Website migration best practices - Sukhjinder Singh - Brighton SEO - April 2022

Taking you through the fundamental best practices of migrating a website while retaining and improving upon current SEO performance.

My website: idoseo.co.uk

1. Website Migration Best Practices Sukhjinder Singh | Anicca Digital Slideshare.net/SukhjinderSingh35 @SukhSingh84
2. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO What is a site migration?
3. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO 1. Site architecture or URL change Home /dog-tops /cat-tops /dog-clothes /cat-clothes /tops-for-pets
4. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO 2. Content consolidation/pruning Dog Summer Outfits 2019 Low rank Slow loading Good content Cat Style Guide 2020 High rank High bounce Poor content
5. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO 2. Content consolidation/pruning Dog Summer Outfits 2019 Low rank Slow loading Good content Cat Style Guide 2020 High rank High bounce Poor content Pet Style Guide 2022 High rank Low bounce Great content
6. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO 3. Re-platforming (CMS)
7. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO 3. Re-platforming (CMS) FYI: 2021 Market shares: 3% 5% 2% 2% 2% 1% 64% https://kinsta.com/cms-market-share/
8. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO 4. Protocol change http://not-secure...
9. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO 4. Protocol change http://not-secure... https://secure.com
10. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO 5. Domain name change https://dog-tops.com
11. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO 5. Domain name change https://dog-tops.com https://pet-clobber.com
12. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO 5. Top-level domain name change https://pet-clobber.com https://pet-clobber.fr https://pet-clobber.de https://pet-clobber.co.uk
13. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO 6. Merging sites Website 1 Low rank Low DA Defunct brand Good content Website 2 High rank High DA Bad CMS Poor content
14. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Website 2 High rank High DA Bad CMS Bad content 6. Merging sites Website 1 Low rank Low DA Defunct brand Good content Website 1 High rank High DA New CMS Good content
15. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO What could go wrong?
16. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Less traffic, engagement or conversions
17. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Fewer indexed pages
18. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Less visibility/rankings
19. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Migrating your Website
20. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO The migration stages 1. Scoping and planning 2. Development and testing 3. Launch (live testing and changes)
21. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Scoping and Planning
22. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Consider why you are migrating? Low-Medium SEO impact • Look and theme • Site structure (not URLs) • Re-platforming (CMS) • Hosting provider
23. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Consider why you are migrating? Low-Medium SEO impact • Look and theme • Site structure (not URLs) • Re-platforming (CMS) • Hosting provider Medium-High SEO impact • Site structure (URLs) • HTTP protocol • Domain name • Merge sites • Content consolidation
24. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Define and measure success (KPIs) +CTR% +Keyword visibility +Traffic -Bounce rate +Conversion rates +Core Web Vitals Scores
25. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Benchmark performance
26. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Project planning & management Google Sheets/Excel
27. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Set realistic timelines We recommend 6 months to plan, develop, test, launch… How about 3 months?
28. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Project management tools Slack Trello MS Teams – ‘Tasks’
29. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Development and Testing
30. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Audit old & new site: Don’t migrate issues! Old site Core Vitals Dupe content New site Core Vitals Dupe content
31. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO SEO elements checklist https://bit.ly/anicca-tech-seo-checklist
32. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Do a content value audit Gather as much data as possible: 1. Impressions, CTR 2. Ranking keywords and pages 3. Traffic, engagement, conversions 4. Domain authority, backlinks, social signals 5. Indexation, tech/on-page issues, Core Web Vitals
33. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Use SEMrush ‘Content Audit’ https://www.semrush.com/blog/content-audit-for-content-marketing-strategy/
34. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Use Data Studio: blend data
35. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Improve, consolidate, or redirect
36. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Wireframe site structure
37. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Wireframe site structure & pages Miro.com Invisionapp.com
38. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Old content vs new templates What do SEOs use when fishing? Linkbait. What do SEOs use… ...when fishing? Linkbait….. sorry.
39. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Old content vs new templates Word Invisionapp.com
40. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO A/B testing https://optimize.google.com (free and paid) https://www.hotjar.com (trial and paid)
41. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Add tracking, CTAs and goals •Use the same ‘property’ with a new ‘beta view’ •Recreate/migrate micro and macro conversion points and goals
42. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Test: view source, Tag Assistant
43. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Test: Tag Manager ‘preview mode’
44. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Back-up your site (regularly!) Yes, I migrated the content Yes, I’m sure What blog?
45. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Back-up: manually using FTP https://filezilla-project.org/
46. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Back-up: cPanel
47. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Back-up: WP plugins https://updraftplus.com
48. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Launch and Live Testing
49. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Choose a good day & time •Early in the week •Use Google Analytics: ‘Users by time of day’ report
50. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Soft launch - Ideal •No announcement, no marketing •Allows you to test a live site •Ideal
51. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Incremental launch - Ideal •If cover multiple regions or have an enterprise site •Test and fix each section in stages •Ideal
52. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Test redirects Check: redirect loops, 404 errors, planned vs final URLs. =D2=F2
53. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Re-audit technical SEO issues https://www.deepcrawl.com/
54. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Test tracking ‘Real-Time’ report in Google Analytics
55. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO KPIs: Monitor 3-6 months+
56. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Summary
57. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Summary 1. Qualify why you are migrating 2. Define what success means (KPIs) 3. Plan and project-manage 4. Audit and resolve before and after launch 5. Monitor 3-6 months+ after launch https://bit.ly/anicca-tech-seo-checklist
58. All rights reserved 2022 @SukhSingh84 #BrightonSEO Disclaimer The materials set out in this document are concepts only (the “Concepts”) and, in addition to any rights vesting in Anicca Digital Limited (“Anicca”), may be the subject of existing third party intellectual property rights. If the client wishes to utilise any of the Concepts, it should notify Anicca in writing and Anicca will then put in place the appropriate intellectual property searches (the “Searches”). The use of the Concepts is therefore subject to the results of the Searches. Anicca shall not be liable for any damages, costs or losses whether direct or indirect (and including, without limitation, loss of profits, loss of business and loss of goodwill) arising out of any claim by any third party relating to the Concepts proposed by Anicca where the client uses a Concept: prior to Anicca confirming whether or not the Concept is subject to existing third party intellectual property rights; and/or in breach of existing third party intellectual property rights following the Searches. All Anicca rights to proposed technical, content and creative concepts belong to Anicca unless paid for by the client. Should the client subsequently use any concepts without payment to Anicca (unless agreed otherwise by both parties in writing), Anicca reserves the right to take action to recoup, without limitation, damages for breach of intellectual property rights and/or any lost costs associated with the development of such concepts from the client. Thank you Sukh@anicca.co.uk