Content Migration Process

CMS migrations are complex projects that require careful planning, technical expertise, and close collaboration between everyone involved. We work with you through every phase to preserve your content, maintain your SEO rankings, and deliver an improved user experience.

The Migration Team

A successful migration requires a cross-functional team with expertise across content, design, development, and operations:

Agency Side

  • Project Manager - coordinates timeline, budget, and stakeholder communication
  • Web Producer - manages content strategy and migration planning
  • Content Manager - audits existing content and plans content structure
  • Designers - create new site design and user experience
  • Developers - build migration scripts and custom functionality
  • UX/UI Specialists - ensure optimal user experience
  • SEO Specialists - preserve and improve search rankings

Client Side

  • CMS Administrator - provides system access and technical documentation
  • IT Operations - manages hosting and infrastructure
  • Customer Service - identifies user needs and pain points
  • Sales & Marketing - defines business goals and success metrics

Project Discovery

The discovery phase establishes the foundation for a successful migration:

Content Audit

  • Inventory all content types, taxonomies, and custom fields
  • Identify content that should be migrated, archived, or retired
  • Document content relationships and dependencies
  • Review media assets (images, documents, videos)
  • Analyse user roles and permissions
  • E-commerce sites: audit product data, order history, customer accounts, reviews, and payment gateway configuration
  • Multilingual sites: map language relationships and translation links

Budget Planning

  • Estimate migration complexity based on content volume and customisation
  • Plan for custom plugin or theme development
  • Allocate time for testing and quality assurance
  • Include buffer for unexpected challenges

Content Migration

We use an iterative approach to content migration, ensuring accuracy and preserving data integrity:

Iterative Migration Process

Migration typically requires 5-20 iterations to refine the process and handle edge cases:

  • Initial migration - migrate a sample of content to identify issues
  • Refinement cycles - adjust scripts to handle special cases and formatting
  • Quality assurance - validate content accuracy and completeness
  • Final migration - execute complete migration with all refinements

Migration Scripting

Custom migration scripts ensure:

  • Accurate transfer of all content fields and metadata
  • Preservation of content relationships and taxonomies
  • Proper handling of media assets and file uploads
  • Maintenance of URL structure for SEO
  • Migration of user accounts and permissions
  • E-commerce data: products, variations, pricing, orders, customer accounts, and reviews
  • Custom content types: complex field structures mapped to WordPress equivalents

Design and Development

While migration is underway, design and development can proceed in parallel:

  • Theme development - build or customise WordPress theme
  • Custom functionality - develop plugins for specialised features
  • User experience - optimise navigation and user flows
  • Performance optimisation - ensure fast page loads and efficient caching
  • Mobile responsiveness - test across devices and screen sizes

Go-Live and Post-Migration Review

The final phase ensures a smooth transition to the new platform:

Zero-Downtime Launch

For business-critical sites, we use a staged approach:

  • The new site is built and tested on a staging server while your current site stays live
  • A final delta migration captures any content published during the migration period
  • DNS cutover switches traffic to the new site with no interruption

Pre-Launch

  • Final content migration with latest updates
  • Comprehensive testing across browsers and devices
  • SSL certificate installation and security hardening
  • Performance testing and optimisation
  • 301 redirects for changed URLs

Post-Launch

  • SEO monitoring - track search rankings and traffic patterns
  • Stakeholder review - gather feedback from content managers and users
  • Performance monitoring - ensure optimal site speed and uptime
  • Bug fixes - address any issues discovered in production
  • Training - help content managers learn the new CMS

Questions?

Every migration project is unique. Get in touch to discuss your specific requirements, timeline, and budget.

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