There are times when one needs to migrate the website. It is like changing the very land on which home stands — We do not want to, but we somehow have to. Similarly, some situations occur when a website migration becomes necessary. Just as things go prone to damage when shifting happens, SEO suffers too when migration happens. But there are things that could be done to prevent the damage. According to Blurn, the Best SEO Agency (Melbourne) could come helpful for those unknown to the technicalities.
Why do people migrate and how do SEO agency minimize the damage?
You might know how annoying website migration could be if you do not know the technicalities involved. For those unaware: website migration is the process of changing either your host or your domain. A host is one on whose servers the website stays stored. People migrate for many reasons such as,
- Better loading speed.
- Better security at other servers.
- Lower costs.
- Better reliability in handling your data.
- Improved performance.
One does not start with higher-end servers. There are times when one has to adjust considering the budget. But as the business grows, so do its needs. Migration is not an easy process, and this creates further complexities for SEO. A website is a complex set of codes placed sophisticatedly. This sophisticated order of codes stays prone to disruption during the migration.
The many possible types of migration!
When it comes to hosting migration, possible errors happen due to incomplete or faulty migration. When this happens, the website suffers a downtime. This gets handled by experts. Some hosting websites provide free migration. Checkout for the same. When you migrate your website from one hosting to another, the change in server address needs to be updated accordingly.
Websites, mainly blogging, stay in order using CMS (or Content Management System). There are many CMS like WordPress or Joomla. When you shift from one CMS to another, it leads to a change in coding too. If not done properly, it can lead to a break in the code and thus difficulty in the crawling done by search engines.
Another possibility occurs in the case of domain migration. There come times when your website requires a change in the domain name. When the domain name changes, all the vital links acquired to date go prone to being useless. People might get 404 errors. This usually gets handled by a process called redirection. Redirection creates a bridge between old URLs and new URLs. A 301 redirection usually takes place.
Another type of migration comes when one changes the protocol. When one migrates from an HTTP to HTTPS. Google strictly warns against using an HTTP website. It takes security as a ranking factor. A website with HTTPS will surely be suggested over an HTTP one.
It is always advised to not touch things without knowledge. A website takes a huge amount of time and money to reach up the ladder, and it can all fall in minutes. Suggests Blurn, the Best SEO Agency (Melbourne) should always be sought in these times.
The many possible types of migration errors!
Imagine hiring that best SEO agency, paying it, gaining rankings and links, and then losing them all during migration! The loss indeed is recoverable, but it still will cost you much for an extended period of time.
- Error in the content due to improper migration: When the migration does not take place in the manner it should, the content leads to errors. Duplication, Deletion, Broken content, and many other possible errors happen. This can lead to penalties by search engines.
- Error in the URL section: This usually happens in the case of domain name migration. When you migrate from one domain to another, all the links fall obsolete. Users see a 404 Page Not Found error in place of the content. This leads to a sense of distrust.
- Error in the domain: Migration takes time: if you close your hosting with the previous host before the migration process is complete and live, you might see errors. You need to submit a domain transfer request with your previous host and configure the new setting at last.
How do SEO agencies deal with migration errors?
Website migration is a little technical process. It can break your entire site completely if handled naively. As per Blurn, the Best SEO Agency (Melbourne) alone should handle these critical migrations. Complexities go a scale higher when a subdomain comes into the situation.
Redirection errors are easier to handle as compared to those due to broken codes. It is always advised to take a backup of the entire website in case a mishap leads to frowns. When a website gets migrated, it needs to be optimized again to let Google or any search engine be aware of the changes. If you have a bigger website and are planning to migrate it, then it is always advised to look for an SEO agency for the proper optimization. An improper optimization leads to a loss much more than the cost of those SEO agencies.
If you have cost issues, then SEO agencies provide many plans — as this https://blurn.com/au/digital-marketing-services/search-engine-optimisation-seo-services/best-seo-agency-australia/sydney — these days. Consider opting for any plan that serves as a balance between your desire and your budget.
Apart from it, make sure you process the migration around two weeks before your hosting expires at the previous host. Some hosts provide extra 10 or 15 days too to help the migration process.
Should you handle migration by yourself?
If you have a single domain, a simple website, and are planning to migrate your hosting, then you simply need not go for paid migration services. There are few hosting platforms that even provide a hosting migration for free.
If you have a subdomain and a larger website, then it is advised to practice caution. A little step here and there, and your entire website might break.
When it comes to domain migration, consider going for a service. SEO services need to be sought to optimize your website again and clean up any spills during the process. The change in URLs, robot files, and many other files require expertise. It is suggested by Blurn, that the Best SEO Agency (Melbourne) can cost you some but will earn you much more. Protocol transfer and domain transfer is a technical processes and should not be played with.