SEO Checklist for Website Server Migration

Planning to migrate the server of your website? Here is a checklist with a SEO perspective that one must follow before and after the migration process.

Before Migration:

Before migrating to the new server for example for migrating Windows server to Linux server, you have to follow these simple steps. Plan the exact day for migrating because website traffic will be affected while moving to the new server. So you have to review the traffic stats for the past two months using web analytics tool like Google Analytics and document the same on day to day basis. Based on the data collected, select a day which brings minimum traffic and use the same for the migration. Below is a sample documentation format that will help you give a basic understanding of the number of visits each day gets in a month. Just add corresponding daily traffic sorted by each day and prepare the final report. In this case the four Mondays of the month March give you a total traffic of 88 (10+33+21+24).

Day	Visits
	March	April
Monday	88	136
Tuesday	74	166
Wednesday	65	178
Thursday	74	177
Friday	49	138
Saturday	16	68
Sunday	26	67

The Migration process would usually take 24 to 48 hours. Based on the sample documentation report above, we find the weekends, Saturday and Sunday produce minimum visits and can start the migration of the website on Friday. This allows us to use the weekend to review and make any corrections if required. Before migrating the following steps have to be followed for sure.

• Make a complete backup for all the pages because once we switch to the new server all the files will be deleted.

• Review and document the index, backlinks, cache status and keyword rankings for the website, because after migrating to the new server there may be some slight changes for the targeted keywords in all the major search engines.

After Migration:

• Once the migration process is complete, the following details have to be noted down and must be checked without fail.

• After migration check the IP address whether it has been blacklisted or it belongs to any other neighborhood.

• Review the title and meta description for all the web pages.

• Review the other On-page factors for the entire site like reviewing the alt attributes for images, nofollow attributes for external and internal links and review the internal link navigation structure.

• Check the index status and backlinks for the website in all the major search engines.
• Keep track of the rankings for the targeted keywords and monitor the ranking positions in all the major search engine .

• Reviewing the Home page search engine cache on a daily basis and check for any differences between the previous cache’s.
• Traffic is very important for the website, So after migration review the traffic stats on daily basis.

Following these simple tips allows us to keep track of the changes reflected before and after the migration process of the server. Remember to keep track of the data as it would help recognize the difference before and after the migration process.

Disclaimer: The post is completely based on individual thoughts and SEO Services Group bears no responsibilities for the thoughts reflected in the post.