What are the most important SEO factors to consider during CMS migration?

Migrations should be approached from 2 main fronts: 1. A technical front 2. A qualitative front From the Technical front, make sure that: - Website structure doesn't suffer setbacks - Content remains accessible to engines - Structure and content have a parity between source and destination - Make sure you don't end up forgetting about images or structured data parity. From a qualitative front: - Make sure content matches, avoid mismatching - If you're planning not migrating some content based on a business decision, that's OK, but be aware of consequences Planning is essential, and steps shouldn't be skipped or overlooked. Make sure you plan and assess changes with all teams involved -- Back-end; Front-end; Content; Design and UX; etc.

As an SEO expert, I took on the challenge of helping 'TechTreasure,' a struggling e-commerce company, regain its online presence. A comprehensive SEO audit unveiled issues in product descriptions, internal links, and backlinks. I crafted a strategy, optimizing content, meta tags, and fixing technical problems. A successful backlink campaign improved the site's authority. Over time, TechTreasure's website traffic and search rankings surged. Their conversion rates rose, resulting in record sales and profits. This experience highlighted the transformative potential of SEO in rescuing a struggling business, and I left with a sense of achievement.

To get ahead in a migration process with a technical SEO audit before a content freeze, careful planning and execution are crucial. 1. Preparation and Planning Schedule the audit well in advance of the migration. Identify clear goals and objectives for the audit. 2. Crawl and Index Analysis: Use a website crawler tool like Screaming Frog to examine your current website's structure and indexability. Identify issues such as crawl problems, duplicate content, and indexation issues. 3. Technical SEO Audit Conduct an in-depth technical SEO audit focusing on URL structure, meta tags, canonicalization, PageSpeed and schema markup. Prioritize issues that need immediate attention.

From experience the most important factor is not doing SEO in a silo. Yes, it's important, possibly one of the most individually important parts of a migration, but I've seen: 1. times when SEO has been brought in too late, even post-launch! SEO isn't something you do "to a site", it needs a voice from it's conception. 2. SEO teams leading builds. This tends to lead to technically solid, from an SEO perspective, websites. Again, SEO should be one voice at the table, not calling all the shots. 3. Organisations not knowing what SEO, and more importantly what SEO is NOT. This latter point tends to result in point 2 as people assume SEOers know every aspect of website builds ... they don't! SEO is one bit of the jigsaw, not the whole jigsaw.

My advice is to focus on ensuring that URL structures remain as consistent as possible during the migration. If URL changes are necessary, ensure that proper 301 redirects are in place to guide users and search engines to the new URLs. To have as few redirects as possible and ensure that GoogleBot may crawl the new URLs

Practically speaking, Wordpress and headless CMS' like Contentful are great for SEO optimization. As a headless CMS comes with a API-first approach, this allows you to seamlessly integrate with various platforms and tools. Wordpress probably does not need any further introduction.

Asi es. Bien dicho ! No todos los CMS son amigable y permiten trabajar el SEO con el mismo esfuerzo y detalle, y lastimosamente en ocasiones el cliente prefiere apuntar a lograr las ventas con "facilidad" perdiendo un esfuerzo e inversion...

As an SEO expert, I embarked on a mission to find the ideal Content Management System (CMS) for a client's critical website. Armed with the SEO audit report, my task was clear: identify a CMS compatible with their SEO goals. I knew that not all CMS platforms were created equal when it came to SEO. Technical aspects like meta tags, URL redirection, and security were non-negotiable. Scalability was key for future growth, and cost had to fit the budget. The availability of SEO plugins and support was crucial. After extensive research, I discovered a CMS that checked all the boxes, with a user-friendly interface, robust security, scalability, and an array of SEO plugins.

The most user-friendly CMS, in my opinion, is WordPress. Of course, this doesn't mean you have to rely on a CMS; it doesn't guarantee SEO results or faster website loading times. Usually, custom CMSs are better because you likely already have developers who can make all the necessary adjustments.

I agree on this thought, there are several things to consider when migrating to another CMS and this is the most crucial aspect. We get ahead of ourselves on planning when and what CMS to use without even checking the compatibility. You’ll never know that only then you’ll discover more opportunities for your business when you research first. ??

During CMS migration, when selecting a compatible CMS for SEO, consider: SEO-friendly URL structures. Easy meta data customization. Mobile optimization support. Quick page loading capabilities. Auto-generation of XML sitemaps. Accessibility to modify robots.txt. Support for schema markup. Efficient internal link management. Clear content hierarchy options. Integration with analytics tools. Choose a CMS that complements your SEO efforts to ensure visibility isn't compromised during the transition.

As an SEO expert, my task was clear: migrate a client's website to a new CMS with a meticulously planned strategy. After selecting the new CMS, we mapped out the content and SEO element transfer, restructured architecture, navigation, and URLs, and implemented 301 redirects for old URLs. Updates to titles, meta tags, content, images, links, canonicals, schema, robots.txt, and sitemaps to match the new design and functionality followed. Roles were assigned to team members based on a detailed checklist and timeline. The outcome? A successful migration that maintained SEO rankings and improved website performance, highlighting the significance of careful planning and teamwork in SEO migration.

First, I wouldn’t change content during a migration so you can isolate factors. You’re already changing technology, structure, design. Second, mapping urls source and destination is easy. The most important is to make sure you’re keeping the same relevant content in the destination. If not, even redirecting you’ll probably lose rankings and traffic. Third, if you decide to discontinue some content or pages with good performance, keep in mind that you’ll see less general traffic after migration and it doesn’t mean failure. And lastly, make sure the new CMS experience is better and you’ll probably improve your traffic, if you keep your content relevant.

Before launching a new site we scan with SiteBulb a desktop spider tool. It provides detailed hints on missing pages invalid Heading task or blank anchor links. I wouldn't launch a site without it

For testing the migrated website, we already have all of the URLs from the previous website, which were scanned with Screaming Frog. For the new website, we perform another crawl with Screaming Frog, and I compare what’s missing or not. From there we may add new redirects or adjust some URLs

First and foremost, always implement 301 redirects to guide both users and search engines from old URLs to new ones, preserving the hard-earned link equity. It's equally vital to keep the content, including meta tags, consistent during the shift. Speed is of the essence; ensure the new CMS doesn't bog down your site. Refresh your XML sitemaps to mirror the new structure and diligently update internal links. Lastly, post-migration, please keep an eye on the site performance and rankings. Regular audits will help catch and rectify any unforeseen issues. Seamless communication between your SEO team and developers can make all the difference throughout this journey.

Prioritising following 5 factors should help to reduce migration impact: 1. URL structure : Ensure all URLs are migrated correctly and new sitemap reflects the new URL. Avoid too many redirects. 2. Internal link structure : Ensure current internal linking structure is maintained and new URLs are updated in internal links. 3. Page speed and core web vitals: Since page experience is one of key ranking factors, ensure the page speed score and core web vitals improve on new platform. 4. Backlinks: If older website URLs have backlinks ensure those pages are added on new website and redirects are configured. 5. Indexed Content: Ensure content is migrated properly. Also check other indexed content formats e.g images and pdfs.

During a CMS migration, you need to pay close attention to several critical SEO factors to ensure a smooth transition and minimal impact on your website's search rankings: 1. Maintain existing URL structure or implement 301 redirects for changed URLs to pass link juice. 2. Ensure all content is migrated accurately, and metadata (meta tags, headings) is retained. 3. Migrate image alt tags, canonical tags, linking structure. 4. Optimize the new CMS for speed to improve user experience and rankings. 5. Ensure the new CMS is mobile-responsive. 6. Crawlability- Check robots.txt and XML sitemaps to confirm search engines can crawl and index the new site. 7. Structured Data- Preserve structured data for rich snippets.