International Website Migrations

Website migrations are probably the riskiest project in SEO. They are even more complex and delicate in international markets. This is my take on this matter for the Global SEO Club.

Transcript

1. montserrat-cano.com I N T E R N A T I O N A L W E B S I T E M I G R A T I O N S H O W T O A V O I D T H E S T O R M montserrat-cano.com
2. montserrat-cano.com montserrat-cano.com Don´t leave money on the table Don´t duplicate work nor effort Deliver a successful migration
3. montserrat-cano.com A D D E D L A Y E R O F C O M P L E X I T Y
4. montserrat-cano.com B R A V I N G T H E S T O R M A V O I D I N G T H E S T O R M vs
5. montserrat-cano.com T H E P R E V E N T A B L E P R O B L E M P A R A D O X https://medium.com/@shreyashere/why-our-leaders-fail-us-and-then-save-us-the-preventable- problem-paradox-872614ec3293 montserrat-cano.com
6. montserrat-cano.com B I R D S A R E S M A R T
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8. montserrat-cano.com montserrat-cano.com Don’t do it
9. montserrat-cano.com URLs you don´t need anymore Clunky or outdated CMS Protocol or hosting provider Switching domain names Website redesign Merging websites Changing website architecture and/or URL However…
10. montserrat-cano.com montserrat-cano.com I S I T N E C E S S A R Y R I G H T N O W ? D O Y O U H A V E T H E R E S O U R C E S ? Necessar y Got resource s Do it
11. montserrat-cano.com montserrat-cano.com Don’t do it
12. montserrat-cano.com montserrat-cano.com A L L B U S I N E S S E S A R E D I F F E R E N T A N D A R E A T D I F F E R E N T S T A G E S O F T H E I R J O U R N E Y montserrat-cano.com
13. montserrat-cano.com F L Y A W A Y …
14. montserrat-cano.com We need real reasons to avoid losing: • Visibility • Online reputation • Revenue L E T ´ S N O T B E C L U M S Y !
15. montserrat-cano.com That’s why SEOs need to either lead or being in a leading role in any migration project
16. montserrat-cano.com S O M E C H A L L E N G E S
17. montserrat-cano.com Trading in international markets is complex
18. montserrat-cano.com S O M E A S P E C T S T O B E A R I N M I N D • Specific market conditions • Company vision/ practices
19. montserrat-cano.com • Technical & content quality issues • Different market conditions • Varying brand appreciation • Different languages • Cultural differences • It´s an extra effort
20. montserrat-cano.com Internal politics and business pressure
21. montserrat-cano.com Wrong decisions
22. montserrat-cano.com Loss of visibility, also to do with brand strength on each market
23. montserrat-cano.com L A C K O F I N T E R N A L A W A R E N E S S
24. montserrat-cano.com Laws and regulations
25. montserrat-cano.com Uncertain times
26. montserrat-cano.com montserrat-cano.com S O M E T I P S T O D E A L W I T H C H A L L E N G E S
27. montserrat-cano.com montserrat-cano.com To avoid https://www.sistrix.com/blog/migration-migrations-migraine-site-move-fears-are-not-well-founded/ Idea l
28. montserrat-cano.com It´s mostly up to us to ensure success That’s why we plan ahead
29. montserrat-cano.com Not in our hands • Sudden change in internal priorities • Emergencies • Sudden market/ business decisions • Recommendations not implemented • Others
30. montserrat-cano.com We can always solve issues when they come… At what cost though?
31. montserrat-cano.com Some things are in our hands
32. montserrat-cano.com • Research • Plan • Manage expectations • Execute exactly • Monitor • Measure, benchmark
33. montserrat-cano.com • Results from market research • Results from technical audit • Brand perception • Loss of visibility and sales or leads Managing expectations regarding each market Get internal buy-in and reputation
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35. montserrat-cano.com montserrat-cano.com Be clear about your international strategy Your vision Resource s RoI Do it
36. montserrat-cano.com montserrat-cano.com Be clear about your international strategy Communicate Agree way forward Collaborate
37. montserrat-cano.com montserrat-cano.com Look further beyond
38. montserrat-cano.com Aim for a solid website for each market & be ready for any eventuality to help minimise the effects of any wrong decisions
39. montserrat-cano.com S T O C K T A K E T I M E … • Markets • Products • Services • Contact pages • Old blog entries • Delivery, logistics info • Payment info, currencies • Branding consitency • URL structure • Navigation • hreflang • Use of language/s • Structure making sense • Design issues: overlapping text, etc • Appropriate images • Visibility and accessibility • Specific content • Compliance: content and tech • Backlinks
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41. montserrat-cano.com T A K E A P R O J E C T M A N A G E M E N T A P P R O A C H Business/ marketing vision Audit Decide and prioritise accordingly Execute exactly Measure Repeat as necessary
42. montserrat-cano.com Get data first! Audit on each market • Technical audit • Content audit • Performance • RoI • Brand perception T A K E A P R O J E C T M A N A G E M E N T A P P R O A C H
43. montserrat-cano.com C O L L A B O R A T E • Extended regional teams • Extended internal teams • Overall marketing • IT • Analysts • UX/ CRO • Finance • Legal Websites as a reflection of the organisation
44. montserrat-cano.com Avoid passing issues present on the current sites! A V O I D
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46. montserrat-cano.com L E G A L C O M P L I A N C E • Different laws for each market, eg BDSG in Germany • Payment platforms or processes • CRM integration • Data migration
47. montserrat-cano.com • Avoid any data loss • Avoid any legal issues L E G A L C O M P L I A N C E
48. montserrat-cano.com montserrat-cano.com The cost of a failed international website migration project is too high for businesses in this increasingly crowded online landscape
49. montserrat-cano.com montserrat-cano.com Plan and execute well Mind the nuances on each market Educate internally Collaborate with others
50. montserrat-cano.com montserrat-cano.com Don´t leave money on the table Don´t duplicate work nor effort Deliver a successful migration
51. montserrat-cano.com montserrat-cano.com My name is Montserrat Cano  In-house & consultant  International SEO & digital marketing  Localisation projects  UK & UE search awards judge  Associate University Professor  Upcoming book on digital marketing  Contributor to the book SEO in 2023 Please consider donating to the Red Cross if you can: https://www.icrc.org/en
52. montserrat-cano.com A N Y Q U E S T I O N S ? montserrat-cano.com
53. montserrat-cano.com Thank you for listening!