Migrating a Website from One Platform to Another
Migrating your site is not a decision to be taken lightly. In the past when I’ve needed to move a website to a new platform, I’ve always felt quite anxious about it. There has been so much that I have needed to consider, such as making sure that I check off all the little details.
Whether you’re moving away from your existing platform because of technical issues, cost or frustration, or whether you’re just fresh out the gate with a new project and want to host it on a different platform, there are things you should do before migrating.
Any good website building platform today will have made it easy to migrate your site from one platform to another, with their built-in tools and support.
That said, there are still some things you should do before you get started.
The Backup Plan
Backup the current website. A local one is better than a remote one because it’s easier to manage and restore in case of emergency. Local backups are good since it won’t take up much space on your computer but still allows access in case something goes wrong with your online storage account.
Make sure all files are in place. Don’t forget anything like images or CSS files that might be required for the new site. Some platforms may require specific file extensions so make sure you check them out beforehand.
Replicating Your Website’s Design
All website builders have different capabilities and how they are structured on the back. With this is mind, it makes it rare that the designs will be 100% the same from one platform to another.
However, is this a good opportunity to do a website redesign to bring some new life to your regular visitors.
Moving Content
Depending on the platforms you are moving from and to, you may be able to transfer the content with available extensions or plugins. This can be done if you are migrating from popular platforms like, WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace, and a few others that I personally know of.
If you are working between less popular platforms, this may be a more manual process unfortunately.
With images, I highly recommend knowing what the default image sizes are for the new website. Then resizes the existing images before uploading to the new website. I also highly recommend uploading the images at one time, so there is less time uploading in batches.
Product Data if eCommerce
If you are transferring an eCommerce website, you should be able to transfer the data with the help of Excel or other spreadsheet software. You may need to change or sync the headers between the platforms, so make sure that you are well researched and versed in this process to minimize mistakes.
The process of exporting and importing products will differ, but it’s fairly straightforward.
- Export existing product data.
- Reconfigure or map the header fields to match the new platforms parameters.
- Then import the new file into the new platform.
Obviously check and test the data to make sure the products transferred correctly. And also do a small test before transferring the entire product catalog. It’s easier to fix a mistake on a few products vs thousands.
Product data transfers can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be complicated.
SEO Considerations
Any change in platform and/or site migrations is going to cause some sort of change in rankings. So keep this in mind. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see a drop in a site’s rankings. Search engines are learning and determining the new structure, so have patience and give it some time.
There are some things to do to make sure the ranking drops are minimal and the transition is as smooth as possible.
- Set up redirects to make search engines aware of the changes.
- Submit the new sitemap.
- Make sure previous SEO optimizations are carried over in the meta data.
By doing these, you make sure you pass your pass along the authority that your website had to your new site.
Avoid Broken Links
Make sure that every page and file from your current version of the website is present in the new one as well.
Programs like Screaming Frog SEO Spider analyze all the static pages and files at once and generate a report with all those that aren’t available in the new version of your website yet.
Minimize Downtime
Test the migration process before running it live.
Install Google Analytics on both versions of your sites, old and new, so you can compare their traffic statistics after migration takes place. This way you’ll be able to see how many visitors have come from Google Search Console (if you use it), social media networks, etc., and how many of them have actually converted into paying customers or subscribers on your site.
Maintaining Records
When you are transferring a website to another host, it is important to maintain records of the hostname and IP address of the host server.
This allows you to easily point your domain name at the new host and maintain business continuity for your visitors.
There will more than likely be other records to keep depending on how the DNS records are done. Each website’s records may vary.
As a business owner, you must have a solid plan in place before embarking on migrating to another web-hosting platform. The more prepared you are the less downtime you will experience with a smoother transition.
Articles
My articles categorized into 3 areas: adventures, professional, and inspirations.
I also have a few guides:
Goal Setting Guide
Ultimate Guide to Choose the Right eCommerce Platform
Productivity Strategies for Busy Professionals
Professional
Professionally, I do marketing, websites, and ecommerce, with a background in operations and graphic design.
Adventure
Topics include but not limited to: hiking, caving, weekend excursions, food, places, and/or general randomness.
inspiration
General inspiration that has helped me get through the darker times in life the last few years. And it has evolved to spread it.
Cathy Gray
Cathy Gray is a natural adventurer in her personal and professional life. She adapts to overcome while maintaining an infectious laugh that will make you smile.
Professionally, Cathy currently works for an industrial hose and hydraulics company. While she was a green-horn in the hose business, she spearheaded the company’s eCommerce site from the ground up from a blank canvas to live and selling within 6 months. She continues to grow the company’s online and digital presence while increasing sales year over year.
