7 Reasons Why EcommerceSEO Migrations Fail

Marston GouldOctober 22, 2015

Websites Frequently Changing e-Commerce Platforms

• While exact numbers are hard to come by….based on data from Builtwith.com, between 10-15% of all e-

commerce sites are changing their platform out every year.

• As one would expect, larger enterprises in the IR-1000 change out less frequently, but still at a steady clip of

5-10%

Source: Builtwith.com

Most SEO Migrations Follow Best Practices

• Password protect / IP block test environment during development• Crawl legacy website using tools like Screaming Frog• Gather up URLs, sorted by HTTP status code• Analyze URLs in tools like Open Site Explore or Ahrefs for valuable

backlinks• Extract organic position, impression and click data from Google,

Bing• Create 301 Redirects from old to new URLs• Replace legacy 301 with direct target redirects• Redirect 404 product pages to categories, redirect 404 category

pages to home page

Most SEO Migrations Follow Best Practices

• Clean up 302 redirects that are permanent by making them 301• Canonicalize each page either to itself or if duplicate, to the

representative page• Add a friendly custom 404 page to send users back to appropriate site

section• Create XML and HTML sitemaps. Only include pages with HTTPs status

code of 200 and that are canonicalized to their own URL. Use a sitemap index for particularly large sites.• Add a robots.txt file and specify the location of the sitemap• Update sitemap in Search Console and Webmaster Tools• Run a Website Fetch

SEO Failure

#1 Avoid Poor 301 Redirection Performance• Set up redirection on your server vs. CMS

CMS based redirection is limited by the round-trip times between CMS/Server. With lots of 301s, lots of round-trips required. Set up htaaccess file on the server and let it do the work without CMS.

• Use regex to create pattern matching rules

Fewer rules means faster redirection. By using regular expressions, one rule can manage multiple redirections.

#2Avoid Duplicate Content From Query Parameters in URLs• Indicate Search Engine URL Parameter Handling

Most ecommerce platforms allow for search, sort and filteringThese often create URL appended query strings that are then indexedSearch engine challenge is then to determine what page to showURLs with query strings have lower CTR in search engines

Add parameter handling in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools

#3 Avoid Page Speed Declines• Root cause changes in page speed declines

Use of non-optimized imagesRender blocking JS/CSSNon-minified HTML/JS/CSSLack of browser cachingLack of gzip compressionKeep-alive not enabled

#4 Avoid Detrimental Changes to Internal Link Structure• Too Many Links

End users will thank you for not providing them with scores or hundreds of links to choose from.

Link overload reduces likelihood of contextual assessment between pages

• Create Links From High to Low authority

When keyword is ranking on too many URLs, consider linking lower quality associations to better, be mindful of linking too many low authority to high authority pages and creating duplicate, exact match anchor text

#5 Avoid Detrimental Changes in Keyword Prominence• Compare/contrast keyword rank before/after launch

Know what URLs are receiving impressions for what keywords and look for changes. Prioritize analysis based on potential impression/click gains

• Diagnose keyword / keyword theme changes

Look for changes in use of term/theme in page titles, headings, list items, alt tags, image captions, file names, anchor text, styled keywords (bold, italics, oversized) and usage early in body – compare with legacy and top competitors

#6 Monitor changes in Bounce Rate/Time on Site• Users will be the best canary in coalmine…

If you rule out page speed issues first and bounce rate, time on site are headed in wrong direction, make sure your website usability hasn’t been degraded.

Does page work well with mobile? In different browsers?Are CTAs below the fold? Are interactive elements functioning?Conduct usability and A/B tests to find root cause

#7 Failing To Have Content Plan• Old Content and Backlinks are Good

But you need to continue to create and distribute content.

1) Define core audience2) Document their purchase decision cycle3) Create content that educates – help them move from browsing, purchase consideration to buyer.4) Don’t assume that creating content will create interest. Format and publish your content appropriately for your audience.

Recommended Tools• Crawling & Sitemap creation• Screaming Frog, Deep Crawl

• Backlinks• Open Site Explorer, Ahrefs

• Page Speed tests• Google, Pingdom, GTMatrix, Varvy

• Keyword/URL analysis• URL Profiler, Moz On Page Grader, Ranks.nl

• Google Analytics

Explore Consulting provides Netsuite e-commerce, ERP, CRM, POS custom development and integration and Digital Marketing and SEO services targeted to e-commerce companies