Website migration is the process of moving a website from one environment to another, making sure the site’s functionally, SEO, and user experience are minimally affected. Migrating a website may feel like a daunting task for any business, however, it is one essential step for improving performance, enhancing security, or for shifting to a better environment.
Whether you are looking to upgrade your website’s infrastructure, changing your content management system, or migrating your website from one domain to another, it is essential for you to handle the whole process with care. Lack of care may result in loss of traffic, broken links, or a dip in SEO rankings. Here, in this post, we will have a discussion on common website migration issues and how to avoid them. Read on for further knowledge.
Drop in SEO Rankings
One of the common concerns businesses encounter while migrating their website is drop in SEO rankings. Google and other search engines reward websites that produce high quality content and backlinks. If the migration of a website affects the structure or accessibility of a website, it leads to penalties or a drop in organic website traffic.
How to Avoid this Issue
A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect from one URL to another. This ensures the users and search engines are directed to the right page after the migration.
While migrating your website, try to keep the existing URL structure and use URL mapping to ensure all URLs are correctly redirected.
Once you complete migrating your website, double check your internal links to ensure they are still heading to the right pages. Broken internal links can affect crawling and your website SEO.
Broken Links and Missing Content
Another frustrating issue you will encounter during the migration of your website is broken links and missing content. This happens due to change of URLs, improperly transferred content, or lost images or media files during the process.
How to Avoid this Issue
You can use link checker tools before and after migrating the website. These tools will crawl your site and inform you about any URLs that have 404 errors.
While transferring content from one platform to another, make sure all text, images, videos, and other multimedia elements are moved in the right way.
- Monitor Your Site Post-Migration
After the migration, monitor your website for any lingering issues. Find out if the website has broken links, missing images, or incomplete content.
Decrease in Website Speed
The speed of your website is a crucial factor for user experience and SEO. Migrating your website can sometimes slow down its speed. This happens especially if the new hosting environment or CMS is not optimized in the right way.
How to Avoid this Issue
- Optimize Your Website for Speed Before Migration
Monitor your website’s performance before starting the migration and address any existing issues. Tools such as Google Page speed Insights can help you identify this issue.
- Partner with a Reliable Hosting Provider
Make sure the hosting provider you are partnering with offers decent server speed, bandwidth, and reliability. If you are moving to a new server or hosting plan, choose one that meets and exceeds the requirements of your current site.
Failing to Test Mobile Responsiveness
To manage a successful business website in the current times, you need to make sure the website is mobile responsive. So, while migrating your website, you need to ensure it continues to be responsive. Avoid making the mistake of overlooking this step if you are moving your website to another platform.
How to Avoid this Issue
- Test Mobile Responsive of Your Website
Once you complete migrating your website, conduct a thorough test to ensure the website is fully responsive on mobile phones. Also test the site on different screen sizes, operating systems, and browser to ensure the site functions properly across all platforms.
- Optimize Your Site for Mobile Phones
If you are using a new CMS or website platform, make sure to activate the mobile optimization features. Incorporate responsive design techniques to improve your website’s accessibility on mobile devices.
Conclusion
Migrating your website from one platform to another is a stressful process. However, with careful planning and attention to detail, you can avoid any kind of common pitfalls. By being aware and addressing issues such as drop in SEO, broken links, low website speed etc., you can ensure a smooth transition of your website.
You can eliminate any issues that could occur at the time of migrating your website by partnering with a reputed and reliable web development company like Originate Soft. When you choose us for your website migration needs, our dedicated experts will offer a secure migration ensuring all elements of your website are enhanced and optimized for better performance. Connect with us for receiving our expert support.