"SEO Migrations for International Web Setups" by Nitin Manchanda at International Search Summit, Barcelona 2023

1. SEO Migrations for
International Web Setups
International Search Summit, Barcelona 2023 Nitin Manchanda

3. Quick Intro
💼 Founder & Chief SEO Consultant at Botpresso
📈 Led Global SEO for trivago, Omio & Flipkart
🚀 Consulted International SEO to Glovo, Headout, Lenskart,
Tripaneer and many more
🔊 SEO Speaker - BrightonSEO, ISS Barcelona & London
🌍 International SEO Specialist
🤝 Hosting Webinars for Semrush, Duda
NITIN MANCHANDA
🎤

4. Nitin 🤝 SEO Migrations

5. omio.co.uk omio.dk omio.fr
+26

6. BookMartialArts.com (16K pages)
BookCulinaryVacations.com
(70K pages)
BookYogaRetreats.com (5.4M pages)
BookCyclingHolidays.com (83K pages)
+8

7. lenskart.us sa.lenskart.com lenskart.ae
lenskart.sg

8. 2 Most Important Fundamentals 🔍
How Many Countries?
How Many Languages?

9. Why SEO Migrations? 🌍

10. domain.com/en-sg
domain.com/es-es
domain.com/es-mx
domain.com/en-in
domain.com/de-de
domain.com/en-us
domain.com/en-au
domain.com
Leveraging authority of the root domain ⚡

11. www.casio.com/jp
www.casio-europe.com www.casio-usa.com
www.casio.co.uk
Domain Uniformity 󰤇

12. CMS Limitations & Adopting a New Technology ⚙
Custom Tech Stack >> Restrictive CMS for Large sites

13. www.example.com
www.example.com/ca www.example.com/sa
www.example.com/ar-sa
www.example.com/fr-ca
Change in Web Structure 🏗

14. Change in Web Structure 🏗
Source: https://botpresso.com/international-seo-guide/

15. www.example.com
example.ca example.sa
example.ca/fr
Owned by r/noobmasterxyz who
wouldn’t let it go
[Forced] Change in Web Structure 🫷

16. Examples of Successful
SEO Migrations

17. ASOS: One of the biggest Ecommerce websites in the world 👚
Worldwide France Germany
Partial migration to subdirectory structure in 2019

18. India
Ray-Ban: A renowned eyewear company known for timeless styles 😎
🌍 Worldwide
Moved India to subdirectory in 2019 🚀

19. Worldwide Germany
Trainline: World's leading independent rail and bus travel platform 📆
USA
Moved to subdirectory structure in 2019 🚀

20. Clarks.co.uk to Clarks.com/en-gb/ Migration 🚀
This is one of the recent international migration to
subdirectory.
The traffic transition so far looks great.
They have already outperformed co.uk’s highest
organic traffic numbers.
Migrated
Migrated

21. Examples of Failed SEO
Migrations

22. Zando: Fashion & lifestyle ecommerce for Africa 💔
SEO migration due to tech stack change executed incorrectly in June 2021
Migrated

23. Clarks: Clarks shoes are sold globally, the brand has a strong online presence 💔
From the .it domain to the .eu domain migration in 2019 went wrong.

24. https://www.mjcachon.com/en/herramientas/seo-migrations/
More References for Good & Bad Examples
Migration Archive to share Good & Bad Examples

25. When do you think SEO
Team should be
involved? 🤔💭

26. After Migration?

27. Client: “We are done with the Migration, now you can do the SEO” 💀
R.I.P.
SEO

28. The Migration Day?

29. Shall we migrate? Involve SEO right
away!

30. Day ZERO

31. ‘Day 0’ decisions that SEOs must take beforehand
Brand Consistency Brand Conflict
Tech Stack Validation
URL Retention

32. URL Retention Strategic Decision
Are the current domain
pages high traffic?
Retain the URL & reduce
the temporary traffic loss
to bare minimum.
Does the technology
allow URL retention?
Create 1 - 1 Redirection
Mapping to pass the page
rank & ranking transfer.
Yes
No

33. Tech Stack Validation Checklist
Allows URL Customization
Allows Subfolder Creation
Allows adding SSR feature
Flexible enough to add new features, APIs & technologies
Has Dynamic or Programmatic SEO Features
Allows templates for Meta Tags & Header Tags

34. Brand Consistency
Abc.com
Country #1
Having different brand names or domain names in various countries doesn't
contribute to building a strong brand identity or reaping its benefits.
Xyz.com
Country
#3
Def.com
Country #3
≠ ≠

35. Brand Conflict
Amazon's original name was "Cadabra."
This name was used briefly in the company's early days, but it was changed to "Amazon.com" in
1995, shortly after the company's founding.
The change was made because the founder, Jeff Bezos, was concerned that "Cadabra"
sounded too similar to "cadaver," and he wanted a name that would better reflect the
company's goal of becoming the world's largest online retailer.
"Amazon" was chosen because it represented something large and exotic, much like the
Amazon River.

36. Migration Process
Technical
Implementation
URL Mapping and
Redirect Strategy
Keyword and Content
Analysis
Pre-migration
Preparation
Fixing / Optimising
Performance
Monitoring

37. Pre-migration
Preparation

38. Identify existing and
new tech stack
● Understand the current tech stack and the new one which we are
migrating to
● Note the SSL and DMARC certification
Pre-migration Preparation
01

39. Identify existing and
new tech stack
Comprehensive SEO audit
● Crawl all the important content and URLs
● Keep these handy for comparison purposes
● Understand the current tech stack and the new one which we are
migrating to
● Note the SSL and DMARC certification
Pre-migration Preparation
01
02

40. Identify existing and
new tech stack
Comprehensive SEO audit
Set specific goals
● Make sure to to note down all the GA and GSC tracking information
● Money pages to be identified and prioritized
● Crawl all the important content and URLs
● Keep these handy for comparison purposes
● Understand the current tech stack and the new one which we are
migrating to
● Note the SSL and DMARC certification
Pre-migration Preparation
01
02
03

41. Identify existing and
new tech stack
Comprehensive SEO audit
Set specific goals
Create a backup of the data
● Before migration making sure the that backup copy of the website is
the best running version of the current website
● Make sure to to note down all the GA and GSC tracking information
● Money pages to be identified and prioritized
● Crawl all the important content and URLs
● Keep these handy for comparison purposes
● Understand the current tech stack and the new one which we are
migrating to
● Note the SSL and DMARC certification
Pre-migration Preparation
01
02
03
04

42. Pre-migration Preparation
Keyword and Content Analysis

43. Analyze current keyword
rankings and organic traffic
● Understand the ranking of branded and non branded keywords on
SERPs and storing the data
Migration Process - Keyword and Content Analysis
01

44. Analyze current keyword
rankings and organic traffic
Identify high-performing keywords
and prioritize them for migration
● Understand the traffic breakdown based on pages, geography
● Understand the ranking of branded and non branded keywords on
SERPs and storing the data
Migration Process - Keyword and Content Analysis
01
02

45. Analyze current keyword
rankings and organic traffic
Identify high-performing keywords
and prioritize them for migration
Assess existing content for
relevance, quality, and SEO best
practices
● Make a note of word count, schema internal links of the pages
● Understand the traffic breakdown based on pages, geography
● Understand the ranking of branded and non branded keywords on
SERPs and storing the data
Migration Process - Keyword and Content Analysis
01
02
03

46. Analyze current keyword
rankings and organic traffic
Identify high-performing keywords
and prioritize them for migration
Assess existing content for
relevance, quality, and SEO best
practices
Keyword mapping and
optimization techniques
● Make a note of any observations are found which can optimize the
pages post migration
● Make a note of word count, schema internal links of the pages
● Understand the traffic breakdown based on pages, geography
● Understand the ranking of branded and non branded keywords on
SERPs and storing the data
Migration Process - Keyword and Content Analysis
01
02
03
04

47. Pre-migration Preparation
URL Mapping and Redirect Strategy

48. A 1-1 mapping for all the URLs
Migration Process - URL Mapping and Redirect Strategy
01
Create a URL mapping document
for old-to-new links

49. Create a URL mapping document
for old-to-new links
A 1-1 mapping for all the URLs
Hreflang Tag Mapping
Alternate + X-default mapping of
Hreflang Tags
Migration Process - URL Mapping and Redirect Strategy
01 02 03
04

50. Create a URL mapping document
for old-to-new links
A 1-1 mapping for all the URLs
Hreflang Tag Mapping
Alternate + X-default mapping of
Hreflang Tags
Apply 301 redirects from old to
new URLs
Track all the 301 redirect chains and make
sure they are pointing to the correct URLs
Migration Process - URL Mapping and Redirect Strategy
01 02 03

51. Create a URL mapping document
for old-to-new links
A 1-1 mapping for all the URLs
Hreflang Tag Mapping
Alternate + X-default mapping of
Hreflang Tags
Apply 301 redirects from old to
new URLs
Track all the 301 redirect chains and make
sure they are pointing to the correct URLs
Verify and test redirect accuracy
Track all the canonicals & redirects
Update internal links to match new URLs
Migration Process - URL Mapping and Redirect Strategy
01 02 03
04

52. Create a URL mapping document
for old-to-new links
A 1-1 mapping for all the URLs
Hreflang Tag Mapping
Alternate + X-default mapping of
Hreflang Tags
Apply 301 redirects from old to
new URLs
Track all the 301 redirect chains and make
sure they are pointing to the correct URLs
Verify and test redirect accuracy
Track all the canonicals & redirects
Update internal links to match new URLs
If the page urls are changed for a certain directory make sure to create a
file with 1-1 update the internal links throughout the website
Migration Process - URL Mapping and Redirect Strategy
01 02 03
05
04

53. Pre-migration Preparation
Technical Implementation

54. Test the new tech
stack infrastructure
● Create a testing environment
Migration Process - Technical Implementation
01

55. Test the new tech
stack infrastructure
Develop the new website structure
and design
● Work with design team to help them with guidelines and
recommendations of what is important to SEO
● Create a testing environment
Migration Process - Technical Implementation
01
02

56. Test the new tech
stack infrastructure
Develop the new website structure
and design
Begin migration on test server ● Start testing URL mapping
● Work with design team to help them with guidelines and
recommendations of what is important to SEO
● Create a testing environment
Migration Process - Technical Implementation
01
02
03

57. Source: https://botpresso.com/website-migration-checklist/
The 12-Step Website Migration Checklist by Botpresso

58. Post-migration Activities
URL Mapping and Redirect Strategy

59. Crawl the New Instance
Verify SEO data, including any URL
changes. Ensure old URLs redirect
properly
Migration Process - URL Mapping and Redirect Strategy
01

60. Crawl the New Instance
Verify SEO data, including any URL
changes. Ensure old URLs redirect
properly
Prioritise the fix for anomalies
Address overlooked migration issues
promptly
Migration Process - URL Mapping and Redirect Strategy
01 02

61. Crawl the New Instance
Verify SEO data, including any URL
changes. Ensure old URLs redirect
properly
Prioritise the fix for anomalies
Address overlooked migration issues
promptly
Indexation / Site Move
Use GSC Indexing API to request indexing
for top URLs, if there is a site level change
like subdomain moving to subdirectory etc
then use GSC site move feature
Migration Process - URL Mapping and Redirect Strategy
01 02 03

62. Crawl the New Instance
Verify SEO data, including any URL
changes. Ensure old URLs redirect
properly
Prioritise the fix for anomalies
Address overlooked migration issues
promptly
Indexation / Site Move
Use GSC Indexing API to request indexing
for top URLs, if there is a site level change
like subdomain moving to subdirectory etc
then use GSC site move feature
Backlink Profile Migration
Email publishers for backlink updates
after URL changes for optimal pagerank.
Migration Process - URL Mapping and Redirect Strategy
01 02
04
03

63. Crawl the New Instance
Verify SEO data, including any URL
changes. Ensure old URLs redirect
properly
Prioritise the fix for anomalies
Address overlooked migration issues
promptly
Indexation / Site Move
Use GSC Indexing API to request indexing
for top URLs, if there is a site level change
like subdomain moving to subdirectory etc
then use GSC site move feature
Backlink Profile Migration Tracking fixes
Email publishers for backlink updates
after URL changes for optimal pagerank.
Review pre and post migration data in GA,
GSC, and other tools. Use debuggers to flag
any issues with events or goals.
Migration Process - URL Mapping and Redirect Strategy
01 02
04 05
03

64. Crawl the New Instance
Verify SEO data, including any URL
changes. Ensure old URLs redirect
properly
Prioritise the fix for anomalies
Address overlooked migration issues
promptly
Indexation / Site Move
Use GSC Indexing API to request indexing
for top URLs, if there is a site level change
like subdomain moving to subdirectory etc
then use GSC site move feature
Backlink Profile Migration Tracking fixes
Email publishers for backlink updates
after URL changes for optimal pagerank.
Review pre and post migration data in GA,
GSC, and other tools. Use debuggers to flag
any issues with events or goals.
Migration Process - URL Mapping and Redirect Strategy
Recovery report
Give a report of URLs: migrated (success,
fail), and updated for Old, Staging, New
sites.
01 02
04 05 06
03

65. KPIs & Tools

66. KPIs for Site Migrations
Indexed Pages
● Monitor the no. of indexed page pre v/s post migration
● Monitor search impression blend with page indexation
01

67. KPIs for Site Migrations
Indexed Pages
● Monitor the no. of indexed page pre v/s post migration
● Monitor search impression blend with page indexation
No. of Organic Keywords
It is important to monitor keyword cluster it can surely
shrink after the migration but you have to monitor it’s
recovery as well the increment of it.
01 02

68. KPIs for Site Migrations
Indexed Pages
● Monitor the no. of indexed page pre v/s post migration
● Monitor search impression blend with page indexation
No. of Organic Keywords
It is important to monitor keyword cluster it can surely
shrink after the migration but you have to monitor it’s
recovery as well the increment of it.
Brand / Non Brand Clicks Split
The key is for the non brand clicks to thrive after the
migration eventually it is important to track that.
01 02
03

69. KPIs for Site Migrations
Indexed Pages
● Monitor the no. of indexed page pre v/s post migration
● Monitor search impression blend with page indexation
No. of Organic Keywords
It is important to monitor keyword cluster it can surely
shrink after the migration but you have to monitor it’s
recovery as well the increment of it.
Traffic Location
Key KPI in international migration: monitor traffic by
contributing country. Address country-level cannibalization if
detected.
Brand / Non Brand Clicks Split
The key is for the non brand clicks to thrive after the
migration eventually it is important to track that.
01
04
02
03

70. Tools
Setting up website monitoring post-migration is crucial to keep a
record of events occurring behind the scenes, without requiring
constant involvement of the SEO team.
Monitoring keyword clusters is crucial, as they may indeed
decrease following migration. However, it's equally essential
to keep an eye on their subsequent recovery and growth.
Helps with website crawling & Auditing. To help bulk request indexing for important pages.
Indexing API Python Script

71. Final Tips

72. Best Practices