As businesses expand, their websites, current hosting infrastructure and content management systems can become insufficient to meet evolving demands of customers. This necessitates the need for a change, a proactive digital strategy to remain relevant, adapt to shifting expectations, and deliver what modern users anticipate. Migrating to a more scalable platform equips businesses to handle increased traffic, content, and functionality without experiencing performance issues.

If you are in the process of considering a migration from Kentico to Drupal, you're likely aware of the substantial benefits that Drupal can provide- scalability, cloud hosting, greater customization, and open-source flexibility, offering a more tailored and cost-effective CMS. However, one of the biggest concerns during a migration is the potential impact on your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) rankings. According to a study by SEMrush, 40% of websites experience a drop in their organic traffic after a migration.

In this blog, we will explore strategies to ensure that you retain your SEO value during a Kentico to Drupal migration. We will also introduce Altudo, a leading digital agency with a proven track record in Kentico to Drupal migration and extensive experience in Drupal.

Why is SEO important in Kentico CMS to Drupal migration?

A website's search engine rankings are the key to being discovered by users searching for relevant content or services. During migration, there is a risk of losing these rankings, if SEO is not a central consideration.

By considering SEO throughout the migration process, your business can maintain or even improve their visibility, ensure a positive user experience, and safeguard SEO juice, which represents the authority and credibility old website has accumulated over time and serves as a critical factor in search engine rankings.

Find out how Drupal’s Headless application can improve your website SEO.

How to migrate website to Drupal without losing SEO?

A website's search engine ranking depends on multiple on-page and off-page factors like content quality, keywords, meta tags, technical aspects, content relevance, backlinks, user experience, and various external signals. When all these are changed or misconfigured significantly during migration, it may hinder search engine bots from effectively crawling and indexing the new site, potentially leading to de-indexing and a significant reduction in search engine visibility.

There are numerous strategies to prevent this and maintain your SEO effectiveness. Here are 8 best practices recommended by experts:

Comprehensive SEO audit

Before starting the migration process, conduct a thorough SEO audit of your Kentico website to understand which content is driving organic traffic and what SEO elements are contributing to this success. Identify:

• High-performing pages


• Top-ranking keywords


• Any SEO issues that need addressing

These insights inform a data-driven approach to content migration and optimization, helping you focus your resources and efforts where they are most needed. Altudo, an experienced Kentico to Drupal migration provider, can assist you with this audit to ensure that nothing is overlooked, and your SEO performance is safeguarded and enhanced during the migration.

Content migration and optimization

Start by creating a comprehensive inventory of all your existing content on the Kentico website. This includes web pages, blog posts, images, videos, and any other digital assets. Knowing what you have is crucial for effective migration. Pay close attention to on-page SEO elements such as:

• Meta titles and meta tags


• Meta descriptions


• Header tags


• Alt attributes and title tags

Use a migration plugin or tool to ensure all your content from the current website is transferred correctly. In some cases, optimization may be necessary to improve these elements as you migrate. Update your SEO elements to reflect the updated content structure and optimize your images for SEO.

Optimizing URL structures for SEO

URL structure is a fundamental element of SEO. When transitioning to Drupal, creating an SEO-friendly URL structure that closely resembles your Kentico URLs is essential. This maintains the existing link equity and ensures that visitors and search engines can easily find your latest content.

Proper 301 redirects will also be essential to ensure a smooth transition. 301 redirects are permanent redirects that tell search engines that the old URLs of web pages have moved to new URLs. Here's how you can create a 301 redirect in Drupal:

• Go to ‘Configuration’ > ‘Search engine optimization’ > ‘URL aliases’


• Click ‘Add new alias’


• In the ‘Path’ field, enter the old URL of the page


• In the ‘Redirect’ field, enter the new URL of the page


• Click Save

Indexing and crawl error monitoring

The migration process is vulnerable to unforeseen issues, such as indexing and crawl errors. Here's how to minimize the risk of these issues in your Drupal site:

• Continuously update and resubmit your XML sitemaps as you migrate and add content.


• Verify that canonical tags are correctly set on your new Drupal pages.


• Carefully review and update the robots.txt file on your Drupal site to ensure it allows search engine crawlers access to your content. Misconfigured robots.txt files can block indexing.


• Closely monitor the website using tools like Google Search Console. If errors are detected, address them promptly.

Mobile optimization

Google's ranking algorithms place a strong emphasis on mobile friendliness. Ensure that the Drupal site is visually appealing and functions seamlessly on various mobile devices.

• Test your pages on a variety of mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, to confirm that they display correctly and offer a great user experience.


• Pay attention to factors like touch-friendly navigation, legible text, and proper button sizes.


• Consider implementing Google's Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) for your content, especially for articles and blog posts. AMP pages load faster on mobile devices, which can lead to better rankings in mobile search results.

Boosting website speed and performance

Page speed is a significant ranking factor. As per Google research, 53% of mobile website visitors will leave if a webpage doesn’t load within three seconds. Consider the following tips to improve it:

• Review and optimize content during migration. Remove unnecessary elements, compress images, and minify HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to reduce the size of web pages.


• Implement server-side caching, content caching, and browser caching to reduce the webpage load time. Caching helps serve pre-rendered content to users, reducing server processing time.


• Minimize the use of redirects as they add additional loading time. Ensure that your URL structure remains consistent during migration to minimize the need for redirects.

Altudo's expertise in optimizing Drupal websites for speed translates to fast-loading pages and a positive user experience. This focus on performance not only helps with SEO but also reduces bounce rates and keeps visitors engaged.

Learn how to optimize your website for better performance..

Ongoing SEO maintenance

SEO is not a one-time effort but an ongoing process. The post-migration phase is essential for adapting to evolving algorithms and staying competitive in search results. Here are some expert tips to maintain your SEO authority:

• Continuously track keyword rankings to adapt content to evolving search trends.


• Ensure your content remains relevant by updating it to match current search trends and user interests.


• Acquire high-quality backlinks to enhance your site's authority and SEO rankings.


• Stay current with search engine algorithm changes and adjust your SEO strategy accordingly.


• Regularly measure and report on SEO performance to make informed decisions and track progress.

Empowering team with SEO expertise

SEO constantly evolves with changing search engine algorithms and industry trends. Empowering your team with SEO knowledge is an investment in the long-term success of your Drupal website.

Altudo's SEO training can equip your staff with an understanding of best SEO practices specific to maintaining a Drupal website. This knowledge transfer ensures that your team can make informed decisions and implement on-page and off-page optimization strategies, which can lead to improved organic rankings and visibility.

Introducing Altudo: Kentico to Drupal migration experts

Introducing Altudo: Kentico to Drupal migration experts

Ensuring a successful Kentico to Drupal migration requires expertise and experience. Altudo's team of experts understands the nuances of Kentico and Drupal, allowing us to navigate the migration process seamlessly. Here's why Altudo is the go-to choice of leading organizations for migration:

• In-depth knowledge: Altudo deeply understands both Kentico and Drupal capabilities, enabling informed decisions throughout the migration process that safeguards all digital inventories.


• Tailored solutions: Altudo doesn't believe in one-size-fits-all solutions. We tailor website migration strategies to meet the unique needs and goals of each client.


• Seamless data transfer: Migrating content, user data, and other critical elements is a complex task. Altudo's meticulous approach ensures that data is transferred seamlessly, minimizing disruptions.


• Post-Migration support: With a global support team, Altudo provides ongoing support and optimization services to ensure your Drupal website continues to perform at its best.

Altudo's Drupal expertise

Altudo's Drupal expertise is not limited to migration services. We are a certified Drupal partner, well-versed in Drupal development and digital strategy. You can uplift your web presence with Altudo’s:

• Drupal development services: Altudo's team includes seasoned Drupal developers who can build, customize, and extend your Drupal website to match your business requirements precisely.


• Digital strategy consultation: Altudo can help you develop a comprehensive digital strategy to maximize the impact of your Drupal-powered website.


• Managed services: Altudo's commitment to excellence means they are always exploring new Drupal features and best practices to ensure your website remains competitive.


• Website optimization: Altudo specializes in SEO and website optimization. We can help your business to expand its reach, boost visibility in SERPs and secure higher rankings, elevating your digital presence.

Conclusion

Migrating from Kentico to Drupal can be a transformative step for your online presence, offering greater scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency. However, preserving your SEO rankings during this transition is critical. Partnering with Altudo, a digital agency with expertise in Kentico to Drupal migration and extensive Drupal experience, can make all the difference. With Altudo's guidance and the strategies outlined in this article, you can successfully migrate to Drupal while retaining your SEO juice.

Schedule a free 1:1 no-obligation consultation to undertake seamless migration that keeps your SEO rankings strong.