Website migration can be an intimidating process and one that can be all too easy to get wrong. But when done correctly, it can have a major benefit for your website’s SEO value.
Let’s look at some of the best strategies to ensure a smooth migration and maximize the SEO value of your website.
Start With an Audit
Before you start the actual migration process, you should begin with a thorough audit of your existing website. This audit should focus on technical elements such as URL structure, internal linking, and any potential redirects or broken links.
An SEO audit begins by assessing the overall health of your website. This includes things like page loading speed, mobile readiness, security protocols, and more.
The goal here is to identify any issues that could negatively impact your search engine rankings or user experience. It also involves looking at how well your content is optimized for search engines.
That means ensuring that headlines and descriptions are keyword-rich, as well as checking for broken links and other potential issues.
You can check Fortis Media free SEO audit and they can also help you with your website migration.
Update Your Content
When migrating a website, it’s important to make sure all existing content is updated with the fresh copy as well as relevant images and videos (if applicable). Doing this will not only help keep visitors engaged with fresh content but also give search engines more reasons to index your new pages over time.
In addition, updating existing content gives you an opportunity to optimize it for better SEO performance by adding keywords where appropriate or reorganizing paragraphs for better readability.
Mapping and Redirection Strategies
One of the most important components of successful website migration is mapping and redirection. This involves making sure that all old URLs point to the correct new URLs on the new site. You’ll also want to make sure that any old pages are redirected properly so visitors don’t end up getting 404 Not Found errors when they try to access them.
This is an especially important step if you plan on changing domains or restructuring your site’s navigation menu. When done correctly, mapping and redirection can help preserve your hard-earned SEO rankings.
Create a Set of Migration Guidelines
Once you’ve completed your audit, create a set of guidelines for how you want to migrate your website. This should include things like where content will be migrated from and to, how URLs will be structured, how redirects will be handled, and how any existing link equity will be preserved.
This document should serve as a roadmap for the entire migration process so everyone involved knows what needs to be done and when it needs to be done.
Monitor Rankings After Migration
Finally, once your website has been migrated, keep an eye on its rankings in search results over time. Monitor both organic search traffic and rankings as well as paid search traffic and rankings in order to ensure that they are not negatively impacted by the migration process.
If they do experience a dip in performance due to errors made during the migration process or other unforeseen factors, then you may need to take corrective action in order to improve them again. Monitoring post-migration performance helps ensure that you won’t miss out on any potential SEO opportunities due to issues caused by website migration.
Final Thoughts
Website migrations are never easy processes but taking proactive steps can help make them smoother while also maximizing their SEO value for your business’s website. Start with an audit before creating a set of guidelines for the actual move itself and make sure to monitor rankings afterward so you can quickly address any issues that arise from it.
By following these steps when migrating your website CMO’s can rest assured knowing their digital presence is optimized for success without risking damaging their SEO efforts in the long run.