There are a couple of different reasons why you may need a site migration. Maybe the company changed names, or there could be a new domain that matches your company name better. No matter the reason, successfully completing a site migration is a delicate ordeal. However daunting the process may seem, site migration is sometimes essential to improving your brand online.
What are the stakes when you are completing a site migration? Google may penalize you after a site migration to protect the overall experience of their users. A site migration gets flagged by Google as an event that potentially has changed the content of your web pages. If Google is unsure about the content on your web pages or how users will engage with that content, keyword rankings for that content may plummet and you’ll have to regain trust with Google that your content is relevant and useful for users. This is why making changes during a site migration can have consequences.
You may be held back by resistance to address the obvious issue: what to do with your current site’s SEO copy. This article will focus on how you should manage your copy during site migration and why the process boils down to the details.
To navigate site migration, it is important to keep your copy the same with few, if any, significant changes. During the site migration process, Google negatively responds to sites that make changes in the structure of their URL or if you make changes to your current copy, no matter how noticeable a change. When too many content changes are detected during a site migration, Google’s platform must ensure that the content in the new destination is providing the same experience as the initial page. This outcome is avoidable if you apply the appropriate redirects and maintain the exact copy and content on the new site destination.
During site migration, you must seriously consider the advantages and disadvantages of changing the content on your website. Keeping your copy the same or similar to the content on your current site is ideal, and changing copy can significantly damage SEO performance for these pages.
Simply put, you should be as thorough and detailed as possible during the entire site migration process. Sure, you might have decided to keep your copy the same, and all seems to be going well. However, slipping up on the small details of the site migration process can turn this venture into an arduous task.
Again, keep the content during your migration as similar as possible to ensure accuracy. Additionally, you should consider adding a 301 redirect from every page on your old site to a copy of the page on your new site to maintain consistency. Inconsistent or inaccurate redirects can damage how successful your site migration will be. Big or small, site migration is heavily influenced by how detailed and thorough you are during every step of the process.
Site migration can be simple or challenging, depending on your approach. Without thoroughly understanding the process or lacking attention to detail, your site migration may hit some bumps in the road.
Maintaining a high consistency between your old site and your new site is the ultimate determining factor on whether your new site will be successful. You must take your time during site migration. It may be a challenging, complex process, but when executed right, a site migration can lead to massive success for your site.
