Website Migration

Most website migration can be divided into 6 categories that impact what kind of work is involved to ensure smooth transition without any loss of visibility and traffic:

1. Domain name change. A domain name change is typically driven by rebranding efforts or a business merger. This process helps align the website's address with its new identity or corporate structure, requiring careful redirection to maintain SEO and traffic.
2. Website redesign. Websites undergo redesigns to enhance visual appeal, improve user experience, or update functionality. This often involves significant changes to layout and content, necessitating a detailed migration plan to prevent disruptions in user access and search engine ranking.
3. URL structure migration. Website structure changes, such as better targeting international markets, often involved changes in URL structure. This process involves systematically updating and redirecting URLs to maintain link equity and ensure search engines correctly index the new URLs.

4. Website merge. Merging multiple websites into a single site often occurs after business acquisitions or consolidations. This streamlines management and unifies branding, but requires precise content integration and redirection strategies to avoid losing valuable traffic and search rankings.
5. Content migration. Moving content from one platform or site often happens during changes in the directory or sub-domain strategy. It involves transferring and potentially updating content to fit the new structure and design, ensuring consistency and quality are maintained throughout the process.
6. Platform migration. Switching to a new content management system (CMS) or a new hosting provider can potentially provide better functionality and scalability. This migration involves moving all site data to the new platform, minimizing downtime, and ensuring a seamless transition for users and search engines.

Most website migrations are not managed properly and result in the following risks:

1. Traffic loss. A poorly managed website migration can cause significant drop in visibility as search engines may struggle correctly transfer all the SEO value of the old domain or ULRs. This loss of visibility often will have a long-term negative impact and recovering from this can be resource-intensive.
2. Sub-par user experience. Incorrectly implemented redirects and not migrated high-value content will mean that people arriving from links from other sites (including social media) will see the dredded 404 error page and will feel disappointed since they aren't able to find what they are looking for.
3. Revenue loss. The combination of decreased traffic and a poor user experience can lead to substantial revenue loss. Fewer visitors mean fewer opportunities for conversions, whether through sales, sign-ups, or other business goals.

If managed properly, website migration can provide the following business benefits:

1. House cleaning. Migration is a good time to identify all the issues that have plagued the old site. Redirect chains, poorly performing content or badly implemented internal linking. Migration is a good place to resolve all of this to avoid the issues being transferred to the new site.
2. Opportunity realization. On top of solving issues, migration also allows for identifying and realizing opportunities that where limited on the old site. Merging similar content, optimizing URL structure, making making website faster - all that can have a positive impact on website's performance.
3. Revenue increase. By removing all the issues that were holding back the site from performing in organic search and by unlocking new opportunities, the site can perform better in attracting and converting new clients.