You can listen to our ecommerce replatforming content migration episode via the following channels:
Google Podcasts >>
Apple Podcasts >>
Spotify >>
Overcast >>
Paul and James discuss how content migration should be approached, the common challenges, how to plan effectively to manage risk sensibly and how things should be approached by development agencies.
Key discussion points:
- What typically causes the biggest headaches for ecommerce content migrations?
- How can ecommerce teams mitigate this risk?
- Does a site redesign or rebrand complicate the situation?
- How do you start the process?
- What content do you need to think about?
- How do you get efficiencies of scale to minimise effort?
- What are the common mistakes made and how does this impact a project?
If you have any questions, you can reach out to us via LinkedIn or use the contact form on the website.
Tl:dr – discussion threads
Content migration is an area during a replatforming project which presents huge opportunity. However normally content is seen as a quick thing to do and something that shouldn’t present any complications.
While this can be the case, it is more common to realise that the amount of content on site has been underestimated, and therefore there has not been enough time allocated to the proper migration of all content types.
Here we help identify all the types of content you should look for and how to proceed so that there is a smooth transition.
Why is content often underestimated?
- If you haven’t gone through a replatforming project before, it is easy to forget that content is not just copy and images, but also drop downs menus, system messages, etc
- In any website there are a number of different pages that have been forgotten or are hidden from view
What types of content should you bear in mind? The below is a non-exhaustive list that will help identify the main areas:
- Page types
- Content types
- Legacy pages
- Old content pages such as guides
- Product list pages
- Landing pages: copy, CTAs, labels, and image
- Editorial and storytelling content: headings, subheadings, body copy images, copy on overlays etc
- Functional content: Navigation, labels, drop down menus
- Category pages
- List pages
- Product pages
- Seo metadata
- Customer service pages
- Standard cms
- Third party content: reviews,
- System messages: cookie consent
- Policy pages
- Error messages
- Checkout messages
- Different languages
What should you bear in mind regarding content during a migration?
- Will you need to adapt existing content to a new design? Think fonts, colours, image sizes and resolution
- Is there new content (new collections, products, etc) launching at the same time as old content being transferred? Make sure that there is consistency
- Have you allocated time for the production of those new assets? New features such as 360 views and brand imagery can take a long time to produce so it needs to be included in the critical path
- How will any changes affect our SEO strategy and current rankings?
- Is all content still readable in all devices?
How you start the project of content migration?
- Audit content
- Build a comprehensive list of the content
- Plan around your content: allocate responsibilities, split by type of content, break down tasks
- Build timelines about migrating each type of content, working out how much time is required for each team member
- Ensure there is a one place where everyone can access the planning tools to be aware of milestones and deadlines
Finally, marketers like togroup a replatforming project with a redesign opportunity. For a company this means that they don’t feel like they are constantly managing big technical projects and they can just get in with managing the business however, our recommendation is to not to bundle these two projects together
Why not to undergo a redesign at the same time as a migration?
- Because content migration within a replatforming project means moving things as they are, therefore is less of a headache
- There is less risk of losing organic visibility and revenue
- A redesign normally requires a longer timeline (producing best in class UX and acquiring sign off can take up to 6 months)
- Focusing on the back end and leaving the front end untouched leads to a faster replatforming and allows or the redesign phase to take time on its own without bring enveloped in one big project that compromises design and UX
Do you have any queries regarding content migration within a replatforming project? Get in touch with us!
