Avoiding SEO Migration Hell - Best Practices for a Seamless Transition
Lately, the buzz around SEO migrations has been louder than ever. Businesses are finally starting to understand that having SEO expertise on board during a website launch or rebrand is crucial for success.
At Reflect Digital, we've seen a significant increase in SEO migration requests, and with the number of migrations now under our belt, we've become rather good at them.
Looking at Google Trends data, we can see that this isn’t just our own interpretation of SEO migrations being requested more often - but that people are actively searching for information about the topic more often, too.
The data below is for the “seo migration” query worldwide over time.
Increased Awareness But Late Involvement
While seemingly more people are aware that SEO is a must during a new site launch, we often find ourselves invited to the party a bit late - or worse yet, after the party’s over.
Involving SEO too late can lead to missed opportunities and rushed implementations. On the other hand, early integration allows for proactive planning, thorough testing, and smoother execution, reducing the risk of post-launch issues and maximizing the potential for a successful transition.
SEO Migration Timelines & Expectations
Getting the timings right is critical to a migration going well, and those involved in the project need to be made aware early on of what’s involved in an SEO migration and how long it might take.
Take away the smoke, mirrors, and complicated language, and make it easy for your team or client to understand. Explain to them in plain English what’s required and how long it will take, and make sure to stress the point that if it isn’t taken seriously, it isn’t going to work.
Early SEO Involvement & Being SEO-First
Following on from the above point, for a successful migration, SEO professionals need to be involved early on.
This early involvement allows SEO experts to influence key decisions - such as website architecture, URL structure, and content strategy - ensuring that SEO best practices are integrated from the start.
Early SEO input can help identify potential issues before they become major problems, optimize the site for search engines from day one, and ensure that all page design elements align with the overall SEO strategy.
Make it standard practice for your SEO team to review the existing website architecture and have their say on what it should look like before the design and development team gets involved.
Have the SEO team present their findings to the wider team so that SEO factors can be considered during the build rather than being an afterthought.
Defining Roles and Responsibilities
Make sure to clarify who is responsible for which jobs during the migration. There will likely be content to upload, metadata to change, redirects to map, and much more. Clear roles and responsibilities mean that everyone knows their part and can work together effectively.
There’s nothing worse than getting halfway through a project and realizing that no one has been assigned the role of content uploading. Effective collaboration and communication among all team members is essential for a successful migration, meaning your project can run smoothly and on time.
Duration of the Migration Process
It's vital to outline how long the SEO migration will take and explain the need to be thorough with your testing. Without timelines, project management teams won’t understand how much involvement SEO truly needs and how to work it in with their plans accordingly.
At Reflect Digital we typically have two rounds of pre-launch testing, allowing for better control and risk minimisation during a site launch.
Broken down, this looks like:
Pre-Launch Test 1: (Typically taking around one week)
Testing for missing content/pages, particularly pages that rank well or that drive traffic. (Make sure to have Analytics and Search Console data to hand to be able to determine what pages should be brought across to the new site)
Testing for critical technical issues such as missing or broken canonical tags, hreflang issues, indexability problems, and broken links.
Missing or poor quality metadata, in particular where ranking pages have had metadata changed or not transferred from what was there previously.
These types of high-priority issues should be ironed out by the project team. So, as per the previous point, make sure to ensure roles and responsibilities are in place so that nothing surprises anyone.
Pre-Launch Test 2: (Typically taking another week)
A final ‘sign off’ test. In theory, all of the issues identified in the first test should now have been addressed.
But, if any issues are found, don’t be afraid to push back and refuse to give a The data below is for the “seo migration” query worldwide over time.sign-off!
With the above as a basic structure of activities, we should pick up on major and minor issues, meaning that we end up with a perfect website before launch.
Launch Timing
Choosing the right time to launch is critical to success. In particular, avoid launching during peak business periods or when key staff members are unavailable. Also consider external factors, such as holidays or industry events, that might impact traffic or the availability of resources.
Even the best migrations see a short period of traffic loss, so make sure to time this according to your quietest times of year for minimal business impact.
And crucially, don’t rush the launch - if your SEO team says the site isn’t ready, don’t risk it.
Post-Launch Preparedness
After the site goes live, it's essential to have a team ready to address any urgent issues that may arise.
This includes monitoring site performance, quickly fixing errors, and making necessary adjustments to ensure the site performs optimally. Set up monitoring tools to track site metrics (such as traffic, rankings, and site speed) and establish a protocol for addressing issues promptly. Have a clear communication plan in place to keep all stakeholders informed about the site's performance and any necessary actions.
Even with the best plans in place, we’re humans and sometimes we miss things or unexpected things happen. Don’t pop the champagne just yet; be ready with your team to make changes quickly if need be.
SEO Migration Risks
Consequences of Neglecting SEO
Ignoring SEO during a migration can lead to significant drops in traffic, rankings, and revenue. It's vital to take SEO seriously and allocate the necessary resources and attention to the process to avoid these negative outcomes. A poorly executed migration can result in lost SEO visibility, reduced user engagement, and ultimately, lower sales and conversions. The impact of neglecting SEO can be long-lasting, requiring substantial effort to recover lost ground.
In some of the worst examples, we’ve seen traffic declines of up to 50% where a migration did not consider SEO during a website re-launch.
Here’s a real-life example of when SEO advice was ignored during a website migration:
Traffic Drop Expectations
Different types of migrations, such as name changes, domain changes, subfolder restructures, rebrands, and reskins, can all impact traffic - some more negatively than others. For example, a brand name change is not just an SEO change, and it will take some time for customers to understand (and start searching for) your new name.
Setting realistic expectations about potential traffic drops and the recovery timeline is essential for managing stakeholder expectations.
Use historical data and industry benchmarks to forecast potential traffic changes and communicate these projections clearly to stakeholders. Plan for monitoring and analysis post-launch to track performance and make necessary data-driven adjustments.
Even in the best migrations, traffic declines in the short period are usually witnessed - we typically quote a figure of a 10% traffic decline in the first 30 days. However, this narrative often doesn’t go back to stakeholders, who expect a new site to drive more traffic and leads immediately.
Stakeholder Buy-In
Getting stakeholders on board is, therefore, crucial. They need to understand the importance of SEO in the migration process and support the necessary steps to ensure success. Reiterating the consequences of neglecting SEO can help secure their buy-in - talk about the negative impact on performance if your SEO work is not taken seriously.
Provide case studies and examples of successful (and unsuccessful) migrations to illustrate the potential benefits and risks. Engage stakeholders early in the process and keep them informed with regular updates and progress reports.
Implementation of Critical Elements
Comprehensive Technical SEO Checklist
A detailed checklist for every SEO consideration ensures nothing is missed during the migration. This checklist should cover all aspects of technical SEO. Include items such as site architecture, URL structure, meta tags, headers, image optimisation, internal linking, and mobile-friendliness.
Treat the new website as an opportunity to perform a full SEO technical audit - it’s not just the transition of content that’s important, it’s the technical aspects too. If you’re not sure what technical SEO items to look at, then speak to a tech SEO specialist to get it right the first time.
Content Auditing
Make sure that everyone understands what content is being brought across to the new website early in the process and why. It’s very common that people take a new website as a chance to have a ‘clear out’ and remove old content. Sometimes this can be due to a genuine need to slim down the website and remove content bloat, but other times it can simply be due to lack of time or resources.
Either way, before you decide whether to bring content to the new website, perform a thorough content audit. Bring in data from your analytics platforms and Google Search Console to understand what pages are performing well for you. Remember also to bring in backlink data as well; sometimes, your legacy content can have brilliant backlinks that you’ll want to maintain.
Bear in mind that removing content based on low traffic (or no traffic) is a performance risk, too. Consider a situation where your website might have 10+ years of expertise writing about a specific topic. If you suddenly remove that archive of content, it becomes difficult for a search engine to understand that you actually do have 10+ years of experience and are truly an expert about the topic.
Contextual relevance is important; if your website often writes about a certain topic and you have excellent rankings about that topic, it would be foolish to not transfer across every piece of content related to that topic, even if it doesn’t receive traffic anymore.
Thorough Redirect Mapping
And finally, creating a comprehensive redirect map is essential. Every URL, whether it’s on the site, in the sitemap, in Search Console, in Google Analytics, or identified through tools like SEMrush, should be mapped to its new location. This thoroughness helps maintain traffic and minimise disruptions. Use automated tools to generate a list of all existing URLs and their corresponding new URLs.
Test redirects thoroughly on the staging environment to ensure they work correctly and do not result in errors or broken links. A well-executed redirect strategy can not only help preserve search rankings but to provide an excellent benefit to user experience during the transition too.
Don’t forget also to transfer redirects existing within the current CMS. Otherwise, those historic redirects will drop off once the new site goes live.
SEO Migration Reporting
Pre-Launch Performance Snapshot
Taking a snapshot of performance metrics before the launch is crucial for monitoring your success.
Ensuring that keyword tracking is in place allows for accurate reporting on pre-migration keyword positions and helps in measuring the success of the migration. Make sure to track important traffic-driving and lead-generating keywords, as these can be early indicators of how successful the migration has been.
Document key metrics such as organic traffic, keyword rankings, conversion rates, and user engagement. This baseline will serve as a reference point for post-migration performance analysis.
Automated Performance Dashboard
Setting up an automated performance dashboard for the client or for stakeholders can save time and effort in the long run. This allows performance to be monitored daily or weekly without needing frequent updates from you, ensuring they stay informed and reducing manual reporting work. Use tools like Google Data Studio, Tableau, or other analytics platforms to create customizable dashboards.
Include those key metrics mentioned above (organic traffic and leads/revenue, keyword rankings, user engagement and conversion rates) and visualizations that provide a clear overview of site performance.
Weekly Post-Launch Calls
Establishing regular post-launch calls to discuss important changes and performance helps maintain open communication. These calls can also reinforce the expectation of traffic and ranking fluctuations and provide an opportunity to address any issues promptly. If you’ve been honest about the likelihood of traffic declines after migration, these post-launch calls will be significantly easier for you, whereas if expectations are high it might be challenging.
Be ready to inform team members where things need to be acted on quickly; if you’re seeing traffic declines or keyword drops, you must act quickly to turn things around. This type of check-in ensures accountability and the opportunity to get alignment on where improvements can be made.
Reliable Traffic Comparison
New launches often involve changes to Google Analytics tracking, which can lead to inconsistencies in data. Be prepared to challenge data and discuss it openly if tracking feels wrong - otherwise, stakeholders will compare new data to old data and expect like-for-like comparisons.
As an alternative, Google Search Console data is straightTraffic Drop Expectations from the source, outside of any tracking or cookie issues, so it can become a more stable reference point in terms of traffic data.
Review Google Search Console data regularly to monitor site performance, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions. Cross-reference this data with other analytics tools to comprehensively understand site performance.
Celebrating Migration Successes
If the migration results in minimal or no traffic decline, it’s essential to highlight this as a success! Remember that setting expectations early is key to ensuring this positive outcome is communicated to key stakeholders. New sites might mean improved performance in the long term, but it’s important for everyone to understand that traffic and rankings may experience short-term fluctuations.
By addressing the typical expectations of traffic drops and showing how you avoided them, you showcase the strength of your planning and execution, reinforcing your expertise. Make sure to explain the success in clear, simple terms, so even non-SEOs can understand why the project was successful. At the same time, don’t hesitate to detail just how much work went into the migration.
If the migration didn’t go as smoothly, it’s equally important to communicate this with the broader team. Explain the challenges that arose and how they can be resolved the next time. This helps the team learn from the experience and provides valuable documentation and a case study for your next migration.
Key Takeaways
A successful SEO migration requires early involvement in the project and must be taken seriously by all key stakeholders. Without both of these ticked off, the chance of SEO downfall is much higher.
Ensure there’s clear communication with everyone involved in the project and a complete understanding that traffic is more likely to decline rather than increase (in the short term), mainly if SEO is not listened to!
Be thorough with your content auditing and technical SEO analysis, don’t leave any stone unturned, and be prepared to push back if the site isn’t ready (from an SEO perspective) to go live.
By following the outlined steps and emphasizing the importance of SEO throughout the process, you can ensure a successful migration that maintains or even improves site performance.
Early involvement, detailed planning, effective communication, and continuous monitoring and adjustment are key to a successful migration. With these elements in place, you can successfully navigate the complexities of SEO migrations and achieve outstanding results for your site or your clients.
Remember that even a 0% traffic decline can be a success if your messaging about ‘protecting traffic’ has been listened to.
So, with all of the above in mind, when your next migration goes smoothly, remember to shout about your successes and make people aware that all the hard work has been worthwhile!
Article by
Andy Mollison
Andy Mollison is Head of SEO at Reflect Digital, a performance marketing agency that specialises in combining behavioural science with the art of marketing. Andy specialises in helping to explain SEO decisions in plain English, so that even a non-SEO can understand what needs to happen (and why..!) in order to see success. With over 15 years of SEO experience, Andy has worked agency-side, in-house, run his own businesses, and has also been a main stage speaker at BrightonSEO.
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