An enterprise web site migration isn’t any small feat.

We’re speaking a whole bunch of hundreds of URLs and years of Web optimization fairness on the road.

To drag it off with out site visitors loss, you want a strong redirect technique.

With the suitable method, you may migrate an enterprise web site without losing traffic or search rankings.

For those who keep organized, leverage instruments to scale, and take note of particulars, you’ll have completed every little thing you may to make sure enterprise continuity within the quick, medium, and long run pertaining to natural efficiency.

Except for the technical points of migration, an enterprise migration, most of the time, comes with the added pressures of:

  • Sturdy ranges of C-level/VP-level consideration and communications.
  • A number of venture groups and stakeholders making Web optimization-impacting choices.
  • Web optimization execs needing to be concerned in “non-traditional” Web optimization calls and planning conferences.

In a big web site migration, there’s additionally the elevated potential for one thing often called “migration lag.”

What Is Migration Lag?

Migration lag refers back to the time interval after launching a brand new web site the place site visitors and rankings drop as search engines like google uncover and index the brand new web site.

For large enterprise websites with a whole bunch of hundreds of URLs, this lag can final for months.

To reduce migration lag, you need to have a strong redirect technique earlier than the brand new web site launches. This implies:

  • Prioritizing redirects for high-traffic and high-value pages. Concentrate on redirecting pages that drive probably the most site visitors and income first.
  • Utilizing wildcards to redirect classes of pages. For instance, redirect /product/* to /new-site/all-products/.
  • Together with URL parameters in redirects. Make sure that redirects cross on any question parameters, like /product/123?colour=pink to /new-site/product/123?colour=pink.
  • Breaking redirect chains. If a web page has been redirected a number of occasions, level the ultimate redirect to the brand new vacation spot URL.
  • Redirecting backlinks. Discover all hyperlinks pointing to the previous web site and arrange redirects in order that they level to the correct new pages. This preserves the hyperlink fairness you’ve constructed up.
  • Accounting for current redirects. For those who’ve completed any redirects prior to now six months, arrange new redirects to level these pages to the correct new URLs.

With technical SEO savvy and endurance, you may navigate an enterprise web site migration with minimal site visitors and rankings loss.

Keep on high of your redirects and hold optimizing and reacting to your information and Google’s ever-changing search engine outcomes pages (SERPs), and search site visitors will return to regular.

Mushy-Launch Pre-Migration

In June 2023, John Mueller floated the concept of launching a brand new area “early” earlier than the official migration switchover.

This was attention-grabbing, as the overall finest apply narrative has been to not let the brand new area be open to crawling earlier than the migration switchover date.

As with all new suggestion, that is one thing I’ve examined since on private venture websites and with shopper strikes.

Testing has proven that indexing has occurred sooner for the brand new area, particularly when in comparison with the domains in my “How Long Should A Migration Take” research.

Within the Google Search Console screenshot beneath, I migrated a website on January 28, however I put the brand new area dwell and crawlable/indexable from January 21.

By February 1, the brand new area was 100% listed, and Google had even crawled and processed all of the /feed URLs that had been set to nodindex.

Screenshot from Google Search Console, February 2025

Whereas this was a small web site (1,300 URLs), the information was just like different area migrations and subdomain to subfolder migrations I’ve taken this method with.

The commonest pushback I’ve needed to this method has been the broader enterprise need to “make a splash” with PR across the launch and the possibility of an current buyer discovering the brand new web site early. In the event that they share the brand new web site, the potential issues this might trigger can diminish any advantages gained.

The second commonest pushback, which is legitimate, is that if there have been substantial adjustments to content material, product, or model that want to stay underneath embargo till the scheduled launch date.

Defining The Migration Technique

When you’ve audited your current web site and redirects, it’s time to map out the way you need to deal with the migration.

The technique you develop now will decide how seamless this transition is for each your customers and search engines like google.

Outline Objectives

What do you need to obtain with this migration? Are you aiming to consolidate domains, transfer to a brand new content management system (CMS), restructure content material, or mix?

Be very clear in your goals so you may develop the perfect method.

Prioritize Redirects

With a whole bunch of hundreds of URLs, you’ll want to find out which redirects are most crucial to implement first. Focus initially on:

  • Your most vital pages (homepage, product pages, and so on.).
  • Pages that generate a considerable quantity of web site leads/income, both immediately or not directly.
  • Pages that generate probably the most natural site visitors for the web site.
  • Pages with strong backlink profiles. These which might be crawled regularly by Google/different search engines like google must be prioritized above these with greater backlink clusters – however that is an goal measure you’ll need to find out.

As soon as the high-priority redirects are dealt with, work your method down from there. Don’t fear about redirecting each single URL immediately.

So long as you’ve gotten nearly all of vital pages and site visitors accounted for, the remaining redirects may be added over time.

An effective way to prioritize redirects, is to create a dashboard of all related information you want to take into account and prioritize by (such because the examples I’ve given above) and making a matrix with RANK.EQ in Google Sheets, after which a prioritization categorizer.

The instance beneath is a really simplified model of this. First, you need to collate all of your information on the URL degree:

Picture by writer, February 2025

You then need to rank these values towards their particular person metric information units. To do that, you employ =RANK.EQ(VALUE,VALUE RANGE).

This allows you to see which URLs are within the larger percentile and which of them are within the decrease percentile:

Picture by writer, February 2025

You then need to automate batch project, and this requires three steps.

First, a “reverse RANK.EQ”, which might be: 

=COUNT(A:A) - RANK.EQ(A1, A:A) + 1

Which is able to let you know which URLs are “the perfect” based mostly on all 4 metric ranks mixed:

Picture by writer, February 2025

From right here, you may both convert the Total EQ to percentages in one other column, after which run a rule towards them that if they’re = sure thresholds, they fall into completely different batches.

You too can cut up the rows up by quantity ordered by the Total EQ if in case you have redirect limits (like when transferring to Salesforce Commerce Cloud or SAP Hybris; learn extra beneath).

Map Content material And URL Construction

Decide the way you need to reorganize or restructure your content material on the brand new web site.

Map out which current URLs will redirect to which new locations. Group associated content material and consolidate the place doable.

The brand new information architecture must be intuitive and user-friendly.

Redirect Sorts

For the majority of redirects, use 301 permanent redirects.

In some circumstances, temporary 302 redirects might make sense, particularly if the web page content material remains to be being migrated.

Be very cautious when utilizing wildcards, and all the time do spot checks to make sure there are not any 404 errors. Redirect parameters every time doable to avoid duplicate content issues.

Backlinks

Make an inventory of any pages with sturdy backlink profiles and guarantee they’re redirected correctly. Attain out to site owners linking to these pages and allow them to know the brand new URL to see if they may replace the hyperlink on their web page.

This helps to protect the Web optimization worth constructed up over time.

With cautious planning and strategic prioritizing, you may migrate an enterprise web site and put the required redirects in place with out (an excessive amount of) chaos. However go slowly; this isn’t a process to hurry!

Suppose by means of every step and verify your work alongside the way in which.

Establishing The Migration Mission Timelines

When managing a big web site migration, establishing lifelike timelines is essential.

Attempting to redirect a whole bunch of hundreds of URLs in a brief timeframe is a recipe for catastrophe.

You could plan forward and be strategic in the way you section the work.

It’s additionally essential that migration timelines are a collaborative effort involving all stakeholders.

Far too typically, the enterprise determines an arbitrary deadline with out taking into consideration the feasibility of all groups to finish all mandatory actions comfortably in time.

Keep away from Phased/Partial Migrations

Avoiding phased or partial migrations is essential when managing redirects for an enterprise web site. Piecemealing your migration will solely create extra work and complications down the street.

I labored on a migration prior to now two years that was consolidating a number of domains (merchandise) underneath a brand new umbrella area, and the unique plan was to do one after the opposite in a phased method.

Greater than a yr later, the second domino nonetheless hasn’t fallen. Google has began to rank the umbrella area for merchandise within the group it isn’t optimized for – inflicting inner area cannibalization and efficiency points because the model entity is “fractured” throughout a number of domains.

Previous to this, I’d by no means witnessed a phased or partial migration mitigate the dangers to the efficiency that the cautious decision-makers felt it could.

Do It All At As soon as

The very best method is to redirect all URLs on the identical time. This ensures:

  • No pages are left orphaned and not using a redirect in place.
  • There are not any redirect chains created that should be cleaned up later. Redirect chains can negatively influence Web optimization and consumer expertise.
  • All backlinks level to the correct new vacation spot web page. If completed in phases, previous pages might accumulate new backlinks that then should be redirected.

Setting Up 301 Redirects At Scale

At an enterprise degree, setting up 301 redirects for tens or a whole bunch of hundreds of URLs requires some strategic planning.

Listed here are some suggestions for tackling this at scale:

Utilizing Wildcards And Dealing with Parameter URLs

When managing redirects for an enterprise web site, wildcards and parameters change into your finest associates. With so many URLs, creating particular person redirects for every could be an limitless process.

Wildcards can help you redirect teams of pages directly.

Say you’ve gotten product pages like /product/abc123, /product/def456, /product/ghi789. You’ll be able to arrange a wildcard redirect like /product/* to level to the brand new /merchandise web page.

This single redirect will seize all product pages and ship guests to the suitable place.

Parameters, like IDs, SKUs, or dates, typically change when web site content material will get up to date or reorganized.

Moderately than monitoring down every occasion of an previous parameter to redirect it, use a redirect that features the parameter.

For instance, if in case you have a URL like /weblog/submit?id=123 that’s now /information/story/123, arrange the redirect /weblog/submit?id= to level to /information/story/.

It will catch any web page with that parameter sample and ship guests to the brand new construction.

When used correctly at an enterprise scale, wildcards and parameters can:

  • Save numerous hours of handbook redirect creation and upkeep.
  • Guarantee no web page is left behind throughout a migration or web site structure change.
  • Proceed to seize new pages that match the sample as the location grows and evolves.

Be very cautious when utilizing wildcards and parameters in your redirects. Take a look at them completely to make sure no unintended pages are caught within the internet.

Monitor them recurrently, even after launch, to catch any points early. Used responsibly, although, they’re indispensable instruments for managing redirects at an enterprise degree.

Breaking Redirect Chains

Redirect chains can simply type when you’ve gotten a excessive quantity of redirects on an enterprise web site.

A redirect chain happens when a URL redirects to a different URL that additionally redirects, creating a series of a number of redirects to succeed in the ultimate vacation spot web page.

To keep away from redirect chains, you’ll must hint again by means of your current redirect historical past to seek out the unique supply URL. When you establish the preliminary URL that began the chain, redirect it on to the ultimate vacation spot web page.

It will minimize out all the center redirects within the chain and supply a significantly better consumer expertise.

  • Examine your server log recordsdata to view URL redirect histories from the previous three to 6 months. Search for any patterns of the identical URL redirecting a number of occasions.
  • Use a redirect crawler device to robotically detect redirect chains in your web site. These instruments will crawl your web site and log any collection of a number of redirects for a similar URL.
  • For current redirects lower than 180 days previous, double-check that the unique URL is now redirecting correctly to the right remaining vacation spot. Newer redirects have a better probability of points, so verifying them will assist keep away from future issues.
  • For those who uncover damaged redirect chains, repair them by redirecting the preliminary supply URL on to the final vacation spot URL within the chain. Take away any center redirects which might be now not wanted.
  • Take a look at all fixes to make sure the redirect chain is totally damaged and the consumer expertise is improved. Examine that Web optimization rankings and site visitors have stabilized for the URLs concerned.

By diligently detecting and breaking redirect chains, you’ll present a significantly better general expertise on your customers and web site guests.

Your enterprise web site will perform extra effectively, and also you’ll keep away from potential drops in search rankings and site visitors.

Historic Redirects

When migrating an enterprise web site, it’s straightforward to overlook about redirects that had been already in place. These historic redirects, particularly these underneath six months previous, nonetheless should be accounted for to keep away from site visitors loss.

As you audit your web site’s present redirects, make an inventory of any that time to pages that can be altering or eliminated within the migration.

These redirects will should be up to date to level to the brand new vacation spot URLs. Some issues to search for embody:

  • Non permanent occasion pages that now redirect to a normal part.
  • Product pages that now redirect to an up to date mannequin.
  • Weblog posts that redirect to a class archive.

Double-check that any historic redirects over six months previous nonetheless should be in place. Some could also be sending alerts to search engines like google which might be now not wanted.

Eradicating pointless historic redirects can even assist to simplify your web site’s redirect construction and make it simpler to handle going ahead.

When organising your migration’s redirect plan, you should definitely consider updating any historic redirects to their new vacation spot URLs.

Leaving these behind might lead to misplaced site visitors and rankings for vital pages in your web site.

Staying on high of your enterprise web site’s historic and new redirects throughout migration is essential to a profitable transition with minimal Web optimization influence.

Overcoming Redirect Limits

In case you have an enterprise web site with a whole bunch of hundreds of pages, it’s possible you’ll run into points with redirect limits out of your CMS or ecommerce platform.

Many methods like SAP Hybris and Salesforce Commerce Cloud cap the variety of redirects you may have at 50,000 to 100,000. For a serious web site migration (particularly enterprise ecommerce web sites), this doubtless gained’t minimize it.

To get round these constraints, you’ll must get artistic. A number of choices to contemplate:

  • Use wildcard redirects to seize classes of pages. For instance, redirect /merchandise/* to /store/*. This single redirect will seize all pages that begin with /merchandise.
  • Exclude parameters from redirects when doable. In case you have pages like /product-name?colour=pink and /product-name?measurement=massive, redirect solely /product-name to the brand new URL. The parameters are sometimes not listed or linked to, so you may go away them out of the redirect.
  • Break up redirect chains. In case you have a collection of three+ redirects for a single web page, break up the chain and create direct redirects from the preliminary URLs to the ultimate vacation spot. Traditionally, chained redirects had been thought to cross alongside hyperlink juice, however this has been confirmed false. Maintain redirects as direct as doable.
  • Prioritize mission-critical pages. Once you begin to attain the redirect restrict, give attention to redirecting pages that drive important site visitors and income. You’ll be able to go away much less vital pages unredirected or with a 404 error briefly.
  • Ask your CMS vendor about rising limits. Many methods will improve redirect limits on an enterprise web site in the event you ask and clarify your wants. Be ready to pay further charges for this add-on.

With artistic pondering and persistence, you may overcome most redirect limits and full an enterprise web site migration with out shedding a giant chunk of your natural site visitors.

The hot button is having a well-thought-out redirect technique and implementing it nicely earlier than you hit your CMS’s limits.

Benchmarking Natural Efficiency (Visitors, Rankings, Indexation)

As soon as the redirects have been carried out, it’s time to see how your natural site visitors and rankings have been impacted.

Benchmarking Your Progress

It will assist decide if any additional optimization is required. Listed here are a couple of key metrics to watch:

  • Natural search site visitors. Evaluate site visitors from main search engines like google like Google earlier than and after the migration. Count on some preliminary drop in site visitors, nevertheless it ought to begin recovering inside one to 2 months. If site visitors remains to be considerably decrease after three months, revisit your redirect implementation.
  • Key phrase rankings. Track the rankings of your most vital key phrases to see if their positions have modified. Drops in rating are widespread after a migration, however rankings ought to begin bettering once more over time as search engines like google recrawl your new web site. Main drops that don’t enhance might sign redirect or content material points that should be addressed.
  • Indexation. Use a device like Google Search Console to verify how a lot of your new web site has been listed. A big, complicated web site can take three to 6 months for Google to totally recrawl and re-index. Search for regular will increase in indexation over time. If indexation stalls or drops, there may be technical issues stopping Google from accessing components of your web site.
  • 404 errors. Monitor your 404 errors to make sure any damaged hyperlinks are redirecting correctly. Excessive numbers of 404s, particularly previous URLs, point out redirects that should be created or mounted.
  • Backlinks. Do a backlink audit to confirm that any hyperlinks pointing to your previous web site now redirect to the correct new URLs. Failure to redirect backlinks is a standard explanation for site visitors and rating loss after a web site migration.

Usually benchmarking these key metrics offers you invaluable perception into how nicely your enterprise web site migration and redirect implementation goes.

Make changes as wanted to get your new web site’s natural efficiency again on monitor.

Speaking Migration Efficiency To The C-Degree

Speaking migration efficiency to management is essential for continued help and funding in your enterprise web site.

Even when the migration itself goes easily, issues can come up after launch if the C-suite isn’t on board.

Set Clear Expectations

Earlier than the migration, sit down with executives and set concrete goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) for the brand new web site.

Not all metrics must matter on to Web optimization, however giving the C-level more data and readability may help stop knee-jerk reactions and unhealthy choices from being imposed on the migrations crew.

Be clear that there could also be an preliminary dip in metrics as the brand new web site establishes itself. Having targets will assist decide if the migration is assembly enterprise wants after issues settle in.

Share Detailed Stories

Within the months following the migration, present common studies on how the brand new web site performs in comparison with the previous web site and the established KPIs.

Evaluate these identical metrics from the previous web site to provide context on progress. Be open about any points, and have options and subsequent steps able to suggest.

It typically helps to create a Looker Studio report so the C-level has instantaneous entry to information and feels as if they’ve some management over the state of affairs.

Lastly, Don’t Neglect To Spotlight Wins

Whereas reporting on challenges is vital, additionally it is vital to showcase successes from the migration.

Selling wins, large and small, demonstrates the worth of the funding within the migration and builds confidence in your crew.

Maintaining management recurrently knowledgeable about how the brand new enterprise web site is performing is important.

With open communication and a mixture of progress studies and wins, executives will stay supportive and engaged in optimizing the location to realize the perfect outcomes.

Extra Sources:

Featured Picture: Munthita/Shutterstock


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