#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
The SEO Guide to Migrate
International Websites
#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Migrations can be painful
#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Without proper SEO support Web migrations
in general can have painful traffic consequences
BEFORE AFTER

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
With proper SEO support Web migrations in general
can provide traffic growth opportunities…

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
… but will require what can be considered a painfully
detailed validation through the migration process
Pages Crawlability (HTTP Status, Robots.txt)
Content Indexability (Canonicalization, meta robots)
301-Redirects
SSL CertificatePages Content Relevance
Pages Internal linking
Pages Speed
x.com/old y.com/new
Home Page
Category Page
Sub-Category Page
Product Page
Main Blog Page
Blog Category Page
Blog post
For Each Page
Verify
XML Sitemaps
GSC Configuration

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
It’s painful no matter what
#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Migrations will increase in complexity based on the
required level of change depending on their type & goal
Different URLs,
Same Domain
Different Protocol,
Same Domain
Different Domain Name,
Same Type
Same URL
Redesign or CMS
migration while
keeping URL
structure
HTTPS Swaps
Product rebranding,
area renaming or
structural content
changes
Company
rebranding,
acquisition or Web
consolidation
Internal expansion
or consolidation
Different Domain
Name and Type

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
International Web migrations are those w/ a higher
complexity due to more areas & factors to be changed
Geolocalization
signals of Web
property
Geolocated
Link Popularity
Relevance
towards localized
search behavior
Internal expansion
or consolidation
Different Domain
Name and Type

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
They can end-up with painful traffic consequences
if these factors are not taken into consideration
ccTLD gTLD

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
It’s critical to make sure that you’re in an scenario that
requires an international migration to achieve your goal
To start targeting
international audiences
To decrease technical
complexity and management
To consolidate
international versions
1 2 3

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Since they’re not trivial to implement, their expected
goal should be aligned and relevant to achieve

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Especially if it’s to
expand your
international Web
presence in competitive
markets

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
It’s then also fundamental to assess and take into
consideration each scenario characteristics & changes
To start targeting
international audiences
.com/uk/.co.uk
To decrease technical
complexity and management
.com/uk/.co.uk
.com/us/
.com/fr/
.com/it/.it
.com/fr/.fr
To consolidate
international versions
.com/es/.es
.com/es/.mx
.com/es/.ar
1 2 3

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
The 1st scenario
happens when
the already
existing market
is targeted with
a ccTLD that
can’t be reused
to launch
another one
Don’t

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Option B
.co.uk
.com/us/
.com/fr/
Option A
.co.uk
.com
.fr
Option C
.com/uk/.co.uk
.com/us/
.com/fr/
This scenario has its own specific alternatives too
To start targeting international audiences
1

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Option A
.co.uk
.com
.fr
Avoiding the migration of the current site while
releasing independent domains for each new market
* Better to not lose current market status by avoid migrating the used ccTLD
* Better for higher geolocation by using ccTLDs for new markets
* Worse to grow overall link popularity faster with independent properties
* Not recommended when starting in competitive markets where having an
established link profile will be a higher advantage than using a ccTLD with no links
To start targeting international audiences
1

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
To start targeting international audiences
1
Avoiding the migration of the current site while
enabling a single gTLD w/ subdirectories
* Will also avoid losing any current market status by keeping the existing ccTLD
* Better to grow overall link popularity faster by starting to use a single gTLD with
geolocated subdirectories for additional markets
* Not recommended either when starting in competitive markets where having an
established link profile will be a higher advantage than using a ccTLD with no links
.co.uk
.com/us/
.com/fr/
Option B

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
To start targeting international audiences
1
Or migrating the current site to a gTLD to consolidate
all of the international versions
.com/uk/.co.uk
.com/us/
.com/fr/
Option C
* Will migrate the current ccTLD to a geolocalized subdirectory in a gTLD, so
might lose rankings for the current market in the short term
* Better to grow overall link popularity faster by starting to use a single
gTLD with geolocated subdirectories for all markets
* Recommended when starting in more competitive markets where having an
established link profile will be a higher advantage than using a ccTLD with
no links

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Another scenario
happens when
lowering costs
and management
with a single
geolocalized
gTLD instead of
dozens of ccTLDs

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Or when you identify
that the value of
targeting different
countries doesn’t
compensate as user
behavior is very similar
and you could instead
just target the
language

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
To start targeting
international audiences
.com/uk/.co.uk
To decrease technical
complexity and management
.com/uk/.co.uk
.com/us/
.com/fr/
.com/it/.it
.com/fr/.fr
To consolidate
international versions
.com/es/.es
.com/es/.mx
.com/es/.ar
1 2 3
Verify then first you’re in these or similar scenarios that
could be benefited by an international migration

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Besides the criteria for
each scenario is also key
to take further
international SEO
factors into
consideration…

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
The pros & cons of the international Web structure to be
replaced and the one to be used in each context
Yes
Country Language
Are your top
competitors
using ccTLDs?
Yes
Yes
USE
CCTLDS
No
No
USE GEOLOCALIZED
SUBDIRECTORIES
YesNo
USE
SUBDIRECTORIES
USE SUB-
DOMAINS
No
WHAT’S YOUR INTERNATIONAL TARGET?
Is the domain
authority of your
competition
higher?
Is the domain
authority of your
competition
higher?
Do you need
a flatter &
differentiated
structure?

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
The role of the Web structure geolocation and local link
popularity in target markets to be competitive
serpchecker.com

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
The country and language source and destination of your
existing links vs. your competitors in each target market
Cognitiveseo

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
The content to be kept & changed based on relevance
& localization for the old vs. new audience behavior

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
The different
geolocation signals
used by Google
that you should
also include and/or
modify
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/182192?hl=en&ref_topic=2370587

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @oraintihttps://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/182192?hl=en&ref_topic=2370587
The configurations
Google doesn’t
officially use and
you should also be
aware of

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
… and how Google
crawls
internationally, to
avoid unnecessary
blockage, redirects
or unsupported
configurations
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6144055?hl=en&ref_topic=2370587

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
All this will drive and prioritize the configuration and
validation in the international Web migration process
Pages Crawlability (HTTP Status, Robots.txt)
Content Indexability (Canonicalization, meta robots)
301-Redirects
SSL Certificate
Pages Content Relevance
Pages Internal linking
Pages Speed
x.co.uk/ y.com/uk/
Home Page
Category Page
Sub-Category Page
Product Page
Main Blog Page
Blog Category Page
Blog post
For Each Page
Verify
XML Sitemaps
GSC Configuration
Old vs. New Geolocation (GSC, hreflang)
Old vs. New content localization
Old vs. New link popularity for target market

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Without forgetting to identify any SEO aspects to both
keep and improve when doing the migration
Old New
Thin, Duplicate Content
Slow Speed
Hierarchical Navigation
Relevant Titles
Page specific, expanded Content
Fast Speed
Hierarchical Navigation
Relevant Titles
To Keep
To Improve
301-Redirects

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
How to do this easily?
#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Crawl all the affected URLs and
gather their SEO metrics to analyze
Deepcrawl

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Identify orphaned pages, to avoid missing any
important URLs that you need to migrate
Deepcrawl

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Obtain the traffic and ranked queries for
which these pages are ranking
URLProfiler

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
So you can easily consolidate all the information of the
top pages to be prioritised in the Web migration
Top Pages Technical Configuration Relevance Popularity Traffic Ranked Queries

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
To assess well if they should be kept or not, and where
they should be 301-redirected in the new location

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Establishing what to keep or to improve in the technical,
content and geolocation status of the old vs new URLs
Old Pages Titles, Descriptions & H1s New Pages Titles, Descriptions & H1s

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
As well as defining pages that might need to be created
to keep certain rankings based on the scenario
Old Pages
New Pages
Legacy Pages
Old Localized
Queries
Transactional
Queries and
New Localized
Queries
Transactional
Queries and
Old Localized
Queries

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Once the changes are defined, release them
to validate in a closed test environment
Deepcrawl, Sitbulb, Screaming Frog, Ryte, Botify, OnCrawl

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Validate the changes by manually comparing first the
top old vs. new types of pages in the test environment
Pages Crawlability (HTTP Status, Robots.txt)
Content Indexability (Canonicalization, meta robots)
301-Redirects
SSL Certificate
Pages Content Relevance
Pages Internal linking
Pages Speed
test.x.co.uk/ test.y.com/uk/
Home Page
Category Page
Sub-Category Page
Product Page
Main Blog Page
Blog Category Page
Blog post
For Each Page
Verify
XML Sitemaps
GSC Configuration
Old vs. New Geolocation (GSC, hreflang)
Old vs. New content localization
Old vs. New link popularity for target market

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
List crawl the old URLs to check if the 301-redirects have
been set as specified & go to the relevant new locations
Deepcrawl, Sitbulb, Screaming Frog, Ryte, Botify, OnCrawl

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Do a full audit of the new Web destination in test to
check if the pages are completely optimised as expected
Deepcrawl, Sitbulb, Screaming Frog, Ryte, Botify, OnCrawl

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Pay specific attention here to the canonicalization and
hreflang annotations configuration
Deepcrawl, Sitbulb, Screaming Frog, Ryte, Botify, OnCrawl

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Remember to set analytics & search console for the new
international properties before releasing too

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Once that is all set you’re ready to launch
and test again on the live sites

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Prioritise to fix high-traffic pages w/ 301-redirects going
to wrong or non-indexable pages and redirects chains

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Crawl the new web location and make sure is not only
accessible but optimised as recommended

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Look for pages that are blocked, no-indexed, linking,
canonicalising or referring in hreflang tags to old URLs

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Once fixed, you
can submit your
new URLs
& XML sitemaps
to be re-crawled

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
For domains level migrations, submit it too through
the Google’s change of address option

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Use a Web monitoring service to send alerts if there are
changes in the new pages SEO related configurations
Little Warden, ContentKing

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Use the new Search Console “Index Coverage” to
monitor the new vs. old indexing URLs evolution

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Monitor & compare the new vs. old locations main
ranked queries & pages, as well as SERP features
Little Warden, ContentKing
Last 28 Days
15 Days Before and After the Migration
new website locationold website location

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Check the trend of your top queries for the target
markets, organising them in groups to facilitate analysis
SEOmonitor

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
Track your old & new sites vs. your competitors to check
your visibility share before and after the migration
SEOmonitor

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
If for some reason the evolution is not the expected one,
identify the non-performing pages to audit them again
SEOmonitor
New site has not completely regained top 3 rankings
Searchmetrics

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
It’s about aligning SEO through the international
migration while focusing to achieve the expected goal
Pages Crawlability (HTTP Status, Robots.txt)
Content Indexability (Canonicalization, meta robots)
301-Redirects
SSL Certificate
Pages Content Relevance
Pages Internal linking
Pages Speed
x.co.uk/ y.com/uk/
Home Page
Category Page
Sub-Category Page
Product Page
Main Blog Page
Blog Category Page
Blog post
For Each Page
Verify
XML Sitemaps
GSC Configuration
Old vs. New Geolocation (GSC, hreflang)
Old vs. New content localization
Old vs. New link popularity for target market

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
It’s a lot. Yeah…
#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
But by following these steps you can effectively migrate
your international Websites towards growth
ccTLD gTLD

#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti
*SEO Consultant & Founder at Orainti
*SEO Speaker at +100 Events in +20 countries
*Author “SEO. Las Claves Esenciales.”
*Blogger in Search Engine Land & Search Engine Journal
*Featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post
*European Search Personality of the Year in 2018
Thanks
#internationalmigrations at #IntSSBCN by @aleyda from @orainti