WEBSITE MIGRATION BEST PRACTICES
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WEBSITE MIGRATION BEST PRACTICES
IntroductionPre – Migration PlanningFundamentals of a Search Friendly WebsitePost MigrationDiscussion
AGENDA
TopRank® Online Marketing
Full service digital marketing agency• Content Marketing• SEO• Social Media Marketing• Influencer Marketing
Evan ProkopDigital Marketing Manager
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Objective: Migrate or re-design your website while minimizing losses in organic search traffic and rankings.
INTRODUCTION
Migration Planning• Analytics Assessment• 301 Redirects• Timing
ANALYTICS
Your web analytics are a treasure trove of historic usage patterns for your website
ANALYTICS - CLICK PATHS
ANALYTICS - TOP SITE CONTENT
ANALYTICS – DUD SITE CONTENT
ANALYTICS - CLICK MAPPING
ANALYTICS - PATHS TO CONVERSION
• Setup Web Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools on your new site before pushing live.
• Monitor analytics and organic rankings closely following migration.
ANALYTICS
Free:• Google Analytics
Paid:• Adobe SiteCatelyst• Crazy Egg
WEB ANALYTICS TOOLS
• 301 redirects can minimize any losses in SEO equity by transferring link equity from old urls to new.
• In addition, traffic to redirected urls will move seamlessly to the new site pages.
301 REDIRECTS
DOCUMENT EXISTING CONTENT
Document for all existing urls:• Page topic / keyword• Link profile• Organic rankings• Organic traffic
Document for all new urls:• Page topic / keyword• Existing or new content
Tip: use ‘clean’ urls
PLAN NEW CONTENT
Map redirects based on:• Relevance (page topic /
keyword)• Link profile• Organic rankings
301 REDIRECT MAPPING
Paid*:• SEMRush• Majestic SEO• Open Site Explorer• MS Excel
*Stripped down free versions available
301 REDIRECT TOOLS
TIMING
Time any significant website change or migration for when it is likely to have a minimal impact on business.
Consider seasonal trends for your business.
TIMING – TIME OF YEAR
Ideal for a migration
TIME OF DAY / DAY OF WEEK
Review your site analytics to determine lowest average traffic days / times.
• Review historic site usage patterns and use these insights to maintain and improve the new site usability
• Map 301 redirects to ensure a seamless transition of traffic and SEO equity
• Time your migration for when downtime is likely to have the least negative impact on business
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Fundamentals of a Search Friendly Website
• Optimization• Mobile Friendly• Crawlability• Custom 404 Page• Site Speed• Plugins• Hosting Geography
OPTIMIZATION
Effective onpage optimization (post migration) will help your content reach a relevant audience via search engines.
Make sure the following can be edited (preferably by a non-developer):• Meta titles• Meta descriptions• Headings (h1)• Schema markup• Links• Alt tags• Body copy• Onpage assets
OPTIMIZATION CHECKLIST
No longer merely a benefit to user experience, mobile accessibility has become a significant search ranking factor.
MOBILE FRIENDLY
Primary factors Google is using to evaluate:• Flash Usage• Viewport not configured• Fixed-width viewport• Content not sized to viewport• Small font size• Touch elements too close
MOBILE FRIENDLY CRITERIA
MOBILE FRIENDLY
• Review and fix mobile errors reported in Google Webmaster Tools.
• Monitor mobile usage metrics in your Web Analytics tool.
Free:• Google Mobile Friendly Tester:
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/• Google Webmaster Tools
MOBILE OPTIMIZATION TOOLS
In order for content to achieve visibility in organic search, it is critical that search engines can easily crawl and index it.
CRAWLABILITY
• Minimize use of JavaScript*• Avoid Flash and Framed content• Minimize text contained in images
*In cases where using it is unavoidable (i.e. JavaScript fly out menus), provide an alternate path of navigation.
CRAWLABILITY CONSIDERATIONS
A good custom 404 page can be very effective at decreasing visitor exits.
CUSTOM 404 PAGE
CUSTOM 404 PAGE
Fast page load times are important for user experience and are an increasingly important organic ranking factor.
SITE SPEED
• Browser caching• Minimize image and video file sizes• Invest in robust hosting• Parallelize downloads• Avoid chain redirects*Note: not a full list.
SITE SPEED FACTORS
Free:• Pingdom Page Speed Test: http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/• Google Analytics
SITE SPEED TOOLS
Using trusted plugins whenever possible may help ensure the integrity and functionality of any WordPress powered site.
PLUGINS
Follow up with me afterwards to receive list of TopRank preferred WordPress plugins.
PREFERRED WORDPRESS PLUGINS
HOSTING GEO
Sites hosted in the same country as their target audience may have increased organic search visibility.
Post Migration• XML Sitemap• Robots.txt• QA 301 Redirects• Site Analytics Monitoring• Crawl Errors
A proper XML sitemap helps to ensure search engines index all desired content and are alerted of changes.
XML SITEMAP
• Generate and upload sitemap at yoursite.com/sitemap.xml • Submit / validate in Google Webmaster Tools
XML SITEMAP
Free WordPress Plugins:• Yoast WordPress SEO• All in One SEO Pack
Paid:• Power Mapper• Screaming Frog
XML SITEMAP TOOLS
Robots.txt can help with providing search engines with direction on what to crawl and what to exclude.
ROBOTS.TXT
• Add robots.txt file to site at yoursite.com/robots.txt• Submit / validate in Webmaster Tools
ROBOTS.TXT
Verify that all 301 redirects:• Direct to correct page• Give proper server response
QA 301 REDIRECTS
Free:• Bulk URL Checker:
https://www.searchcommander.com/seo-tools/bulk-url-checker/
Paid:• Screaming Frog• Power Mapper
QA 301 REDIRECT TOOLS
During a migration, it is critical to monitor site health indicators closely.
ANALYTICS
Be on the lookout for sharp drop-offs in:• Organic traffic• Keyword rankings
Note: decreases are normal immediately following migration, but should rebound within 1-2 months.
ANALYTICS
A new site can introduce crawl errors which inhibit searchbots and people from discovering and indexing content.
CRAWL ERRORS
• Perform full site crawl• Repeat monthly
CRAWL ERRORS
Free:• Google Webmaster Tools
Paid:• Screaming Frog• MOZ
CRAWL TOOLS
• Keep an extra close eye on analytics and site health following any site migration or significant change.
• A temporary decrease in search traffic and rankings is normal for up to 2 months.
• Even a well executed migration can introduce site crawl errors. Audit early and often.
• Enjoy your sweet new website!
KEY TAKEAWAYS
DISCUSSION / QUESTIONS
Let’s Connect!• Twitter - @eprokop1• LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/pub/evan-prokop/3b/a47/839• TopRank Online Marketing – www.toprankmarketing.com• TopRank Blog - www.toprankblog.com
THANK YOU!!!
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