In-house technical SEO expert, Nick Steele, talks about managing a successful website migration and SEO preservation.

1. @SagittariusMktg@SagittariusMktgNickSteele-SEOConsultant @SagittariusMktg

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what do we mean by site migration?

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http to https
domain name change
site upgrades and updates
full new site launch
any change to a site’s urls.

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in some ways nothing
maintain the status quo
maintain rankings
keep traffic levels consistent
ensure conversions/ecommerce goals continue to be met
any SEO gains from an improved site will come later
what do we hope to achieve?

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at the beginning
SEO should be part of the planning process from day 1
not two days before go live
definitely not after go live!
where to start.

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understand what works well
identify the most important landing pages
what are the most important search terms
start with your current site.

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are there pages to target the important terms
do the previous landing pages have a new equivalent
is the structure logical
are key pages close to the top of the tree
new site structure.

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Home
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Web
Design
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Us
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Sitecore
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we do

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Home
SEO
Web
Design
About
Us
Blog Contact
CRO
Sitecore
Umbracco
Digital
Marketing
PPC

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even if the structure is remaining the same, changes to the design
can have an impact
reduced content – less text more images
design.

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will it have the flexibility to edit aspects such as meta data
cms.

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see the new site as it is developed
monitor for potential issues
make sure it is blocked to search engines
staging sites.

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keep nagging!

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nearer the time.

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every single page will need to be redirected to the new site
may include historical pages that no longer even exist
chance to eliminate redirect chains
redirects.

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crawl the existing site
tools such as screaming frog – free up to 500 pages
don’t rely on just clicking through the site
create excel spreadsheet
will probably need access to staging site
redirects.

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each page needs to go to the most relevant page
try to avoid just redirecting to the home page
can be a time consuming process
developers will able to implement in bulk
redirects.

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301 permanent
302 temporary
301 or 302

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pause ppc campaigns
avoid sending marketing emails
on the day.

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test redirects
site:www.domain.com in google
update goals and events in analytics
annotate in analytics
Update Google Search Console
once the new site is live.

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update third party links such as social media
Internal links within content
once the new site is live.

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launch at a quiet time of year
PR – your new site is news
other tips.

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Nick Steele
Digital Marketing Consultant
nick.steele@sagittarius.agency
questions?