Migrating a website can be an intimidating prospect. Whether you’re changing domains, switching to a new CMS, upgrading your site’s infrastructure, or doing a full rebrand, it’s crucial to handle the migration carefully to keep site traffic dips and SEO rankings disruptions to a minimum. However, you can keep your stress levels low if you approach every step of the migration methodically, and double-check everything as you go.
The Planning and Strategy Stage
Your objectives will serve as a guide for the migration process. Are you aiming to increase site speed? Update the underlying technology? Overhaul the front end? All of the above? Create a step-by-step plan with your team, making sure everyone understands which aspects of the migration they will be responsible for, as well as the designated timelines for each deliverable, so there are no surprises in terms of team expectations.
The Backup and Testing Stage
The importance of a complete backup of your current website cannot be overstated. While you may get lucky and have a seamless migration experience with no glitches, you don’t want to be caught out if something happens and you need that safety net. Meanwhile, your staging environment will provide a safe and private place to test the new version of your site away from public eyes, and to identify any potential issues without the problems affecting the live version of your website.
During this stage you’ll also want to keep an eye on certain logistical and technical considerations, such as your new URL structure (if applicable) and your 301 redirects. This is also a perfect time to get rid of any obsolete content, and check for and fix broken links. This stage of the process can be tedious, but it’s important to keep search engines happy and preserve the SEO value of your site as much as possible.
The Monitoring and Problem-Solving Stage
After the new site goes live, it’s time to watch it like a hawk and react quickly to any issues. This is definitely the most nerve-wracking stage, because of course you’re hoping for no downtime, as few technical problems as possible, and minimal SEO fluctuations. However, migrations can be tricky no matter how well you’ve prepared, so it’s always good to let your visitors know ahead of time that the migration is coming, and that there might be some hiccups as you get the new site up and running.
Of course, if you’d rather not deal with any of this and would prefer a professional team to handle it for you, we’ve got you covered. Contact us for a free consultation — we’ll look at your current website, take your goals into account, and make a migration plan that will cause the least amount of stress and disruption for your business.
COGO Interactive is an award-winning digital marketing agency specializing in online marketing strategy, web design, SEO and social media marketing. We work with clients in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC and across the nation.
