website migration tips

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5 things you need to remember for a smooth migration Jon Earnshaw @jonearnshaw @PiDatametrics www.pi-datametrics.com July 2016

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Page 1: Website Migration Tips

5 things you need to remember for a smooth migration Jon Earnshaw@jonearnshaw @PiDatametricswww.pi-datametrics.com

July 2016

Page 2: Website Migration Tips

@jonearnshaw@PiDatametrics www.pi-datametrics.com

DangerousAdventures

Page 3: Website Migration Tips

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Swimming with sharks

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Free climbing

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Running with bulls

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Migrating your website

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Potentially one of the most dangerous online marketing adventures

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Here’s a classic example

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Platform Migration - unnamed website loses all organic visibility

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And here’s another

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A high street bank - appears to suffer a loss of visibility

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Turns out to be a ‘straightforward’ TLD migration

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The Overall Outcome?

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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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The old‘migration myth’

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45%

60% - 70%

It could die

It depends

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But…It doesn’t have to be

this way!

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This is a great opportunity!

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Five key things to get right

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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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1. Involve SEO from the start

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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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@jonearnshaw@PiDatametrics www.pi-datametrics.com

2. Redirects and mapping

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@jonearnshaw@PiDatametrics www.pi-datametrics.com

● 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?

01 April 2016

High value terms

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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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3. Utilise DATA

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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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The migration windowWhat to expect...

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Imagine you were #1 for “Best Bollywood Movies”

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Straight switch

Original domain

New new domain

migration window

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Brief coexistence then switch

Original domain

New new domain

migration window

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Good uplift

New domain

Original domain

migration window

Previous conflict resolved

30 positionuplift

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Another good uplift

New domain

Original domain

migration window

Previous‘Glass ceiling’

20 positionuplift

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4. Make sure there’s an owner

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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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@jonearnshaw@PiDatametrics www.pi-datametrics.com

5. Keep the stage from getting out

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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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Summary

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● SEO is not the icing - it’s a key ingredient● You can’t just SEO it!● Get expert help● See this as an opportunity● Don’t always believe the old ‘migratory myth’● Utilise data - before, during and after● Plan

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Thank You

Jon Earnshaw@jonearnshaw @PiDatametricswww.pi-datametrics.com

July 2016