How to make sure that you don't only avoid missing but actually improving your organic search visibility and traffic during a Web migration? Check out these steps, criteria and tools.
Professional Sales Representative by Sahil Srivastava.pptx
The Ultimate SEO Guide for Successful Web Migrations at #DigitalOlympus
1. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
The Ultimate
SEO Guide
for Successful
Web Migrations
#webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
2. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Sometimes SEO
adventures will find you
when you least expect it…
#webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
3. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
“I am looking for
someone to help me
with a Web migration”
-A potential client
#webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
4. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Web migrations don’t
need to have a
negative impact you
can always use them as
opportunities to grow…
#webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
6. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
That’s why is critical to be
prepared and know which
road to take during those
tricky times…
#webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
7. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Aleyda Solis
* International SEO Consultant & Founder.
* Conference Speaker in +100 Events in +20 Countries.
* Author “SEO. Las Claves Esenciales.”
* Blogger in Search Engine Land & Search Engine Journal.
I’m (sadly) not a wizard, but today I’m going
to show you how to succeed with them
#webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
8. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Let’s start by
understanding how far do
you need to go and for
what purpose…
#webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
9. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Not all Web migrations are the same, the level of
change will be different depending on their goal
Different URLs, Same Domain
Different Protocol, Same Domain
Different Domain
Same URL
Product rebranding, area renaming or structural content changes
HTTP to HTTPS swap
Company rebranding, acquisition or Web consolidation
Redesign or CMS migration while keeping URL structure
Alternate URLs, Same Domain
Independent Mobile site migration or disabling non-canonical AMP
#webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
10. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
The focus of our SEO work will also differ based
on the required structural Web changes in each case
Different URLs, Same Domain
Different Protocol, Same Domain
Different Domain
Same URL
Keeping old brand & terms rankings while stop referring to old URLs
Redirecting them to their relevant canonical Secured URLs
Keeping old brand & terms rankings while redirecting to new domain URLs
Keeping their crawlability, indexability & content relevance
Alternate URLs, Same Domain
Redirecting them to their relevant canonical URLs
#webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
11. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
It’s then important to align the relevant SEO principles
through the whole process, considering the migration type
Different URLs, Same Domain
Different Protocol, Same Domain
Different Domain
Same URL
2.
Execution
1.
Planning & Testing
3.
Validation & Monitoring
Product rebranding, area renaming or structural content changes
HTTP to HTTPS change
Company rebranding, acquisition or Web consolidation
Redesign or CMS migration while keeping URL structure
Alternate URLs, Same Domain
Independent Mobile site migration or non-canonical AMP disabling
12. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Let’s start by Planning and Testing
the Web migration before its execution
#webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
13. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Identify the affected URLs based on the
Web migration scope
Page level
Category level
Site level
Redesign, HTTP to
HTTPS change,
company rebranding,
acquisition or Web
consolidation
Area renaming
Product rebranding
14. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Develop an audit to check what is important to keep and
to improve in them, based on their optimisation & rankings
Pages Crawlability
Pages Indexability
Rankings
Traffic
Link popularity
Old New
301-Redirects
SSL CertificatePages Content Relevance
Pages Internal linking
Pages Speed
15. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Establish then the required technical & content changes
in the relevant pages, depending on the migration nature
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
16. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
For example, at a page level for a
high name overlay rebrand
Page Level rebranding with High Name Overlay
17. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Or also at a page level but with a low
or no name overlay for a rebrand
Page Level Rebrand with Low Name Overlay Page Level Rebrand with No Name Overlay
18. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Or at a site level, for company rebrand or acquisition,
among a few other main migration scenarios
Site Level
19. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Once defined, align and agree with the project’s stakeholders
to get approval, resources & support for their implementation
SEO
Design & UX Development
Marketing
20. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
When the required changes have been established and
agreed, crawl the affected URLs and gather their SEO metrics
Crawlability
Indexability
Internal linking
Relevance
Rankings
Traffic
Link popularity
Speed
21. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
You can do this easily by integrating third-party
data sources directly into your crawl simulation
Screaming Frog & Deepcrawl
22. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
This will also allow you to identify orphaned pages, to avoid
missing any important URLs that you need to migrate
24. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus 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
25. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
And be able to assess well if they should be kept or not,
and where they should be migrated in the new location
26. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Establishing the patterns to keep or to improve in the new
pages vs. the old URLs technical and content status
Old Pages Titles, Descriptions & H1s New Pages Titles, Descriptions & H1s
27. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
As well as defining pages that might need to be created to
keep certain rankings based on the scenario, like a rebrand
Old Pages
New Pages
Legacy Pages Old Branded
Queries
Transactional
Queries and
New Branded
Queries
Transactional
Queries and Old
Branded
Queries
28. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Make sure these are implemented first in a private test site
that is blocked to external access without authentication
29. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus 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
Content Indexability
Old in Test New in Test
301-Redirects
SSL CertificatePages Content Relevance
Pages Internal linking
Pages Speed
test.x.com/old test.x.com/new
Home Page
Category Page
Sub-Category Page
Product Page
Main Blog Page
Blog Category Page
Blog post
Each Affected Page Type
Verify
30. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus 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
31. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Do a full audit of the new Web destination in test to also
check if the new pages are completely optimised as specified
32. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
You should also start tracking before the launch the new
vs. old Web locations rankings for the targeted queries
SEOmonitor & Advanced Web Rankings
33. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
If it’s a new Web location, set it also with Analytics & Search
Console, and remember to use the old settings if relevant
34. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
In migrations with an HTTPS switch make sure the certificate
is previously installed, including subdomains & CDN zones
35. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti#webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Once you have effectively planned & tested the
migration, it’s time to move with the execution
36. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Check if the 301 redirects from the old to the
new URLs have been implemented as specified
37. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Prioritise to fix those high-traffic pages with 301-redirects
going to wrong or non-indexable pages and redirects chains
38. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Crawl the new web location and make sure the new pages
are not only accessible but optimised as recommended
39. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Look for URLs in the new location that might be blocked, no-
indexed or also linking or canonicalising to the old URLs
40. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
If the migration has included an HTTPS switch
make sure there are no mixed content issues too
42. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
For domains level migrations, after checking the redirects &
new pages, submit it too w/ Google’s Change of Address
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/83106?hl=en
43. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti#webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
After the Web migration is executed,
it’s time monitor it and optimise more
44. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Use a Web monitoring service that will send an alert if there
are changes in the new pages SEO related configurations
https://littlewarden.com/
45. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Use the new Search Console “Index Coverage” to monitor if
the new URLs start to get indexed and the old ones disappear
46. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Verify which have been already included and which
have been left out the index & the reason, to fix them
47. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Monitor & compare the new vs. old locations main ranked
queries & pages, as well as SERP features w/ Search Console
Last 28 Days
15 Days Before and After the Migration
new website locationold website location
48. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Check that rankings & CTR of your top queries in the new
location are regained w/ the relevant pages over time
49. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Monitor the trend of additional keywords w/ your own rank
tracker, organising them in groups to facilitate analysis
50. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Look in both desktop and mobile results to identify
ranking behaviour not evolving as expected
51. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Track also your top queries vs. your competitors to see your
industry search visibility share before and after the migration
52. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Complement your own tracking by following-up with third-
party visibility indexes to identify additional issues
New site has not completely
regained top 3 rankings
53. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Check for your rankings impact on traffic while looking on
bounce rate, time on site & conversion rate of top pages
54. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
By doing all this you should see a positive “before and
after migration traffic” trend with Analytics
55. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
It’s about aligning SEO in the migration process while
making the most out of the required changes to improve
Different URLs, Same Domain
Different Protocol, Same Domain
Different Domain
Same URL
Product rebranding, area renaming or structural content changes
HTTP to HTTPS change
Company rebranding, acquisition or Web consolidation
Redesign or CMS migration while keeping URL structure
Alternate URLs, Same Domain
Independent Mobile site migration or non-canonical AMP disabling
2.
Execution
1.
Planning & Testing
3.
Validation & Monitoring
Marketing, Development, Content, Design & UX Coordination & Support
Making the
most out of
the required
changes to
optimise
them more
56. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
But what if the Web migration has been already done without
taking SEO into consideration and you need to recover it?
#webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
57. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
Don’t worry, I got you covered :) Check this post out
https://moz.com/blog/recovering-your-organic-search-traffic-from-a-web-migration-gone-wrong
58. #webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti
It’s time to win your own Web migration adventure!
#webmigrations at #digitalolympus by @aleyda from @orainti