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Site Migration Types and Situations

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What kinds of situations require a site migration and what should you keep in mind with each type? Click here to learn more.

There are many situations in which a migration is required. Whether your business is growing through mergers and acquisitions, or you are repositioning yourself in the market, you’ll likely require a migration in some capacity. Read on to learn the five common situations where a migration is needed and things you should consider if and when they happen. 

1. Acquisition 

One of the biggest things to avoid with an acquisition migration project is duplicate content or uncompressed similar content. When combining similar content from multiple domains or entities, make one comprehensive, evergreen piece, rather than having two similar pieces living in different places at the same time. Here are some questions to ask yourself in the process: 

  • What content will be migrated or redirected? 
  • Are there similar content pages that can be compressed? 
  • Is there a landing page that discusses the acquisition of the new domain? 
  • Are there any subdomains owned by the acquired company? 

2. Business restructuring 

When restructuring your business, it is important to remember that URL and site structure are the most affected elements in these types of projects. Creating a clean and detailed content and redirect map will ease the process greatly. By envisioning and mapping out what you want your future site to look like, you can start to create the pages that will serve your future goals. 

3. Consolidating content 

So, you’ve decided to do some spring cleaning on outdated or thin content. The first thing to evaluate is where your current gaps in content are. Additionally, are there duplicates of the same information? Can some of your existing thinner pieces of content be combined to create a more comprehensive overview of a topic? Before jumping into a migration, make sure to audit the content you already have so you can optimize it during your migration. 

4. Merger 

During a merger, you want to make sure that your team is: 

  • Creating a plan for both websites. 
  • Not letting content slip through the cracks—there are valuable resources on both domains that need relevant redirects. 
  • Communicating with users on both sides about the merger before you start. You want to ensure that they aren’t surprised when they land on a new domain. 

5. Website redesign 

Often, website redesigns don’t include any migration unless the URL structure is changing due to the redesign. In this case, it’s important to focus on what is changing from a structural standpoint to ensure redirect mapping is accurate. Images will also likely move places, so that will be a major part of the migration in this instance.  

Have a site migration coming up? 

Now that you know the common migration types and situations you can begin to plan for your own successful move. To make sure your migration goes off without a hitch, be sure to download our latest guide, “Website Migrations Best Practices,” for information about: 

  • Why you need a migration plan 
  • URL equity  
  • Migration types and situations 
  • Migration process and best practices 

We have also included a full migration checklist in the guide so that you can stay on top of the process and avoid any potential risks.  

Need more information or support on your next site migration? Feel free to contact us or learn more about our search engine optimization services