Moving your website to a new DXP or CMS is a significant decision with many aspects to consider. It’s a challenge but also an opportunity to make a change that will fuel your company's success. So, think of it as an exciting project! Seven passionate website migration experts are sharing common mistakes and how to avoid them, ensuring you're well-prepared and not feeling like "I wish I had known this before."
Prioritize content migration
Content, content, content. There is rarely enough energy focused on the migration of content. Take time to consider what should be migrated and what should be left to rest in the old site, how long migration takes and whether automated migration is available (subject to structured content from one platform easily syncing with the new one).
We always recommend to clients that content is treated as a separate work stream with separate project management, leading it to prevent the last-minute rush to fill the new templated website with poorly evaluated content and rushed content production.
Julian Reiter, CEO at Positive
Get prepared and train your team
Without a thorough analysis of data structure and relevance, the migration will not be seamless. There will be risks such as importing the wrong content or neglecting the right content, leading to challenges, such as sudden drops in SEO rankings.
Along with preparation, it is vital to allocate and invest time in understanding the new technology and the capabilities of the new system. This includes sufficiently training team members on the new system to help leverage new features effectively.
Ivan Adriel, Strategy Lead at Granite
Satisfy the gods of SEO
In my experience, I often see a loss of SEO value because of improper planning and lack of awareness. In the rush to migrate, marketing teams sometimes fail to preserve SEO aspects like URLs, meta tags, and redirect links. This can lead to a drop in search rankings, and that's why it should be a major aspect of planning when it comes to migrating sites and platforms.
Brian McKeiver, co-owner at Bizstream
Think outside the box
When adopting new MarTech, marketing teams often prioritize minimizing disruption to current tactics and processes. During initial migration, the emphasis is typically on transferring existing data and configuring the new tool to mirror current workflows, postponing the exploration of additional features.
This approach misses the chance to cleanse data and revamp marketing tactics before migration. Consequently, once teams adapt to the new yet familiar setup, they seldom find the opportunity to reevaluate and update their strategies.
Sean Kozey, President, Head of Business Development at Reason One
Ensure you can compare before and after
A few key items stand out: First, marketing professionals are looking for quantitative results from the redesign/replatform but don't always have the comparative data for their current site. Make sure both sites are tracking for effective before/after comparison.
Second, not capturing your existing URLs and redirecting them at the page level is a big mistake. This can have terrible SEO consequences, so it should be factored into any rebuild.
Third, forgetting about file migration is another frequent miss. Identify what files you will need for your new site and ensure you’ve migrated them before launch day.
Michelle Brown, VP of Sales & Marketing at ZAG Interactive
Consider editors' user experience
The end-user experience is absolutely critical and often, the most fun thing to focus on. But a platform migration that doesn't think through the ongoing authoring experience will leave a team handcuffed and frustrated. Content models and cohesive authoring can make or break a migration project.
Becki Dilworth, Chief Strategy Officer at BlueModus
Ensure accessibility to a broad audience
Clients often underestimate the effort involved in migrating content from one platform to another. While there are tools to help migrate content, there will always be manual content migration or updating needed. Depending on how many pages your website has, this can be a significant effort.
Also, choose a partner that has expertise in accessibility. It starts at the UX/wireframe stage and touches every phase of the website development process. Neglecting it will leave you with a website that gives the disability community a poor experience with your brand and website.
A good project manager will put you at ease. They can't control every speed bump or detour in the road, but you'll feel confident that they'll guide you and keep the project on track.
Candice Wyatt, Sr. Director, Web & Platform Solutions at Red Door
Navigate your website migration for success
The experts from our partner agencies emphasize the importance of careful planning, strategic thinking, and collaboration to achieve a smooth transition from one platform to another. Prioritize content migration, ensure thorough preparation and team training, and focus on crucial aspects like SEO, user experience, and accessibility standards. This way, you can navigate the process better and emerge with a revamped platform ready for success.
Do you want to ensure that your website migration or upgrade will be a success? Consult it with one of our experts.