with this up by requesting that your website be listed and submitting your XML sitemaps.

Google Search Console lets you change your website tackle. You may arrange the change of tackle by going to Settings (Gear icon) > Change of tackle.

The Search Console’s change of tackle lets you alert Google of your website’s tackle change. Nonetheless, you will have to confirm that you just’re the proprietor of each websites earlier than submitting your change of tackle.

Step 9: Run usability exams

Usability is one facet of a website migration that folks overlook. Your website might keep its rankings, but you’ll lose income if usability diminishes. 

Manually testing key areas of your website is the following step, and these exams must be carried out on cellular and desktop units.

Test the next areas to make sure that they’re working correctly:

• Downloadable content material.
• Kinds.
• Full checkout course of.
• Stay chat perform.
• Mailing lists.
• Navigation.

You need to be certain that your whole website’s options run correctly. In case you come throughout any points, appropriate them as vital.

Step 10: Monitor analytics and carry out any vital cleanup

Over time, you’ll need to look in your Google Search Console for errors and warnings. Evaluate your analytics or key phrase rankings in your prime pages. 

Historically, you’ll need to view your highest traffic-generating pages and see in the event that they’ve skilled a loss in site visitors. If they’ve misplaced vital rankings and site visitors, begin analyzing key points, reminiscent of:

• Improper redirects.
• Sluggish load instances.
• Misplaced inner hyperlinks.
• Lacking meta tags.

You’ll need to hold an in depth watch on Google Search Console’s Protection tab, which can present you any crucial errors in your pages and warnings. As these errors pop up, undergo them one after the other and repair them.

Step 11: Publish-migration monitoring

Publish-migration monitoring is critical for the primary few weeks, however most modifications shall be fast. A number of objects that you just’ll need to add to your monitoring guidelines are:

• 403/404/and many others. errors.
• Analytic setup verification.
• Setup Google Search Console.
• Submit sitemaps.
• Confirm third-party licenses are transferred.
• Confirm that the caching system is working correctly.
• Make sure that e-mail is working correctly.
• Test the navigation to confirm that it really works.
• Run Screaming Frog to establish errors. 

You should use this template, which I’ll hold up to date that can assist you confirm your migration.

Guarantee a easy website migration with these key steps and ideas

Web site migrations require appreciable diligence and time to execute correctly. Whereas just a few steps could also be added to the checklist above to streamline the migration course of additional, they’re a great basis to construct on.

Dig deeper: How to run a successful site migration from start to finish