Updating an ecommerce platform can bring positive changes for your website. There are many reasons for doing a platform migration. You may buy a premium package or change a platform. The reason might be that it’s better suited to your needs than the previous one. But if you’re not careful, it can be disastrous. This post talks about ecommerce platform migration and how to avoid any SEO issues.
Usually, changing of an ecommerce platform is not done oftenly. It generally happens due to financial, technical or marketing issues. The benefits include reduced costs, better UX, better management, etc. On the other hand, the top SEO issues include reduced visibility, incorrect product mapping, incorrect customer data, poor syncing, and incorrect information.
The tips mentioned below will help you to shift ecommerce website properly to a different server:
For ecommerce platform migration: Know the changes that will occur
An ecommerce platform migration brings about a variety of changes. It is necessary to know what kind of changes will occur after the migration is done. To do that, test it & implement it on a section of the website. Look out for changes to the website structure, URL conventions, content hierarchy, and navigation.
Create a list of old and new URLs before ecommerce platform migration
Creating a list of all the URLs on the old website can create a reference for you. This allows you to redirect URLs and make sure that the authority that was built up over the years won’t be lost. Also crawl the website for any broken links and redirects. Also, create a list of the new URLs that you’re going to implement on the new website.
Create a list of the most authoritative pages
A list of URLs, based on page authority metrics will let you know the changes that occur after the platform migration. In an ideal situation, the authoritative URLs should not change. The reason is that usually link equity and authority is lost when changes are made. Therefore, you need to preserve such pages by using redirects on them. It will ensure that the top pages retain their status.
Ecommerce platform migration: Create redirect maps
Without creating a redirect map you risk losing valuable link equity. Without a proper redirect strategy, you’ll definitely lose a large amount of traffic. Create a list of URLs, compare them and match the old URLs with the new ones. After this, assign it to the developers for the final implementation. You may also like to visit & check our blog on HOW TO DO URL OPTIMIZATION FOR SEARCH ENGINE RANKINGS to see how you can incorporate new and SEO-friendly URLs if you need to.
Measure rankings before ecommerce platform migration
Measure the rankings of web pages before the ecommerce platform migration. Track keywords, and any other metrics which are essential. By measuring rankings and gathering ranking data, you will be able to identify and address any SEO issues which crop up after the migration.
To track the keywords, you require the right plugins to help you. Read our blog on 8 BEST SEO PLUGINS FOR WORDPRESS, which shares the most helpful plugins for your wordpress site. Opting the correct plugin helps you to track keywords and perform advanced SEO tasks.
Look for missing pages
One of the most common SEO issues while website migration is missing pages. They occur due to inconsistent URL naming conventions, pages becoming inaccessible from the navigation or static URL issues. Crawl the website and look for any missing or duplicate web pages, so you can fix this issue.
Post-launch monitoring after ecommerce platform migration
After the migration, it is crucial to run a crawling test to identify any errors. Identifying crawl errors is one of the 8 STEPS TO A BETTER TECHNICAL SEO AUDIT. Now, monitor traffic and rankings to know what all changes have occurred after migration. Finally, verify that no important web pages have the no index tag.
Ecommerce platform migration is a huge task. One must consider many pros and cons when doing it. A successful migration depends on pre launch and post launch strategies and testing. As planning is a prerequisite for any task, unproper planning may lead you to lose visibility and customers.
