Websites work on a plethora of algorithms, structure and design that ensures its functionality and visibility. But in today’s world of constant unrest and perpetual flux in business, business plans get outdated pretty fast. Website migration is the process of changing a website’s design and structure. It also includes changing its platform or means communicating to the mass to aim for a better position on SERP.
Launch day activities during a website migration:
Website Migration is divided into 6 phases for efficient operation. The six phases are like a product life cycle and missing out on either one of these steps can yield unsatisfactory results. Especially, the launch day activities can make or break a successful website migration.
- Site launch and maintenance:
On the day of the website launch, analysis of the objectives, risks, growth opportunities and demographics of the website would have already been figured out. If a favourable feasibility analysis is chalked up, then the plan can be seconded with efficient backend work. This can be trusted to make the demographic and the search engine crawlers go through the least hassle while reaching the page during migration.
The time needed for a successful migration or the downtime should be kept to a minimum using all hands on deck. There should be a 503 error response page setup in case anyone tries to access the website. If the downtime is too long, then the recovery of the visibility and traffic to the page can be hampered. This can lead to the credibility of the website and the brand being put to question.
- Live testing of website:
Live testing is like proofreading the content and the website for leaks and errors when it is available to the public domain. This includes checking the content for errors and proper utilization of ranked keywords. The images should be uploaded to the website in the placeholder spaces. Checking for design and aesthetics to align by the brand’s previous style would keep the mental image of the previous website alive to existing demographics.
There are quite a bit of technical aspects involved in live testing, which would mainly help in the fine-tuning.
Checking for dead or unresponsive Backlinks, CTAs and landing pages can save a lot of traffic loss. The new site should be effectively backed up so as to prevent data loss. For security, monitoring scripts should be implemented on the website which would be working 24/7. Website crawlers should be enabled for bringing search engines in, to the loop and also as a general audit to check for malfunctions.
- Media support and coverage of website launch:
The launch day provides us with ample time to keep wandering eyes off the error response page. Building hype for the website with paid media promotions on streaming services and social media works like a charm. The anticipation can be advertised in favour of the website retaining its user base & gaining some more in the process. Promoting to the new users can be tricky but achievable. Introducing first time-user engagement tactics like discounts and signing up offers are lucrative to the consumer’s eye. Sending newsletters and emails to an already existing user base can go a long way in promoting brand loyalty as it is a two-way street. These emails can consist of the latest features added to the website and the reason for migration.
Conclusion:
Launch day activities can be the most tedious thing to do in a website migration operation. Time is a valuable resource and developers need to keep calm so as not to lose it during such a pressure task scenario. Thus these activities should be bulleted and arranged in order so as to not miss out.