Types of Website migration
Types of Website Migrations
Migrating a website from HTTP to HTTPS is an example of a protocol change.
Subdomain or subfolder change
When a company chooses to move from one ccTLDs into subdomains or subfolders. Eg. www.example.com.au to www.au.example.com or www.example.com/au
This usually happens when a business is rebranding and has to switch from one domain to another. Eg. www.example.com to www.sample.com
This happens when a company decides to either launch the business abroad or limit it to a certain country. Eg. www.example.com to www.example.com.au or vice versa.Â
These are improvements to the layout of the site, which usually affect the internal reference and URL structure of the page.
This is when a website is switched from one platform to another. Eg. switching from WordPress to Shopify.
Things such as shifting to a mobile setup, indexing applications or creating a PWA website are often called partial website migrations.
Rewriting, consolidation or pruning of content can have a major impact on the visibility of organic search.
This can be anything from minor design changes to a complete website revision with major changes in code and copy.
The things to keep in mind while you are looking to migrate your website from one domain to another:
Calculate the risks and brace for the consequences.
Create backups and download them.
Pay attention to the URL structure.
Consider redirecting the URL as a major factor for SEO.
Use the change of address tool in the search console to communicate the site migration at the domain level.
Maintain the same directory and folder structure.
Remove broken links and 404 pages.
Set up a new directory for robots.txt.
Prioritize websites with a higher authority.
Plan your rebranding strategies.
This type of site migration involves shifting to a new platform or a CMS. For instance, if your website previously used WordPress as its CMS and you shift to Magento, that would require a website migration. This type of website migration can also involve redesigning websites and even URL changes.
Many technical procedures for a siteâs mobile setup can also involve partial or full website migration. These procedures can include building an AMP site, enabling app indexing, coding a PWA website, and more. When an existing website for mobile devices is replaced by an app, PWA, or an AMP, that also requires site migration.
This type of site migration involves a major update in the content of a website. This can include major content rewrites, content pruning, and consolidation. These activities cause a huge impact on a websiteâs SEO and its search visibility, and can affect your websiteâs taxonomy, internal linking, and more.
This type of site migration is caused by making significant changes in your websiteâs taxonomy, navigation, and changes or updates in website architecture. This can affect the internal linking in your website, its navigation as a whole, and user journeys.
As the name suggests, this type of site migration combines various different types and reasons for updating a website. For instance, the types mentioned above can be combined in any way, and it would be a hybrid migration. This type of migration often ends up increasing the complexity of the process, and risks in the results.