In the fast-paced digital landscape, signs of needing a CMS migration are clear: increased maintenance, sluggish website performance, integration challenges with new tools, or delays in marketing campaigns. These issues signal it's time to replatform to a new CMS.

Whether you're using a legacy system and considering going headless or adopting a full Digital Experience Platform (DXP), the decision to migrate requires meticulous planning.

Why Migrate Your CMS?

Migrating your CMS typically follows a decision to redesign your website or enhance digital experiences, or when your current platform no longer meets your needs.

But what drives these decisions?

Website Redesign: This involves updating a site's design and layout to enhance visual appeal, usability, and functionality. It often includes changes in branding, user interface, and content to improve user experience and boost conversions.

Platform Upgrade: Migration may involve moving content from an outdated CMS to a newer version or entirely different platform (re-platforming). Reasons include:

Automated vs. Manual Migration

There are two primary methods for migration:

A hybrid approach often combines both methods, leveraging automation for efficiency while allowing manual fine-tuning to ensure data integrity.

CMS Migration Checklist

Pre-Migration Checklist

Before starting migration, thorough planning is crucial:

  1. Align Goals:
  2. Resource Identification
  3. Form a Migration Team
  4. Set Project Timetable
  5. Security Review:
  6. Tools Preparation:

7. Data Assessment:

8. Website Crawling:

9. Data Architecture:

10. Migration Environment Testing:

11. Contingency Plan:

12. Content Transfer Method:

By following this comprehensive pre-migration checklist, you can minimize risks and ensure a successful CMS migration. Proper planning and preparation are key to achieving a smooth and efficient transition to your new content management system.

Post-Migration Checklist

After migration, ensure a seamless transition:

  1. Content Inventory: Verify all content assets transferred successfully without loss or errors.
  2. SEO and Site Optimization: Monitor SEO metrics and implement necessary redirects and optimizations.
  3. Analytics & data capture: Are all your tags firing? Is your traffic the same it was pre-migration
  4. System Performance: Test site functionality, speed, and performance post-migration.
  5. Retire Old CMS: Decommission and archive previous CMS to complete the migration process.

Noice: Your CMS migration partner

CMS migration can sometimes feel like a daunting and time-consuming process. However, with the right implementation partner, it doesn’t have to be. Noice is a digital agency with over 15+ years of experience in the CMS industry. We’re Magnolia, and Adobe partners and have performed numerous migrations for our customers over the years.

With our expertise, we can help to streamline your migration process and help you to avoid some of the pitfalls that can happen during a CMS migration. Having a partner to assist you is also beneficial as it allows your internal teams to operate more efficiently, focusing on more valuable tasks while an experienced team carries out the migration.

Look at our CMS Content Migration Guide to learn more about how to prep for and complete a successful migration.

Ready to migrate your CMS?