Everything evolves; it’s certainly not a secret or surprising factor anymore. Companies change, the internet and technology get advanced, and strategies get better. Just like that, your website has to move. All the content and technology you have been working on gets picked, and it moves or merges. Similarly, SEO techniques and practices should be upgraded as well. And needless to say, you need to rely on the best  SEO services in New York.Â
Also, with changes times, you would need your website to move to another domain. However, site migration is not as easy as it seems. Without the proper knowledge, you will be a lost puppy. But don’t worry, we are here to help you.
Today, we have listed the steps for using site migration to rank on top.
1: Always Conduct TestsÂ
Keep in mind site migration is something you must do slowly. There is no need to rush into things. The reason is that site migration depends on the coordination of different teams. To make sure everyone is on the same page, you must run a small test on sub-domain or sub-directory.
When you run a test, you will be able to identify breakdowns in the communication chain. In this way, the damage will be limited to a small part of the website.
2: Check The New Website CarefullyÂ
Sometimes, the developers get so excited or eager for site migration that it results in slow load times and messy source code.
If you don’t make sure everything is perfect, you will have a poor performing website. And, of course, nobody wants to work again on the same thing.
3: Make Tracking a Priority Â
An important step is to set up tracking before you make any changes to the website. It is crucial to be able to keep a track of migration before, during, and afterward. There are many tools that will help you check your progress.
4: Create A Redirect Map
The next step is to make sure you have a 301-redirect map during site migration. When you change the domain, search engines should be informed about this change as they will need a change of address guidelines.
If you fail to do so, all the hard work of obtaining link equity or keyword ranking will be a waste of time and effort. That is why you must map every URL on your site to a corresponding URL on the new site.
An important thing to keep in mind is that some developers might want to implement 302 temporary redirects. It will inform the search engines that you want all the links and rankings to go to the old site, and the new site will get traffic for a short period. In 301 redirect, you will be making sure the keywords for the old pages will shift to the new page.
It is best to make a list of existing URLs and their redirects. This will help make sure that you don’t leave a URL by mistake.
5: Promote New Website’s LocationÂ
After that, you have to start promoting the new location of the site. The biggest challenge you have to face during site migration is making the internet understand that you have moved. We all know that users have bookmarked it, shared it, and linked it to your old site. After the site migration, you have to make them start using the new one and stop talking about the old one.
It is where your social media and PR team will come in handy. The promotion should be before and after migration.
6: Don’t Waste Time
So, you have everything ready for the migration. Now, you don’t have to wait or do it slowly. It is best to do it quickly like ripping off a band-aid. We recommend doing it in a day or two. If you take longer, the search engines will get confused and might even mix URLs.
7: Focus on Performance Monitoring and Quality ControlÂ
Finally, your new site is live. Now, what? You have to keep an eye on the new site and monitor the performance and quality. It is important to keep checking the keyword rankings, search traffic, and backlinks of the old site for at least six months. Soon, they will drop to 0, and the new site will see increases.
We hope these steps will help you have a smooth site migration. If you encounter any problem, you can always get help from an expert web developer. Also, they will help you publish interesting and amazing content and market your brand. Bear in mind that the success of site migration is going to have a direct impact on your website’s SEO performance. So, before hiring local seo services,ensure the process has been fully completed.