Migrating a website is a high-risk initiative. Even small execution errors can lead to traffic loss, broken functionality or long-term SEO damage.
Assuming your strategy and pre-migration planning are already in place, the success of your migration now depends on how well you execute each step.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through the critical execution phases, from testing in staging to post-launch validation, so you can launch with confidence and minimize disruption.
Migration Foundations
In this section, I’ll briefly touch on some foundational concepts to understand in a migration.
Website Backup
As part of executing a successful site migration, you need a complete backup of the old site.
During a site migration, there’s always a risk of data loss due to technical, server or human mistakes. Backups ensure that all your site’s content, configurations and user data are securely stored and can be recovered if something goes wrong.
Staging Environment
A staging site is a clone of the new, live website in a separate environment. It mirrors the live site’s setup, including content, structure and configurations.
A staging site:
- Is isolated from the live site. Changes made on the staging site do not affect the live site, allowing for risk-free testing of changes, updates and new features without affecting the actual live site.
- Is temporary. The staging site is typically temporary and can be accessed through a separate URL or subdomain, often protected by authentication to prevent unauthorized access.
Use the staging site in the pre-migration and testing phases.
Related: How do I create a bulletproof pre-migration plan?
Website Migration Process
Every migration is unique. So while this is not an exhaustive list, the following phases include major, common tasks to execute on during a site migration:
Pre-Migration/Pre-Launch
A thorough review is essential before executing a site migration. This includes confirming that all elements are in place. Here’s a detailed look at what to focus on during this phase.
1. Benchmark the Website
Benchmark performance in different areas of the website. Later, you can compare post-launch performance and quickly identify issues so you can address them right away. This includes running PageSpeed Insights and recording Core Web Vitals scores for your homepage and other important pages on your site.
2. Crawl the Website
Use an SEO crawler to find and document any current issues with the website that you want to address during the site migration process. A few tools I recommend include our SEOToolSet® site crawler, Lumar and Screaming Frog.
3. Review Content
Do a content review of the site using tools that help you understand which pages perform well and which don’t. Make sure you know which pages are the top performers so that you preserve any traffic and conversions they provide. And for those that aren’t performing, you can decide if they need a rewrite, need to be folded into related content and/or need to be 301 redirected.
4. Map URLs and Redirects
URL mapping ensures that each old URL on your current site has a corresponding new URL on the migrated site. This is crucial for maintaining the SEO value that your old URLs have accumulated over time.
5. Review Design Changes
Website design can impact SEO in a number of ways, for example, the code used, the way the new webpages will be set up or the navigation. Make sure there is an SEO review of any design changes.
6. Validate Metadata
Ensure that all metadata, including title tags, meta descriptions and header tags have been updated as needed and are transferred correctly.
7. Check Schema Markup
Verify that any schema markup or structured data is correctly implemented on the new site. This helps search engines understand the content and context of your pages better. You can test structured data with these Google tools.
8. Review Robots Directives
Make sure that the robots.txt file is set up properly. Also ensure any noindex directives used in staging are removed before launch. Check out our beginner’s guide to robots.txt for more.
9. Create HTML Sitemap
Prepare a new HTML sitemap for website visitors to help navigate the site with ease.
10. Set Up Search Console
If it’s not already, make sure Search Console is set up for the website (and use the Change of Address tool as needed). Google has a handy getting started guide, too.
11. Review Analytics
Make sure that analytics tracking is set up properly. Here, it can be really useful to hire analytics specialists if none exist on the team. That’s because you want to set up tracking in a way that will help you see that you are reaching the various goals you have set for the website and the business.
12. Verify Content Transfers (on Staging)
Verify that all content has been transferred accurately. Perform a quality assurance check on the staging site to ensure content appears correctly and functions as expected. Check for formatting issues, missing images and broken links within the content. Verify that all multimedia, such as videos and interactive features, are working correctly.
13. Update and Validate Campaign URLs
Even with 301 redirects in place, review any URLs used in marketing campaigns and make sure they have the new URLs.
14. Test Site Performance and Speed (on Staging)
Test the load times of your new site to ensure it meets performance standards. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse with GTmetrix for additional diagnostics to identify and address any performance issues. Also ensure that your new site is fully responsive and works seamlessly across all devices and screen sizes.
15. Conduct Usability Testing
Conduct usability testing to ensure that your new site is intuitive and easy to navigate. Gather feedback from real users to identify any potential issues.
16. Back Up the Old Site
As insurance, you’ll want to make a backup of your site. Download all the images and any other assets so you have them stored just in case, and make a backup of your database if applicable.
Migration Execution
Now, it’s time to push the new site live. Here are some of the final steps in launching the site:
1. Configure Server Settings
Set up server configurations, including permissions, security settings and any necessary server-side scripts. Ensure your new server environment mirrors the staging environment to avoid unexpected issues.
2. Migrate Databases
Move your database to the new server, ensuring all data is intact and functional. Test the database connections to confirm that they work seamlessly with the new site.
3. Deploy New Site Files
Transfer your new site files to the live server. Ensure all necessary files, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images and other assets, are correctly uploaded.
4. Final QA Check
Conduct a final quality assurance review on the live environment before updating DNS to confirm that everything is working correctly. Get stakeholder sign-off.
5. Update DNS Settings (Push Site Live)
If your migration involves changing your domain or moving to a new server, you’ll need to update your DNS settings. Make these changes during low-traffic periods to minimize disruption and account for DNS propagation delays, which can take up to 24 to 48 hours globally.
Related: How do I avoid the most common pitfalls during migration execution?
Post-Launch Tasks
The site is live and it’s an exciting time. It’s also the final push to make sure everything went right. Many of the steps in this phase require a fast-paced effort among team members.
1. Test Again (Validate Pre-Migration Checklist)
Go through your pre-launch checklist and make sure that everything went off without a hitch.
2. Crawl the Website
Do another crawl of the website to surface any errors that may be coming up. Recommended tools include SEOToolSet’s site spider, Lumar and/or Screaming Frog.
3. Perform Google Search Console Tasks
Once the site is live, perform different tasks in Search Console. Upload your XML sitemaps and make use of other tools and features in GSC.
4. Test and Improve Page Speed
See how fast your webpages are by using the PageSpeed Insights tool or Google’s Core Web Vitals report.
5. Compare Performance Against Benchmarks (Days to Weeks After Launch)
Rerun the benchmark reports to determine if there was an improvement or decline on each of the metrics. Compare these with the pre-launch benchmark reports … How did you do?
6. Measure Ongoing Performance (Weeks to Months After Launch)
Things may be shaky for a while. Depending on the size of the site and the complexity of the migration, you will need to decide when you can start measuring true performance — which could be several months out. Look at things like rankings, traffic, user experience metrics and conversions. (And, of course, all the goals and reports set up in Google Analytics in the pre-launch phase.)
7. Create Post-Migration Content Strategy
There’s no doubt you will be adding more content over time. Now is the time to get clear on how you will approach adding new pages to the website, making sure that the SEO professional/team is involved in all of the new content plans. This ensures you keep the site organized, optimized and driving traffic.
Related: How do I ensure my website migration aligns with search engine best practices?
Advanced Migration Strategies
In this section, I’ll discuss strategies to help make the migration go smoothly.
Migrating Piece-by-Piece
In some cases, migrating an entire website in one go might be impractical due to its size, complexity or the need to minimize downtime. Migrating in chunks can be easier and reduce risks. Here are some tips to tackle that.
1. Plan the Move
Divide your site into manageable sections. This can be based on various criteria such as content type (for example, blog posts or product pages), site structure (for instance, subdomains or directories) or traffic levels (for example, low-traffic sections first).
2. Prioritize High-Impact Sections
After successfully migrating low-traffic sections, move to high-impact sections. Typically, these are high-traffic pages or pages crucial for SEO. Ensure these sections are meticulously planned and tested. Identify and prioritize sections that will have the most significant impact if not migrated correctly.
3. Create a Detailed Schedule
Develop a timeline for migrating each chunk. Ensure there’s enough time allocated for testing and resolving any issues before moving on to the next section.
4. Execute Section-by-Section
Begin the migration with the first chunk. Follow the standard migration steps for each section.
5. Implement Redirects Gradually
As each chunk is migrated, implement the necessary 301 redirects to ensure users and search engines are directed to the correct new URLs.
6. Monitor and Validate
After migrating each section, monitor the site’s performance and user feedback. Use tools like Google Analytics and Search Console to check for any issues.
7. Address Issues Before Proceeding
Resolve any problems that arise from the first piece of the site migration before moving on to the next chunk. This helps prevent compounded issues and ensures a smoother overall process.
Ensuring Minimal Disruption
Going live with a new site is exciting but also suspenseful — will everything go as planned? Follow these tips to help minimize disruption during a site migration:
1. Communicate with Stakeholders
Inform all stakeholders about the migration, including clients, team members and users, as needed. Provide clear timelines and what to expect during the migration period.
2. Schedule During Off-Peak Hours
Execute the migration during times of low traffic to minimize the impact on users. Weekends or late nights are often ideal for many types of sites.
3. Monitor Performance in Real-Time
Use monitoring tools to track site performance during and after the migration. Watch for any dips in traffic, server errors or other issues that might arise.
4. Maintain Access to the Old Site
Keep a version of the old site accessible for a short period post-migration. This allows you to revert quickly if critical issues are discovered.
5. SEO Checks Post-Migration
Immediately check that your SEO efforts, including meta tags, robots.txt, sitemaps and canonical tags, are correctly implemented on the new site. Use Google Search Console to monitor indexing status and any crawl errors.
Additional Tips for Success
If you want to ensure the best outcome in a site migration, consider the following:
- User testing: Have real users navigate the new site to identify usability issues that automated tests might miss.
- Error reporting: Set up robust error reporting to catch and address issues quickly. Many tools including Google Analytics and Search Console can alert you to problems in real time.
- Feedback loop: Establish a feedback loop with users and stakeholders to gather insights on any issues they encounter post-migration. This can help you make necessary adjustments quickly.
Following these steps and taking a proactive approach to testing, monitoring and troubleshooting ensures smoother site migration while preserving SEO value and ensuring a positive user experience.
Final Thoughts
A successful website migration is the result of careful execution. With the right processes in place before, during and after launch, you can minimize disruption, protect website performance and set your site up for long-term success in search.
Maintain your SEO goals during a migration:
Contact Us to Find Out How We Can Help!
Quick Solutions
FAQ: How Do I Retain SEO Equity During a Website Migration Without Losing Rankings?
To maintain SEO equity during a site move, you need an elaborate plan and precise execution.
To start, it’s important to do a full-scale audit of the existing website to determine the entirety of the site’s SEO implementation. With that information, you’ll have the blueprint you’ll need to preserve SEO when moving to a new site.
During the actual implementation, it’s important to ensure that you cover every page, put in place correct redirects and make sure that the website structure is search-friendly.
You need to test before and after the migration goes live. Before go-live, check for any potential errors. Post go-live, re-crawl the new website to verify if any SEO issues have been addressed.
Additionally, stay on top of your analytics and Search Console information, as that’s where you’re most likely to find any issues that could arise.
And don’t forget about website usability. The website needs to remain easy to use for mobile and desktop users (ideally, it should get even easier to navigate for both). This is key to maintaining your existing SEO power because users must be able to access the correct pages within a reasonable timeframe.
Finally, be sure to communicate clearly with all parties involved in, or impacted by, the migration. Keeping everything on track through regular communication helps everyone stay on top of the project.
Action Plan
- Audit your current website.
- Document all current metadata (i.e., title tags, descriptions, header tags).
- Identify all current content and document it.
- Document current URLs, noting which will have 301 redirects.
- Audit your current link building activities and document your current inbound link authority.
- Review your current website structure.
- Make your migration plan.
- Build out a staging website. Build the new website on your staging site.
- Migrate all current website content to the staging website.
- Audit your staging site for technical errors.
- Test that the metadata has been applied correctly.
- Test that all redirects work properly.
- Ensure that your website is fully responsive for mobile devices.
- Perform usability testing on a sample audience.
- Test page load speeds, and optimize accordingly.
- Confirm and freeze your staging site.
- Pick a low-traffic period for the launch.
- Launch and keep an eye on a smooth transition.
- Re-crawl the new site once live.
- Keep a watchful eye over your Google Analytics and Google Search Console for potential issues.
- Compare your metrics before the migration with what the metrics are after. Look to see what’s different.
- Address issues as quickly as you can after your migration is complete.
- Continue to optimize.
About Us
Bruce Clay Inc. has been doing SEO since 1996, and our experts offer you comprehensive SEO services, including site migrations, PPC services and content services in order to enhance visibility and measurable business gains. We strive to help companies with strategic search innovation. Find out more about Bruce Clay Inc. and what we’ve accomplished by visiting our About page.
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