We manage your webfow site migration

There are dozens of reasons that can push a company or an individual to migrate their website. The most common being the need to give a new look to your site using new technologies and the latest cybersecurity standards.

The benefits of a site migration are:

• Improving performance and user experience through more modern designs, faster load times, and smoother navigation.
• Updating security technologies and protocols to comply with current accessibility and security standards expected by your customers and users
• The desire to create a modern site that will be easy to evolve over time. A site that can easily manage an increase in traffic for example and meet the next requests of your customers in terms of navigation and UX/UI.

We continue with the 4 most frequent needs that cause a site migration to webflow or another CMS.

1. Domain change: It can be motivated by rebranding, changing the company's direction, or acquiring a more appropriate domain name. Changing the domain requires redirecting old URLs to the new domain while maintaining capital. SEO and brand visibility (branding).
2. Platform change (Replatforming): platform change is the transition from one platform or CMS to another (for example, from WordPress to Webflow). This type of migration will affect the structure of the site and its tree structure, the definition of URLs and the technology.
3. Server change: server change consists in moving the site from one hosting server to another to improve load speeds, increase security or even update resources. It can affect site performance and SEO if the change is poorly executed.
4. Consolidation of sub-domains: the merging of several sub-domains into a single domain for reasons of branding or brand consistency is frequent. The consolidation of sub-domains makes it possible to improve the user experience and to consolidate the SEO capital of your sites. But it requires careful planning of redirects and fine URL mapping.

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The best way to successfully migrate is to set tangible and measurable goals. Here are the main KPIs that we recommend:

• Improving performance: for example, you can aim to reduce page load times by 20%. Google will appreciate it;)
• User engagement: the basis! The best way to find out if your site is better than before is to compare visitor interaction metrics before and after the migration. If it goes up, it's because it's well done, if not, come and see us!

To successfully migrate, it is essential to have the right people in the right positions. We are nice, we give you all the information you need to create your dream team. The other option is to entrust your migration to us, it's up to you.

Web developers:

• Their mission: to adjust the structure of the site to guarantee top performance and good scalability.
• In practice, they monitor the technical aspects of the site during and after the migration to quickly resolve any issues.

Designers:

• Their objective: to align visual elements and navigation with a quality user experience (UX) and a strong brand identity.
• In concrete terms, they ensure that the site design remains consistent and functional after the migration.

SEO consultant:

• Their role: to maintain and improve search rankings through effective redirection strategies and the semantic optimization of old content.
• Their challenge: to analyze and continuously improve post-migration SEO to maintain and boost the visibility of the site.

Product and marketing teams

• Their mission: to inform users of upcoming changes to minimize disruptions and manage expectations.
• In action, they coordinate communication efforts to ensure a smooth transition and maintain user engagement.

To avoid a drop in traffic and preserve your SEO capital, here are the best practices:

Site audit and benchmark:

Start by evaluating the current performance of your site. Identify which pages are selling and which are no longer needed. A crawler like Screaming Frog or a tool like ahrefs will allow you to do that quickly and effectively. Keep the audit results so you can compare the results before and after the migration.

Clean the site before migration:

• Define a redirection plan: This is a mapping of your site, in order to be able to redirect all the old URLs to the new ones so as not to lose SEO juice.
• Site performance: Optimize your site to load at lightning speed. Users (and Google) will thank you!
• Accessibility and indexing: Make sure that the new site structure has no barriers for Google robots. Nothing is worse than inaccessible pages!

Here, again, everything is a question of organization, you will need:

Document all existing URLs:

Use SEO tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Screaming Frog to create a comprehensive list of all the current URLs on your site.

This listing is essential to ensure that every link is taken into account during the migration.

Set up 301 redirects:

Make sure to redirect all old URLs to their new matches. 301 redirects are permanent and transfer the majority of SEO capital (link juice) to new pages.

Use redirect management tools to track and verify that all redirects are working properly.

Update external backlinks:

contact the owners of the sites that link to you and ask them to update the links to your new URLs. This can be time consuming, but it is beneficial for maintaining the integrity of relationships.

Watch for 404 errors:

After the migration, use Google Search Console and crawl tools to quickly identify and fix any 404 errors that may appear.

This prevents traffic loss and negative impacts on SEO.

Update the internal mesh:

Make sure all internal links on your site are updated to point to the new URLs. This improves navigation and prevents unnecessary redirections.

Inform users and search engines: create and submit a new XML sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools to make it easy to index your new URLs.

Let your users know about the migration via site messages or newsletters to minimize disruptions.

The steps to effectively migrate website content:

Prepare a comprehensive audit of existing content:

• Conduct a detailed audit of all the current content on your site. Identify which pages are performing well and which need improvement.
• Use tools like Screaming Frog, Semrush, or Ahrefs to list all URLs, meta tags, titles, and descriptions.
• Export content in a structured format: Export your content to a CSV file or other structured format. This includes text, images, videos, and other media.
• Ensure that all metadata (titles, descriptions, alt tags, etc.) is also exported.

Create a map of redirections:

• Set up 301 redirects for each old URL to the corresponding new URL. This maintains SEO equity and maintains search rankings.
• Use redirect management tools to automate and verify this process.
• Use an XML sitemap: Create and submit an updated XML sitemap for old and new URLs. This helps search engines index the new site quickly.
• Verify that the sitemap is error-free and contains all new pages.

Test the site before launch:

• Conduct extensive testing on a staging environment to verify that all redirects are working, that the content is migrated correctly, and that the site is working as expected.
• Use site testing tools to check performance, load times, and possible indexing issues.