Website Migration to Improve Visibility and Increase Organic Traffic

We began our collaboration at the turn of May and June 2021 with a one-off SEO consultation project. It turned out that Exorigo-Upos was in search of someone to guide them through their website migration to ensure all the technical aspects crucial for SEO were handled correctly. They also sought assistance with:

1. researching keywords relevant to their business
2. building the correct information architecture
3. implementing various language versions on the website

Exorigo-Upos was well aware of the SEO risks associated with a website migration and therefore wanted to do their best to minimize them. They assumed that if we proved to be reliable partners in this project, they would continue working with us throughout the entire SEO process – and that’s precisely what happened!

A poorly executed migration can indeed have dire consequences for a website’s SEO. It can essentially make Google treat it as an entirely new website, resulting in lost search engine rankings, decreased visibility, organic traffic, and conversions. It can also negatively affect brand awareness and other traffic channels.

Numerous technical elements must be carefully addressed before and during migration to prevent the aforementioned issues. Without the help of an SEO agency, developers building the website may not always be aware of all SEO-related aspects, leading to potential errors.

However, when done right, website migration can greatly boost visibility and help website owners unlock their website’s true potential. That was exactly what we wanted to do!

Migration Process

The very first step we took was keyword research. Exorigo-Upos wanted to find out how its target audience searched for its services to make sure that the information architecture aligned with those search patterns.

Using the insights from this research, we made changes to product and service names, reorganized the menu, improved metadata, and modified URLs. Additionally, we selected the keywords to be used for creating new pieces of web content.

Section from the final menu layout

We also guided the Client on how to handle the multilingual versions of the website – on the old Exorigo-Upos website, they used language directories, while on the new one, each language has its dedicated domain. We implemented hreflangs and took care of setting smooth redirects.

Furthermore, since Exorigo-Upos had several unused domains, we advised on how to make them actually useful. We reviewed their performance metrics and history to decide whether to keep, redirect, or completely abandon them, cutting down on unnecessary expenses.

An essential part of the SEO migration project was also to run an in-depth analysis and provide feedback for the development version of the website. At that stage, we meticulously checked various technical elements to later give our recommendations to the Exorigo-Upos’s developers. This way we ensured that the website was well-prepared for the SEO process, minimizing the need for significant technical changes later on. Some of the aspects we examined included:

• page loading speed
• header structure
• internal linking
• external linking, where appropriate links were marked with the rel=”nofollow” attribute
• footer structure
• graphics
• txt file
• sitemap

Furthermore, we established proper 301 redirect rules, which are one of the most critical aspects of a migration. When URL addresses change, and redirects aren’t well-prepared, the power of the old URLs, their visibility, and inbound links can be lost.

Additionally, we provided SEO guidelines for writing blog posts. This way the Client knew how to optimize new web content for SEO.

The SEO consultations lasted for two months, and the migration process was launched on July 29. We set a specific date and time for the launch, making sure our team was in place to check if everything had been done correctly. This step is crucial and contributes to the whole migration process’s success.

When the migration was finally over, we proceeded to review all essential elements of the website. For example, we checked whether:

• the redirects were correctly executed and hence functioning properly
• the website was indexable (sometimes, when the development version is blocked, it’s easy to forget to change this immediately after the website goes live)
• the website was generating any errors, such as 404 or 500
• analytical tools (GA and Search Console) were properly configured to collect the right items of data
• the sitemap was uploaded to the Search Console
• the page was quick to load
• external and internal linking functioned correctly
• web content, including metadata, was successfully transferred
• canonical tags were set correctly
• hreflang tags were configured accurately

Migration Results

Thanks to the excellent collaboration, and good communication both with Exorigo-Upos and the company responsible for building the new website, the complex process of website migration went very smoothly. All our recommendations were swiftly implemented. As a result, less than a month later, we could see many positive outcomes:

The number of keywords in the TOP3 remained relatively stable (data from Senuto):

The green line marks the starting point of the website migration process

The number of keywords in the TOP10 increased significantly (data from Senuto):

The green line marks the starting point of the website migration process

The number of keywords in the TOP50 also grew noticeably (data from Senuto):

The green line marks the starting point of the website migration process

Data from SEMStorm – this analytical tool also showed a substantial increase in website visibility a month after the migration:

Below there are a couple of examples of keywords that strengthened their positions after migration:

The migration was successful and brought great results, and we were pleased that Exorigo-Upos chose us to devise and execute the complete SEO process for their website.

We started with running a thorough website audit because it’s an essential part of developing a customized SEO strategy, even after taking part in the migration. Naturally, we already had some data from our post-migration analysis, so we carried on gathering more over the following month to better understand the website’s performance.

Naturally, link building is an essential component of the SEO process. Within this strategy, we build diverse and high-quality backlinks in weekly intervals and get 1-2 sponsored articles published each month.

Following the migration, we started acquiring valuable backlinks for the Client’s website.

Building a Diverse Backlink Profile

We consistently focus on building the backlink profile by acquiring links from a variety of authoritative domains.

Before we started working with the Client, the number of such domains had been decreasing, as evident in the screenshots below.

Publishing Sponsored Articles

We also keep publishing sponsored articles for the Client, which help us improve the website’s metrics and boost rankings for specific keywords. Before an article is published, we thoroughly assess both the copy’s quality and the domain’s metrics.

What Are the Outcomes of Our Off-Site Efforts?

Before:

After:

The green line marks the starting point of the SEO process