Moving or migrating a site is an event that promises significant benefits in the long term and equally substantial troubles in the short term. While it is impossible to avoid the latter, there are ways to minimise risk.
The site is a very fragile system, and changing or moving any part of it can significantly affect the structure of the site and its performance. But it is pretty common for those who make decisions about a site migration to underestimate the complexity of the work and the associated risks.
An example of how easy it is to underestimate a migration can be taken from one of our larger clients. The client had just engaged a developer to work internally to redesign and rebuild their website. The focus of the work was a simple template change to improve the UX and customer journey throughout the website. Our involvement in the project was kept brief, as the developer ensured the client that there would be no significant URL changes as part of the project.
Two weeks before launch, our team happened to ask for the staging site to check in on the progress, and we found that every category page URL had changed, including the placement within the site, causing some 100,000+ URLs to be affected. Luckily, our team was able to get the migration and web build back on track, ensuring that our client’s revenue and business is protected.
If not discovered, this could have cost the client significantly, resulting in a potential loss of millions of dollars. Resolving this failure may have taken several months, while the business would have continued to lose organic revenue month on month until repaired. See below the keyword rankings of a past failed migration of a prospective client:
Web development and SEO migration are two different masteries and need to work hand in hand. SEO migration is the most common digital blind spot, needs to be taken seriously and requires the right team of specialists.
When deployed correctly, a new website can be a great initiative and is an essential part of every online retailer’s digital journey. However, an incorrectly managed site migration often has disastrous consequences for immediate and long term financial performance and can set a business back years.
If you’re preparing to migrate, don’t get caught out and call us today. Let our specialised migration team help support your business through this challenging project.
Book a call to see if you qualify for our complimentary Google Console Audit
GET IN CONTACT TODAY AND LET OUR TEAM OF ECOMMERCE SPECIALISTS SET YOU ON THE ROAD TO ACHIEVING ELITE DIGITAL EXPERIENCES AND GROWTH
Contact Us
Leonidas Comino – Founder & CEO
Leo is a, Deloitte award winning and Forbes published digital business builder with over a decade of success in the industry working with market-leading brands.
Like what we do? Come work with us
