Website migrations are common, but not easy. Migrating your site, whether to a new server, domain, or host, requires significant planning, time, and resources. Messing with a website migration can destroy your company's traffic and revenue overnight.
What is meant by website migration
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A website migration describes any event that changes the website significantly so that it can affect the website's appearance in search results. Examples of these events include moving the website to a new domain, updating the structure and design of the website, or adding new content to the website.
Why does website migration affect search results
Migrating your website can affect your visibility in search results because of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SEO is a strategy that improves your visibility (or position) in search results by optimizing your website Your website for search engines and users, such as: creating a fast, mobile-friendly website.
When you make a drastic change to your website, such as moving it to a new domain name, it can affect how search engines see your site, as if they can't see the connection between the old and new domain name, like redirects, it can lead to It could harm your ranking in search results.
If you have a lower ranking, that translates to less traffic, and since the first five results earn (68%) of all clicks, businesses need to maintain a high ranking in search results, otherwise, you won't get traffic, leads, or Sales, which is why businesses need to take website migration seriously and make a plan for it.
Why do you need to invest in a website migration
A website migration makes sense if your business wants to:
Updating the structure, navigation, or design of your site.
Adoption of a new Content Management System (CMS).
Your website's transition from ( HTTP to HTTPS )
Move to a new server.
Move your site to a different domain name.
In most cases, it makes sense for your company to continue with the website migration, even though it is a large project, where a new web design, secure website or domain name on branding can have an impact on the success of your online business, Website Migration Plan is essential to the success of the company; Since if you skip creating a plan, you risk more than one failed migration you risk traffic, leads, and revenue.
Even if you have the most experienced team, you want to define your strategy and follow a website migration checklist to ensure your success, migrations come with many moving parts and team members, and you need them to line up perfectly, if you skip creating a plan, you risk more than one migration Failing, you risk traffic , leads, and revenue.
Reasons why website migrations fail
When it comes to migrating websites, most of them fail for avoidable reasons, which include:
Zero planning: Many companies go into site migration with no intention of creating a website migration plan, they want to move to a new CMS , so they go ahead and move to a new CMS, without looking for best practices for this step.
Bad strategy: While some companies go through with their website migration plan, they fail to invest enough time in developing their strategy, and when that happens, they get a poor strategy that puts your site at risk.
(SEO) Not Found: Website Migration Requires SEO , Whether you're working with an SEO consultant, agency or in-house SEO team, you need to get their advice when it comes to site migration, and their recommendations ensure you don't miss out Your business for visits, leads, or profits in the long run.
Missing Resources: Unfortunately, some companies do not allocate the resources needed to plan a successful website migration, for example, the department that handles migration may not have enough funding to hire an SEO consultant or work with a website design agency that specializes in SEO .
Poor testing and follow-up: Companies that skip their website migration plan will forget to test and follow up, for example, they may not check if a chain of redirects have been successful or may fail to find errors, as in the case of a new navigation or site design.
What is the benefit of a website migration plan
You can avoid all these pitfalls by creating a website migration plan, which:
Help create a schedule.
He managed to brainstorm the strategy.
Give a record of potential challenges.
Help set a budget.
Help estimate needed resources, and more.