Website Migration and Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Website migration is usually a process that seems easy. However, a wrong move can impact your daily activities. We will see how to perform website migration safely. Migrating a website can be a delicate step, but necessary for many businesses. Whether it is for:

• change host,
• improve site performance
• or switch to a more modern CMS,

This process can present risks, especially in terms of SEO, performance, and content management. However, most issues can be avoided by planning the migration properly and being aware of common mistakes. In this article, we will explore common mistakes when migrating a website and give you tips on how to avoid them.

Website Migration and Common Mistakes

1. Not Preparing a Detailed Migration Plan

One of the most common mistakes is underestimating the complexity of the migration process and not developing a clear plan. Without planning, crucial steps can be missed, leading to downtime, data loss, or site display issues.

How to avoid it:

• Prepare a detailed roadmap , including steps before, during, and after the migration.
• Create a checklist for each important step (backups, transfers, redirects, checking file compatibility, etc.).
• Assign clear roles to each team member involved in the process.

2. Not Backing Up the Site Before Migration

Not backing up your site before starting the migration is a serious mistake that can lead to data loss. If something goes wrong, you may not be able to restore your site to its original state.

How to avoid it:

• Make a full backup of your website (files, databases, configurations, etc.) before starting the migration.
• Use a reliable backup tool or cloud service like Dropbox or Google Drive to store files securely.

3. Forgetting to Manage 301 Redirects

Migrating a website, especially when the URL changes, requires setting up 301 redirects. Forgetting this step can lead to 404 errors, which affects user experience and SEO, with a possible drop in traffic.

How to avoid it:

• Map old URLs to new ones and make sure each old page correctly redirects to its new version.
• Use tools like Screaming Frog to identify all existing URLs and configure them in your .htaccess file or through your CMS.

4. Not Considering SEO Impact

Migration can have a significant impact on your SEO if not managed well. Losing your backlinks, changing your URLs without redirecting, or changing the structure of your site can degrade your search engine rankings.

How to avoid it:

• Preserve the URL structure as much as possible .
• Make sure all redirects are in place to preserve existing backlinks.
• Closely monitor your SEO performance before and after migration via tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console.

5. Neglecting Site Speed

Some migrations can make your site slower, especially when transferring to a poor quality host or if the files are not optimized for the new server. This can harm the user experience and affect your SEO.

How to avoid it:

• Test your site speed before and after migration with tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix .
• If you change hosts, choose a provider recognized for the performance of its servers.
• Optimize files , compress images, and minify CSS/JS files.

6. Test Only on the Production Site

Testing directly on the production site may cause interruptions or errors visible to your users.

How to avoid it:

• Create a test environment or copy of your site to safely migrate without affecting the live site.
• Test the migration on this environment to identify any bugs or issues before replicating it to the main site.

7. Ignore Error Pages (404) and Unmigrated Pages

It is possible that some pages or files are not migrated correctly. If this happens, visitors will encounter 404 errors, which degrades the user experience and affects your credibility.

How to avoid it:

• After migrating, use a crawling tool like Screaming Frog to detect 404 errors and missing pages.
• Create a custom 404 error page that guides users to a valid page or offers to return them to the home page.

8. Not Updating Internal Links

After a migration, especially when the site structure changes, some internal links may be broken. This prevents users from navigating properly and can cause your pages to be poorly indexed by Google.

How to avoid it:

• Go through your site after migration and verify that all internal links are working properly.
• Use tools or plugins that automatically scan for broken links and allow you to fix them.

Conclusion

Migrating a website can be a complex process, but avoiding these common mistakes will greatly reduce the risk of malfunction and loss of traffic. The key to a successful migration is careful planning, backup, and implementation of each step of the process. Don’t forget to test every aspect of your site after the migration is complete to ensure it functions properly and continues to provide an optimal user experience.