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{"id":519,"date":"2024-03-28T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/global-site-migrations-maximize-success-438814\/"},"modified":"2024-03-28T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T12:00:00","slug":"global-site-migrations-maximize-success-438814","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/global-site-migrations-maximize-success-438814\/","title":{"rendered":"8 steps to maximize success during global site migrations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Migrating a website is a complex undertaking, but when it involves transitioning global sites across multiple markets, the challenges are exponentially greater. <\/p>\n

This article provides a comprehensive guide to maximizing success with global site migrations while protecting organic search traffic. <\/p>\n

From the initial planning stages to post-launch monitoring, it covers key actions organizations should take to deeply integrate SEO<\/a> best practices, preserve URL and content value and streamline the process across international markets. <\/p>\n

Site migrations vs. global site migrations<\/h2>\n
Migration is any significant domain, content or URL changes that typically happen during a website rebuild, consolidation, domain change or move to a new content management system (CMS). <\/p>\n
There is enough to go wrong with a single site migration, but it can be disastrous when implemented globally without careful consideration. <\/p>\n
Often, multinational companies will deploy the new platform in a smaller single market or region to work out the bugs using beta users or allow a small percentage of users to access the website to stress and function test it. <\/p>\n
Before the migration <\/h2>\n
Your actions during the initial discovery and planning phases can significantly impact the project. The more you can illuminate and integrate global search requirements into the process during this early phase, the less you will have to fix them later.<\/p>\n
1. Consider the breadth and timing of deployment<\/h3>\n
Early on, you should size up how big of a deployment this will be. Will you deploy across all markets (common with a CMS “lift and shift” and simple branding), or will this be a major technology update and a complete architecture or content refresh? <\/p>\n
Many experienced managers will deploy the new platform in a smaller single market or region to work out the bugs using beta users or a small percentage of users on the website to stress and function test it. <\/p>\n
For a multimarket deployment, timing is very important. Ensure you review the holiday and other seasonal schedules in the impacted markets, as they may differ from the home market.<\/p>\n
It is never wise to plan a launch close to yearend or during the summer as many employees have vacation or the entire office shuts down for a week or even a month, negatively impacting resource availability. <\/p>\n
2. Ensure SEO best practices are integrated<\/h3>\n
Expect eye rolls and visible signs of anxiety from teams when SEO integration is mentioned in migration meetings. <\/p>\n
Despite their frustration, emphasizing the benefits of integrating search-friendly factors during the design phase is much easier than adapting later on.<\/p>\n
Instead of just sharing the latest SEO checklist or random articles with the team, provide specific tasks that need your expertise. This includes:<\/p>\n
\n
Template adjustments.<\/li>\n
Significant content updates.<\/li>\n
URL changes. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This way, your reviews and insights can be seamlessly integrated into the planning process.<\/p>\n
We can’t assume developers will make the site fast and mobile-friendly. Even before mockups have been created, work to enforce code, performance and platform adaptability requirements and the requisite QA acceptance testing. <\/p>\n
Not every market has super-fast internet or uses desktops, so this foundational performance must be required for the website. <\/p>\n
Remind them that many local markets do not have the resources for reviews and functional tests. Hence, the more that can be integrated natively into the deployment, the more it can cascade easily into all markets. <\/p>\n
Dig deeper: International SEO: How to avoid common translation and localization pitfalls<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
3. Identify content edits or new functionality<\/h3>\n
This is the best time to make sure your wish list for new or modified content for each market is integrated into the workflow. <\/p>\n
Share the output of your market-specific keyword research or entity mapping exercises that identified new content or adaptations so the localization and content teams can use them during their editing process. <\/p>\n
During a “lift and shift,” when you move content to a new design, check if any content is too long or too short for the new layout. You might need to add more content or trim unnecessary parts accordingly.<\/p>\n
If you need new functionality like hreflang or schema, you must make it known during the planning process so any necessary coding or template adjustments can be made. <\/p>\n
4. Ensure internationalization readiness <\/h3>\n
Preparing the new site and templates for internationalization is vital, even though it’s not typically an SEO task. This ensures compatibility with localized content, covering issues like text fitting and handling special characters.<\/p>\n
The inability to accommodate this critical set of actions will negatively impact user experience and SEO. The following are some of the key considerations to ensure internationalization:<\/p>\n
\n
Character encoding:<\/strong> Ensuring the entire infrastructure is Unicode (UTF-8) compliant is necessary to support the special characters found in many languages. <\/li>\n
Layout and design<\/strong>: Both elements must be flexible enough to adjust for the expansion, contraction and direction of localized text. I’ve seen cases where, right before launch, there wasn’t enough space for German text or support for right-to-left Arabic. The layout should avoid incorrect breaks between Japanese and Chinese characters.<\/li>\n
Entity-escaping XML sitemaps<\/strong>: This is one of the most overlooked requirements, especially for those launching in markets with special characters. XML sitemap protocol does not support Chinese, Russian or even French and German special characters, so they must be encoded to replace them with an escape code.<\/li>\n
Date, time and number formats<\/strong>: When the primary focus is on the U.S. functionality, consideration may not be given to the different local conventions, including measurements and date formats. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBusiness email address<\/label><\/p>\n
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Before the migration <\/h2>\nYour actions during the initial discovery and planning phases can significantly impact the project. The more you can illuminate and integrate global search requirements into the process during this early phase, the less you will have to fix them later.<\/p>\n

Migration development process<\/h2>\nAfter developing the plan for the plan, the real work starts with the development of technology and content. During this time, the global search team will take a few key actions.<\/p>\n

7. Check parent-child relationships<\/h3>\nEven simple “lift and shift” migrations can break the parent-child relationships between the main site and localized pages. <\/p>\n

Before the migration <\/h2>\n
Your actions during the initial discovery and planning phases can significantly impact the project. The more you can illuminate and integrate global search requirements into the process during this early phase, the less you will have to fix them later.<\/p>\n

Migration development process<\/h2>\n
After developing the plan for the plan, the real work starts with the development of technology and content. During this time, the global search team will take a few key actions.<\/p>\n