There are lots of cues that it might be time for a migration or replatforming. If it’s impossible for you to make changes to your website, if it always feels broken, or the UX is suffering and conversions are dropping off, these are all hints that maybe your current platform is doing more to hurt than help you.
Still, even in the face of undeniable evidence that it’s time for a move, some eCommerce merchants put off migrating a website because it is a herculean effort, and the risk often overshadows the potential reward.
All the same, don’t be one of those intransigent eCommerce merchants. Maybe there are steep risks associated with website migration, but a provider of eCommerce migration services can help you avoid some of these big ones.
Online Store Downtime
Realistically, there’s going to be some downtime during a migration. While you can’t eliminate it, you can plan for it and you can minimize it.
An experienced eCommerce migration services provider should have a refined migration process that they have employed many times, one that enables them to sync and test before actually moving over your data – minimizing downtime.
One more thing: before your scheduled migration, make sure to email your customers so they know what to expect.
Broken Links, Search Engine Optimization Issues
You may have put a lot of resources into organic marketing efforts, like SEO. If that is the case, you must be extra-careful when migrating, because if URLs change and you don’t have redirects in place, your organic traffic will drop off a cliff.
You also need to make sure that your migration services provider formats the new website in exactly the same manner as the old one so that you don’t lose any of your other organic gains.
Incompatibility Issues
One thing you don’t want to experience is getting onto a new platform and working with a new website just to find out that it doesn’t function as intended.
A skilled migration services provider will by necessity work with developers and possibly even designers that will make sure your new website looks and works the way the old one did – if not better.
Naturally, if you are suspicious or have questions, just ask. Your migration specialist should be more than happy to lay out the plan for the project with respect to how it will help maintain your eCommerce website’s functionality as intended.
Data Loss and Corruption
Data loss, or its cousin, data corruption, in which data is retrievable but for some reason or other inaccurate, are two of the scariest aspects of migrating an eCommerce store.
Data loss can occur before, during or after a product data migration but it doesn’t really matter when it occurs because the effect is the same – interruptions to your operations.
A qualified migration services provider should have a process that has redundant safeguards in place to help prevent data loss and corruption. Data security should be paramount.
User Experience Issues
Ideally, you want your new store to look, feel, and function the same way as the old one did. In some cases, you might want your new website to offer a better user experience.
What you don’t want are broken features and a poor quality user experience. Fortunately, you can and should work closely with your services provider to ensure that the new website works and looks the way it should.
Get Started Looking for Qualified Providers of eCommerce Migration Services
All in all, the safest way to make sure your website gets off your current platform and onto the new one, without any loss of functionality or UX, is to work with an eCommerce migration services provider. It will serve as a hedge against risk. The process could take a while; start researching today.
