The Global Site Migration

@KateDreyer

• Offices in 50 countries

• 20+ domains

• Some of our main markets:

EF Englishtown

@KateDreyer

• I’m not telling you how to do things

• Every website is different

• Every business is different

• Some decisions are not based on SEO

Caveat

Why Migrate?

@KateDreyer

Redesign

@KateDreyer

New CMS

@KateDreyer

Resources

SEO Manager

MEAST FR DE MX BR JP

IT RU ES

@KateDreyer

Domain Strategy

http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/subdomains-and-subdirectories/

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/working-with-multi-regional-websites.html

ccTLDs Subdomains Subdirectories URL

Parameters

Clear geotargeting Easy to set up Easy to set up

Just don’t. Expensive

Can target using WMTs

Can target using WMTs

More infrastructure required

Treated as separate site

Uses authority of main site

@KateDreyer

• http://www.asos.de/

• http://us.asos.com/

• http://www.asos.com/es/

• http://www.apple.com/de/

• http://www.apple.com/fr/

• http://www.apple.com/mx/

Examples

@KateDreyer

Our Domains

Site Domain Strong /

Weak Market

Size Action

englishtown.com Global/US Very strong Small Use as hub

englishtown.com.mx ccTLD Weak Large Move to

.com

thailand.englishtown.com Sub-

Domain Weak Medium

Move to .com

englishtown.de ccTLD Strong Large Don't move

englishtown.co.uk ccTLD Weak Tiny Move to .com

& test

@KateDreyer

Internal Planning

• Timelines

• Checklists

• Assign responsibilities

@KateDreyer

Responsibilities

• Jira ticketing system helps assign tasks and deadlines

• Confluence keeps all documents and guidelines available online

@KateDreyer

• Copywriters

• Designers

• User Experience

• Translators

Training

@KateDreyer

• Not always a straight translation

• Always check volumes

Keywords

Keyword Volume Comp.

aprender ingles online 8,100 0.84

aprender ingles en linea 720 0.76

aprender ingles en línea 10 0.76

@KateDreyer

We take translation very seriously!

• URLs

• Copy

• Titles

• Descriptions Must be done by a

native speaker!

@KateDreyer

URL Structure

englishtown.com/online/online-school.aspx

englishtown.com/prices/

englishtown.com/online/how-it-works.aspx

englishtown.com/learn-english-online/

@KateDreyer

• Accents • Non-latin

characters

URLs - Special Characters

http://www.englishtown.ru/%D0%B2%D1%8B%D1%83%D1%87%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%8C-%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0

%BB%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9 -%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BD/

www.englishtown.ru/выучить-английский-онлайн/

@KateDreyer

XML Sitemaps - Creation

http://www.timestampgenerator.com/tools/xml-sitemap-from-list/

@KateDreyer

Hreflang Tags

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/189077?hl=en

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="http://www.englishtown.com/" />

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es-mx" href="http://www.englishtown.com/es-mx/" />

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-mx" href="http://www.englishtown.com/en-mx/" />

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="http://www.englishtown.com/en-gb/" />

@KateDreyer

Hreflang Sitemaps

http://www.themediaflow.com/resources/tools/href-lang-tool/

@KateDreyer

Hreflang ≠ Canonical Tags

Hreflang Tags Canonical

Tags Canonical Tags

• Determines language • Helps Google show

correct page in local search results

• Determines duplicate content

• Helps Google ignore duplicate pages

@KateDreyer

301s - Mapping & Documentation

• Is structure the same?

Existing URL 301 Redirect to

/online/home /

/online/ /

/online/home.aspx /

/online/how-it-works.aspx /englisch-lernen-online

/online/conversation-classes.aspx /englisch-lernen-online/englischlehrer

/online/group-lessons.aspx /englisch-lernen-online/englischunterricht-online

/online/private-lessons.aspx /englisch-lernen-online/englisch-privatunterricht

/online/online-courses.aspx /englisch-lernen-online/englischkurs

/online/certified-diploma.aspx /englisch-lernen-online/zertifikat-englisch

/online/dp/iPad-Efekta-10.aspx /englisch-lernen-online/englisch-lernen-app

/online/dp/tablet-english-app.aspx /englisch-lernen-online/englisch-lernen-app

/online/your-teachers.aspx /englischlehrer-und-studenten/lehrer

/online/reviews.aspx /englischlehrer-und-studenten/studenten

/online/packages-prices.aspx /angebote-und-preise

@KateDreyer

Robots.txt

Block new site

Check everything

Unblock new site

Block old site

@KateDreyer

Google Webmaster Tools

• Sitemaps

• Change of address

• Geo-targeting

@KateDreyer

Re-Point Links • Agency has relationships with site owners

• Makes it easier to re-point links

Old site Old site

@KateDreyer

Re-Point Links • Agency has relationships with site owners

• Makes it easier to re-point links

Old site Old site

@KateDreyer

Reporting - Analytics

• We are using test and target to track old and new before we migrate

• Make sure all tracking is set up

• Continue to track old site before switching to new one

@KateDreyer Kate.Dreyer@ef.com