Website Migrations. Jonathan Hochman

Website Migrations

Jonathan Hochman

Types of Migrations

• Refactoring Code • Install New CMS

• Change URL Structure, Clean URLs • Change Domain Name

• Re-design

• New Navigation, New Content • Merge, Divide Sites

Refactoring

• Refactoring a program means to make the program better without changing the inputs or outputs. For a website this means keeping the same content (mostly) and the same urls. • Reasons to refactor:

– Eliminate technical SEO issues – Clean up buggy code

– Browser and mobile device compatibility – Speed enhancement

Install New

Content Managament System (CMS)

• Website content might remain the same. • URLs probably need to change.

• When changing URLs, change to clean urls so you never have to change them again.

• If URLs change, the big thing is to set up redirects for top pages.

• Make sure to bring along optimized titles and meta descriptions.

CMS Options to Consider

Questionable CMS Choices

• DotNetNuke

(Windows .NET).

• Proprietary systems that lock in a vendor (and higher costs).

• Custom CMS systems. What if the developer changes jobs? Who’s going to maintain your site?

Changing URLs

• Avoid changing just because you want different file extensions. The .htaccess

command AddHandler can make different file extensions work.

• No reason to change URLs for SEO. The best SEO is to keep the same old urls.

• If you must change URLs to install a new CMS, or a new site structure, consider using clean URLs. Change them once and forever.

Clean URLs

• Users like URLs that are readable, short and memorable.

• Long parameter strings are offputting: ?catID=157&view=E%20N&SID=9945 • Self-explanatory urls are great:

Changing Domain Name

• Probably lose 20 – 30% of traffic for one to two months.

• Very important to put both urls, new and old on the same site, and use 301 redirection to forward all urls from old domain to new.

• Code sample:

New Design

• When changing the design, try to keep old urls active.

• Changing fonts, CSS, colors, and accent images has no immediate impact on SEO. Often there is no long term impact either.

• The main focus of design is usability, not SEO, and not the client’s personal preference. The website is for the customer, not the company.

New Navigation Structure

• Navigation may affect the link graph and PageRank calculation.

• Changing the link graph does not require redirects.

• Look for <a href=“/…”>Anchor Text</a> for spiderability and SEO.

• Avoid <a href=“/Default.asp”> or <a href=“/index.html”>. Instead, use <a href=“/”>

Changing Content

• If you recycle URLs, make sure visitors still get what they expect. If there are links to your

pages, think, “What does the visitor expect to find here?”

• Otherwise, changing content isn’t much of a risk.

Keyword Map

• Make a list of all pages in a spreadsheet. • With each page identify a handful of target

keyword phrases relevant to that page.

• Write a title and meta description accordingly. • Title can be ~70 characters.

• Meta description can be ~156 characters. • When keywords appear in the title or meta

description, they are bolded on the search results page.

Merge or Divide Sites

• Google ranks pages, not sites.

• But…Google calculates trust factors based on domain age and reputation.

• When merging sites follow best practices for url canonicalization.

• When dividing sites, recognize that a new

domain name will have low trust signals, and consequently those pages won’t rank easily.

New Hosting

• Good hosting costs $10 - $20 per month. • Most sites don’t need a dedicated server.

• Recommended providers: Rackspace, Media Temple, Tiger Technologies, Boston Computing Network.

• Bad hosting will undermine all your efforts. • Tip: Set up site on new host first, then change

Change Everything All at Once!

• Changing the domain name and design and url structure may convince Google to reset all

your trust metrics to ZERO.

• You might not want to do this!

• If it goes wrong, which it probably will, was it the new design, the new content, or the new domain name?

Redirects

• Use Google Analytics to identify the most popular entry pages.

• Redirect each popular entry pages to an appropriate new url.

• Redirect standard url patterns.

• Don’t worry if you miss some urls. • Use 301 permanent redirects.

QA Steps

• Run a link checker such as Xenu

• Generate a sitemap.xml file and review

– Look for duplicate urls pointing to same page – Look for missing pages

• Check page titles and meta descriptions

• Test any redirects for your top traffic pages • Make sure Google Analytics and Conversion

Tracking code is installed correctly.

How to Expedite Indexing

• Google Webmaster Tools

– Submit sitemap.xml file

– Fetch home page as Googlebot (under Site Health), submit all linked pages.

• Pay attention to crawl efficiency.

– Use robots.txt to block unnecessary urls

– Parameter settings in Google Webmaster Tools – Avoid bloated code. Less code could mean more

Risk Versus Reward

• The better your site is doing, the more risk in making changes. Consult somebody

experienced before touching a cash cow site. • Consider making incremental changes or

batches of changes, and measuring the impact of each. If a change isn’t good, reverse it.

• If a site has virtually no traffic, there is

virtually no risk. Don’t ask permission, ask

New Site Syndrome

“I just redesigned my site and traffic dropped. We’ve already spent our whole budget (and more). Can you help us fix it (for cheap)?”

How to avoid: figure out who you would go to if things went wrong. Instead of waiting, ask them to review your project at the key steps:

requirements, wireframes, HTML templates, and pre-launch test site. And don’t blow your whole budget on fancy design.

Requirements Document

• What server technology will be used? Windows or Unix/Linux.

• Who will be able to edit the site, using which tools? CMS, Dreamweaver, Developer only.

• How many pages? How many page templates? • Design Options (Tip: buy one, not three)

• Design Revisions (You will use all of them)

• Who writes the content? Beware the “Content bottleneck” Don’t pay for design until the

content is ready.

Website Budgets

• $0 - $500 for a startup. Download Wordpress for free and buy a theme and some images.

• $3000 - $5000 for a successful small business. Hire a consultant.

• $10,000 - $50,000 for a successful ecommerce business.

• $25,000 - $100,000 for a medium to large

Traps to Avoid

• Only thinking about SEO or marketing after you build the site.

• Website as a monument to the CEO’s ego.

The site is for the customer, not the company. • Spending the whole budget. You will run into

contingencies; keep some money in reserve. • Spending the whole budget on construction,

leaving nothing for advertising and promotion. • Deadlines. The old site isn’t about to explode.

Really Evil Traps

• The developer uses a robots.txt file to prevent indexing of the test site. Then, that file gets copied to the live site. Better: use a simple password to protect the development server.

• You buy a domain name after the prior owner did something naughty, and inherit their penalty.

• Hire a shyster SEO who gets your site penalized. If you don’t understand what they are doing,

don’t say “yes.” You are responsible.

• Fail to upgrade Wordpress and your site gets

Thank You

Jonathan Hochman