How a Successful Website Migration Led to a 20% Increase in Keyword Rankings

Achieving a seamless website migration is a complex undertaking with inherent risks, impacting organic rankings, keyword visibility, and overall performance profoundly. Threats like broken redirects, lost backlinks, and misconfigured technical elements can lead to substantial organic traffic loss.

A global luxury fashion brand — meticulous planning and execution of the strategy not only mitigated these risks but delivered outstanding results. Managing over 150,000 URLs underscored the scale and complexity of the project. One month post-migration, the website demonstrated a remarkable +63.8% growth in organic sessions and a +20% increase in keyword rankings.

In this article, you will gain invaluable insights into the intricacies of website migrations from start to finish. You'll learn about the importance of effective communication and crafting a detailed Scope of Work. And last but not least, you'll discover a prioritized list of activities for each phase, ensuring a smooth transition.

1. Unlocking growth: A strategic shift from YNAP to Shopify for enhanced scalability while improving organic performance

Migrating their website from YNAP to Shopify while retaining all keyword rankings and organic traffic. Their partnership with YNAP had imposed limitations on website scalability and warehouse management, hindering overall growth. That’s why they decided to look for a better fit to double their business and increase both database size and conversions. This move was not just about a platform switch but a strategic decision to overcome specific limitations and unlock new potential.

Their primary goals were:

• Retain all keyword rankings and organic traffic after the migration.
• Enhance website performance during and after the migration.
• Improve rankings for targeted non-branded keywords with high search volume.
• Preserve the Domain Authority of the website.

The YNAP e-commerce structure comprised 25 markets, five languages, and over 150k URLs. Recognizing the project's complexity, my priority was identifying and addressing potential challenges upfront. This proactive approach aimed to guarantee a seamless transition, with every aspect of the migration carefully planned and executed.

Beyond the typical SEO migration risks such as missing redirects, redirect chains, redirects leading to 404 pages, incorrect setups of canonical tags, hreflang tags, robots.txt, no index tags, and unmanaged backlinks — I also considered platform-specific elements and changes. This included ensuring the proper configuration of the new platform, accurate mapping of redirects based on the URL structure, and effective organization of information on the new website.

In addition to addressing these concerns, I took the chance to suggest further enhancements. Together with my tech team, I conducted a thorough reassessment of the overall SEO setup, exploring new possibilities for enhancement in fundamental areas like information architecture, taxonomy, and navigation.

We didn’t want to merely manage the migration. We wanted to configure the new platform for long-term success and optimize international performance during this impactful transformation.

2. Orchestrating the plan: A collaborative roadmap, task allocation, and organization across the migration phases

To achieve the desired outcomes, we implemented a comprehensive migration strategy. Our approach involved the following key steps and activities:

Kick-off and alignment

We initiated the project with a round of introductory calls to understand the brand requirements, goals, and expectations. The discovery call is one of the crucial parts of the process. It allows us to align our strategy with the client’s vision and create a collaborative roadmap for the migration.

Here are the main questions we asked our client to get all the necessary information required to build a solid strategy and avoid errors or misunderstandings.

• Why are you migrating?
• What goals do you want to achieve with this migration?
• What does a successful migration mean for you, and what specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will you use to measure that success?
• What type of migration are you considering (e.g., platform, domain)?
• What's your current platform, and what's the new one for re-platforming?
• Have there been any notable changes to the website in the past that we should be aware of?
• How many countries and languages are part of the current setup, and how does this compare to the number of countries and languages in the planned new setup for the migration?
• Who will be our primary contacts, both inside and outside your team, especially with developers?
• Can we access tools like Google Analytics and Search Console for assessment and historical data handling?
• Are there any obstacles in site crawl, like blocked elements or custom headers?
• Are there plans to change the information architecture?
• Are there changes to the content strategy as part of the migration?
• Are there any legal or compliance considerations that need to be addressed during the migration?
• Defining the Scope of Work and crafting a tailored roadmap

Drawing insights from the responses and aligning with brand requirements, we defined the Scope of Work (SOW), clarifying all the activities and resources needed to successfully complete the migration.

In outlining our activities, we prioritized client requests and identified gaps in additional SEO actions. As SEO experts, we emphasized that some activities, even beyond initial requests, play a vital role during transitions like migrations. Addressing these strategically at this stage ensures efficiency and prevents the need for future changes, saving both time and resources.

For instance, we recommended optimizing the information architecture, often overlooked, to reshape data and product organization. Simultaneously, we highlighted the importance of improving product names for SEO and using them to create an optimized URL taxonomy that is more descriptive and SEO-friendly, thus maximizing the potential of their existing product suite.

The final SOW was split into four sections, corresponding to different phases of the migration process.

1. Pre-migration planning: Gathering all the data and information we needed from the YNAP website, agreeing on KPIs and metrics to improve, and auditing the current website. This was used to inform all of our actions and decisions in the subsequent stages of the migration. Crafting a detailed list of requirements for the new Shopify website to be best optimized.
2. Pre-migration preparation: Using all of our data from the planning, we prepared for the launch of the new website and the migration from the old to the new.
3. Website launch: Hyper-care support throughout the website launch day, with critical SEO checks to ensure the website was entirely crawlable, indexable, and optimized.
4. Post-migration support: A final audit of the new website and a review of all agreed metrics.

For each section, we included all the necessary activities. You can find a more detailed breakdown in the planning phase section below.

Subsequently, we crafted a personalized and collaborative roadmap on Monday.com to effectively visualize, track, and monitor the progress of activities assigned to each team.

Clearly visualizing and tracking all tasks while identifying specific responsible parties not only heightened awareness among the client and developers but also emphasized the importance of swift and precise implementation. This, in turn, accelerated the execution process.

Constant and effective communication

To stay updated, we set up a plan to regularly inform stakeholders about the progress and potential impacts during the migration.

We kept the client and stakeholders in the loop every week through calls, detailed agendas, and recaps. Each activity and check was closely monitored and discussed during these calls. We sent thorough emails to track progress.

This approach ensured quick execution and feedback, avoiding wasted time in unnecessary back-and-forth due to misunderstandings. It also allowed us to adapt our strategy and roadmap promptly in response to last-minute changes, delays, or unexpected events.

Planning phase

For an effective execution of our migration strategy, we created a detailed migration plan by organizing and allocating tasks based on the different phases of the project.

Pre-migration phase

In this phase, we focused on laying the groundwork for a successful migration. The activities included:

• Technical audit
• URL sourcing
• E-commerce requirements and guidelines
• Hreflang tag implementation
• Definition of a keyword-informed information architecture
• URL structure optimization and localization
• Redirect mapping
• Meta data optimization for the main countries targeted by the fashion brand (US, UK, France, Italy, and Spain)
• Old and new sitemap management
• Backlink profile audit
• Staging environment testing
• HTML code testing

Pre-live phase

In this phase, we conducted further checks and audits to ensure the optimal conditions for the new site's launch. The key activities included:

• Staging technical audit
• Internal link checks

Website launch phase

During the migration day, we carried out a series of checks and audits to ensure a smooth transition to the new website. The activities included:

• Robots.txt check
• Redirects check
• Technical audit
• Crawlability and internal links audit
• GA/GSC Setup Check
• Old Sitemap Submission

Post-migration phase

Following the migration, we conducted ongoing checks and audits to monitor the website's performance and make necessary optimizations. The key activities in this phase included:

• Recurring indexation and redirect checks
• Crawlability and internal links audit
• Reporting

3. Bringing the strategy to life: The actions taken to achieve goals [and navigate unexpected obstacles]

URL sourcing

To build our database of existing URLs from the YNAP platform effectively, we integrated data exported from Google Analytics reports, Search Console, website crawling, sitemaps, and SERPs.

We used Moz Pro for crawling the website, Screaming Frog to fetch and download sitemaps, and the old-but-gold SEO SERP Extraction Tool from Chris Ainsworth.

After exporting the URLs, we consolidated them in a spreadsheet, eliminating duplicates or irrelevant URLs, and prioritized them by aggregating all organic performance data, including revenue, traffic, impressions, and clicks.

We utilized this list as a starting point for constructing a 1:1 redirect map, giving priority to the mapping and management of the most valuable pages. Subsequently, we shared the final CSV file with the development team for the implementation of redirects.

Creating ad-hoc Shopify SEO requirements

We crafted guidelines and technical requirements for the new platform to ensure optimal SEO compliance and a seamless migration. The list of requirements has been informed by the technical audit conducted during the pre-migration phase to determine if it is new functionality or a functionality to be maintained.

The list of SEO elements and features has been tailored, considering Shopify's out-of-the-box features and limitations, potential code changes in Liquid, and brand requirements. Dive into this Shopify SEO guide to discover some platform-specific adjustments.

We shared the prioritized list of activities to be monitored before, during, and after migration with stakeholders. Additionally, a recap spreadsheet was provided to track the status of each implementation. This proactive approach kept us consistently informed about progress, enabling us to note what was completed, in progress, or aborted. This approach allowed us to report accurately after the migration, considering both successful implementations and missed opportunities.

Building a new information architecture (IA)

We studied the current website and products, conducted thorough keyword research, and reviewed competitor structures. Based on this, we redesigned the website layout, adding new categories or renaming existing ones. We then defined the URL structure and architecture for English, Spanish, French, and Italian versions of the Shopify site and proposed SEO-localized navigation item labels for improved UX and UI.

The final deliverable included a URL slug, meta title, meta description, and depth levels for each category and landing page.

Navigating unexpected obstacles: 4 issues we faced, and how you can deal with them

Addressing last-minute changes to the information architecture

After agreeing on the architecture of the new site and mapping around 150,000 URLs, the client decided at the last minute to remove some categories and modify others.

How did we manage the last-minute change?

We conducted URL mapping in a shared spreadsheet. The old URLs were broken down into multiple parts for easy categorization, while the new URLs were created using formulas. We simply adjusted some of them to align with the client's requests in record time, avoiding any delays in the migration process.

Quick tip

We used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to quickly build formulas, subsequently validating them within our spreadsheet.

Dealing with Shopify limitations

Nesting categories

Given Shopify's limitation in nesting categories, we couldn't use the conventional main category/subcategory structure for folder hierarchy.

Our solution? We systematically organized all URLs to provide a clear grasp of the site's architecture, emphasizing the importance of each category for users and search engines alike. For instance:

• /women
• /women-coats-outerwear
• /women-jackets-blazers
• /women-shirts-tops

URL translation

Given the constraint in Shopify Markets for URL translation, localizing URLs according to the market proved challenging.

Our solution? We fine-tuned and localized all on-page elements (metadata, H1, texts) and incorporated primary hreflang tags for each market directly on the page using Liquid. Here's a snippet of the added code:

          
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="{{ canonical_url | replace: shop.domain, 'www.brand.com' }}" />
<link rel="alternate" href="{{ canonical_url | replace: shop.domain, 'www.brand.com' }}" hreflang="en-US" />
<link rel="alternate" href="{{ canonical_url | replace: shop.domain, 'www.brand.com/en-gb' }}" hreflang="en-GB" />
<link rel="alternate" href="{{ canonical_url | replace: shop.domain, 'www.brand.com/it-it' }}" hreflang=?it-IT" />
                

Duplicate product URLs

In Shopify, creating different collections to organize products into categories is a standard practice. However, within each collection, product URLs can get duplicated, canonicalized, and linked, creating a potential challenge. For instance:

• /products/giacca-uomo/
• /collections/capispalla-uomo/products/giacca-uomo/ > duplicated and canonicalized

So, how did we fix this? We managed alternative URLs by tweaking the theme code using Liquid. This adjustment ensures that within each category, only links to the final product pages are included, avoiding links to collections.

Here is the procedure:

• Back up your theme.
• Search your theme files for “within: collection,” typically found in the product-grid or product-loop file.
• Remove "| within: collection" from the following string: {{ product.url | within: collection }}

Note: Shopify utilizes the collection path to dynamically insert breadcrumbs. This adjustment to the product URLs necessitates an additional intervention in the breadcrumb code to ensure continued functionality.

4. Unveiling the concrete gains: Enhanced organic rankings and surging traffic after migration

The migration strategy implemented for the client yielded highly positive results, exceeding the set goals. The migration was done on March 1.

Organic keywords

After just one full month following the migration, the website experienced a significant increase in organic keyword rankings, with a growth of over 20% in total organic keywords in March.

After five months, the number of organic keywords for which the website is ranking kept improving, experiencing a growth of +81.5%.

Examining the key positions, specifically the top 3 and top 10, provides a crystal-clear view of the ultimate results attained.

The new information architecture and optimized metadata enabled the website to rank for new non-branded keywords with high search volume, expanding its reach and attracting a broader audience.

Several keywords showed remarkable improvement, moving from high positions to the top 20 in search results, further solidifying the brand visibility and competitiveness in the market.

Organic performance

Organic sessions increased by 3.3% month-over-month (MoM) and an impressive 63.8% year-over-year (YoY), indicating a successful migration without any significant disruptions to organic traffic.

The website retained its Domain Authority, preserving its strong online presence and ensuring continued credibility in search engine rankings.

5. Takeaways

• Define a clear roadmap and share it with stakeholders.
• Communicate effectively and consistently with all involved teams.
• Establish SEO guidelines for the new platform.
• Create a robust yet easily modifiable redirect mapping.
• Optimize the website architecture and localize all content.
• Conduct pre- and post-go-live site audits.
• Exercise extreme care and continuous checks during the go-live process.
• Unexpected challenges are inevitable: plan everything but remain flexible.

For a thorough planning of your upcoming migration, download my free SEO migration roadmap now.

6. Conclusion

The success of this migration strategy demonstrates that implementing seamless website transitions while preserving keyword rankings, organic traffic, and overall performance is possible.

By carefully planning and executing each phase and closely collaborating with the client, we achieved outstanding results and positioned the brand for sustained organic growth on the Shopify platform.

*This article is from MOZ Blog