Real-World Website Migration Examples
Website migration is a complex process that requires careful planning, strategic execution, and post-launch monitoring to ensure success. Whether migrating to a new domain, CMS, or hosting provider, each migration is unique and can come with its own set of challenges. Real-world examples can offer valuable insights into how companies have successfully navigated migrations, along with some of the common hurdles they’ve faced.
In this article, we'll explore several real-world website migration case studies, analyzing their challenges, strategies, and the lessons learned during the process.
Case Study 1: A Global E-Commerce Platform’s CMS Migration
Company: A global e-commerce platform specializing in selling fashion and accessories.
Migration: The company migrated from an outdated CMS to a modern, scalable platform (from a custom-built CMS to Shopify Plus).
Challenges:
Data Migration: The process of transferring product data, customer information, and order history posed a significant challenge, as the old CMS used a custom database that was incompatible with Shopify.
SEO Considerations: The e-commerce site had a well-established SEO presence, with thousands of product pages indexed by search engines. Preserving SEO rankings during the migration was a top priority.
Downtime Minimization: The company had a large customer base, and any downtime could result in lost revenue.
Strategies:
Data Mapping & Testing: The company worked closely with a development team to map out how the old data would be structured in Shopify. A test migration was run to ensure data integrity before going live.
301 Redirects Implementation: A detailed 301 redirect strategy was implemented to ensure that all product pages, category pages, and high-traffic landing pages would retain their search engine rankings.
SEO Audits: Regular SEO audits were conducted during the migration to ensure that important metadata, titles, and descriptions were properly carried over.
Outcome: The migration was completed with minimal downtime. The implementation of 301 redirects and the thorough testing of the site helped maintain SEO rankings. Additionally, the migration to Shopify Plus allowed the company to scale efficiently, offering enhanced functionality, and better overall performance.
Lessons Learned:
Always perform thorough testing and have a contingency plan for unexpected data or compatibility issues.
Pay special attention to SEO continuity, as migrations can often lead to significant traffic drops if not handled carefully.
Ensure that your team is aligned and that all stakeholders, including marketing and IT, are involved in the migration process.
Case Study 2: A B2B Service Provider's Domain Migration
Company: A B2B service provider offering consulting and cloud-based software solutions.
Migration: The company migrated from a subdomain structure (e.g., old.company.com) to a new domain (e.g., company.com) to consolidate their branding and improve SEO.
Challenges:
Brand Recognition: The subdomain was well-known in the industry, and the company feared losing brand visibility and recognition after migrating to the new domain.
SEO Impact: The company had accumulated strong organic traffic over the years, and shifting to a new domain could lead to a significant loss in search engine rankings if not handled properly.
Internal and External Links: A large number of inbound links pointed to the old domain, and many internal links needed to be updated as part of the migration.
Strategies:
Comprehensive Redirect Plan: A comprehensive 301 redirect plan was implemented to redirect all pages from the old subdomain to their new domain counterparts. This was done on a one-to-one page basis to ensure that SEO rankings and traffic were preserved.
Link Audits and Outreach: The company conducted a link audit to identify and reach out to websites with inbound links to the old domain, asking them to update their links to point to the new domain.
Google Search Console: The company submitted the new domain to Google Search Console, informing Google about the domain change and monitoring performance closely during and after the migration.
Outcome: The migration was successful, with minimal impact on SEO rankings. The company maintained its traffic levels through careful implementation of redirects and proactive outreach to high-authority sites that had inbound links to the old domain. The move to a consolidated domain helped strengthen their brand identity and simplified their digital presence.
Lessons Learned:
Communicating with external partners about the migration (e.g., websites linking to your domain) can help preserve valuable backlinks.
SEO continuity can be ensured through careful use of 301 redirects and Google Search Console monitoring.
Always consider brand consistency and how the migration will affect user perceptions of your company, especially when dealing with a well-known subdomain.
Case Study 3: Media Company’s Hosting Migration
Company: A large media company with multiple news outlets, blogs, and video content hosted on a shared server.
Migration: The company migrated its entire website network from a shared hosting provider to a dedicated server to improve speed, security, and scalability.
Challenges:
Scalability: With millions of visitors each day, the website needed to be able to handle traffic spikes without crashing or slowing down.
Downtime Risk: The migration had to be completed with minimal downtime since news outlets require real-time updates and constant content availability.
Data Integrity: The company had a large volume of media files, including images and videos, that needed to be moved without corrupting any of the data.
Strategies:
Staging Server Setup: A staging server was set up for testing and trial migrations, allowing the development team to address any potential issues before executing the live migration.
Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN was integrated during the hosting migration to distribute content across multiple servers globally, helping to reduce load times and improve site performance.
Incremental Migration: The migration was carried out in stages, moving smaller sections of the website (e.g., one news site or blog at a time) to ensure smooth transitions with minimal disruption.
Outcome: The media company successfully transitioned to its dedicated server with little downtime. The use of a CDN and careful planning ensured faster load times, even during high-traffic periods. The migration improved the site's scalability, security, and overall performance.
Lessons Learned:
Incremental migration can help reduce risks and prevent large-scale outages.
CDNs are a great way to improve performance and speed when migrating to a new hosting provider, particularly for media-heavy websites.
Plan and test the migration carefully to prevent any disruptions, especially when dealing with time-sensitive content or high traffic volumes.
Last updated
Was this helpful?