7 Steps That You Shouldn’t Miss During Website Migration
Website migration is a process that every business should eventually undergo. The term is a broad one and describes an event when numerous aspects of a site could be altered. Site migration cases can include moving a host, changing URLs, and changing domains. It also includes moving to a new web server, changing the user interface of the website, or changing from HTTP to HTTPS.
Changing the web hosting provider is one of the most common migrations that businesses undertake. It can be due to the availability of a better web hosting plan which can offer a better price and improved features. The reason for migrating your site to a new web host or transferring the hosting service can be any. But, it is important for the site owner to do it right.
The support guidelines from Google do not cover much about the impact of migrating web-hosting providers. But, it is crucial for you to understand that a single wrong move can lead to a significant loss in website traffic and revenue. It can last for weeks and months before your site can receive the normal traffic. Not migrating properly can also affect the SEO of your website which can harm your business. To avoid such problems, ensure the important tasks shared below before migrating the web hosting provider. Read on.
Steps To Carry On During Website Migration
Understand The Risks And Prepare Yourself For Any Eventuality
There are many risks involved in migrating a website to a new web host. As the owner of a website, it is important for you to calculate the risks involved in the migration. You also need to plan for any unexpected turnouts. Website migration might not be as easy as it looks on the surface. Make sure to list the things that can go wrong during the migration process. It can be like a fall in SEO ranking, service interruption, or loss of important data.
Have A Backup Of The Crucial Data
When migrating a website from a web host to another, it is important to have a backup of everything. You may download the important data as a local copy. You may also upload the same to cloud servers like OneDrive, Google, etc. If anything went wrong during the website migration process because of a technical glitch or manual error, this backup could come in handy. Having it will let you restore your site to its previous state. Not making a backup can prove to be a fatal error for your site if anything went wrong during the website migration process.
Website And Database Files
Before migrating the site, the website and database files should be transferred to the new host. You can make use of the FTP to move the website files to the public_html directory. It is important to keep in mind that if you are making use of plugins for migrating databases, it might not cater to plugins, images, media files, etc. You will need to download these files separately and then upload them to the latest web host account.
Transfer Domain Name Along With Website Migration
Even though technically unnecessary, transferring the domain name can make things easy to manage. After moving your web host, you may continue to use the old domain or transfer your domain name also to the new web host. Continuing with the old domain will need you to switch the DNS. That way you can continue with the new web host while the domain is registered with the old web host. Transferring the domain name will need you to switch domain name registrars for your settings to remain unchanged, and the billing and customer support to be transferred.
Get Rid Of Errors And Broken Links
Migrating your website to a new web host is like refurbishing your site. But, now without losing the data and domain authority that your site has acquired over the years. Therefore, it is important that while migrating the website, you get rid of the errors and flaws present in the site. You should not transfer the flaws to the new web host and then identify them and redirect or remove them as necessary.
Setup A New Robots.Txt File
Setting up a new robots.txt file is one of the most significant technical aspects of migrating a website. If the site is being migrated to a new host with the same URL, then you may not alter the robots.txt file. However, there are chances that the older robots.txt file is blocking the redirects. In such a situation, you may have to update the robots.txt file to ensure the best possible results. You should set up the robots.txt file if the site is being transferred to the new URL together with a web host. This will help to ensure optimal results.
URL Structure
You need to make sure that the new URL structure is not hampering your SEO. Also, update your internal links as soon as you migrate the site. It will let your users move from page to page on your site. Having many redirects will affect the performance of the webserver and can slow it down. In addition, it will impact your SEO and can lead to a negative experience for the visitors of your website.
Website Migration – Conclusion
Website migration is not an easy task. Utmost care is necessary when performing the same. If anything goes wrong, you can lose anything from the SEO of your website to all your website data. Having said that, with proper website migration, your site can enjoy the benefits of better web hosting. It might result in improved speed, security, SEO, etc. If you are not confident enough to do the tasks of website migration on your own, you can get professional assistance. You may also get in touch with your new web host for any help. Your new web host can offer precautionary guidelines that can help you in safely migrating your website to a new host without losing data, SEO, or your customers.
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