SEO website migration involves major changes to a website's structure, content, design, or platform while maintaining or improving SEO performance. It's crucial to prevent loss in organic search visibility and traffic. This includes careful planning and execution to manage changes like URL structure, domain name, site redesign, or moving to a new CMS.
Key steps include:
To minimise risks, it's crucial to:
SEO website migration involves transferring a website from one environment to another (e.g., domain, hosting, platform) while preserving its search engine rankings. It is important because, if not handled correctly, a migration can lead to a significant drop in search traffic, broken links, and loss of rankings, affecting overall visibility.
Recovery time varies depending on the scale of the migration and how well it was managed. It can take a few weeks to a few months to fully recover SEO rankings. Continuous monitoring and optimisation are essential during this period.
Common pitfalls include:
- Failing to set up proper 301 redirects leads to broken links and loss of link equity.
- Neglecting to update the XML sitemap and submit it to search engines.
- Ignoring the need for thorough testing in a staging environment.
- Overlooking the importance of monitoring and adjusting after the migration is complete.
- Making drastic changes to site content or structure during the migration can confuse search engines and users.