avoiding a website migration disaster
TRANSCRIPT
How to avoid a site migration disaster Jon Earnshaw@jonearnshaw @PiDatametricswww.pi-datametrics.com
September 2016
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Potentially one of the most dangerous online marketing adventures
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Platform Migration - unnamed website loses all organic visibility
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A high street bank - appears to suffer a loss of visibility
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Organic VisibilityAfter 15 days
28% visibility loss
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Organic VisibilityAfter 75 days
35% visibility loss
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Pre MigrationVisibility Index - grouping the terms together
Original TLD
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Pre and Post MigrationVisibility Index - grouping the terms together
Original TLD
New TLD
Never quite recovered from
the loss
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And this is where the rumours start!
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1. Involve SEO from the start2. Redirects and mapping3. Utilise DATA4. Make sure there’s an owner5. Keep the stage from getting out
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● Project resources and scope normally set very, very early on
● Involve SEO in scoping and planning to build SEO in at all appropriate touch points
● This person MUST be experienced in migrations● Allow SEO person to build relationships and establish
credibility with the team
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● Crawl your site● Check for old subdomains and orphan pages● Create a detailed redirect map● Every page matters - especially the priority ones● If you’re in pre-build phase - review the theming● Thoroughly test in staging and after launch
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And if you don’t?
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Incorrectly migrated contentThe result of a failure to preserve authority
Many old URLs still indexed - months on
Steady rise in soft 404s
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Impact on the SERPS?High value
terms
01 April 2016
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The cause and the fix
● Highly inappropriate redirects● Substantial number of pages 302 to home
● Audit to determine appropriate redirects● Regaining authority will take time!
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● Benchmark current visibility early on● How are we performing?● Look for opportunities and feedback● Determine current extent of conflict● Who’s doing better and why?● Find/modify existing redirects to avoid chains● Monitor the migration window
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Straight switch
Original domain
New domain
migration window
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Brief coexistence then switch
Original domain
New domain
migration window
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Good uplift
New domain
Original domain
migration window
30 positionupliftPrevious conflict
resolved
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Another good uplift
New domain
Original domain
migration window
20 positionuplift
Previous ‘glass ceiling’
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● Give one person responsibility to run the migration● Involve them throughout the project to ensure they grasp
the architecture and the quirks of the site● Empower them to make and enforce decisions
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● Remember that robots.txt only blocks crawling, NOT indexing
● Use IP whitelisting● Require a login● Noindex meta
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● SEO is not the icing - it’s a key ingredient● You can’t just SEO it!● Get expert help from the start● See this as an opportunity● Don’t always believe the old ‘migratory myth’● Utilise data - before, during and after
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Use this as your business case
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