Migration, migration, migration

Quick tips on moving content to a new site

Let the dust settle on a new digital strategy or changes to the organisation before you start. These influence how you structure your new site and manage migration.

Do user research before starting the migration. Incorporate user testing into each stage.

Are you capturing complaints about the current site? Give this feedback to the team managing the migration.

Ask public facing colleagues about site gripes from clients, customers, and members. This helps to avoid replicating issues already bothering your users. They are telling you for free what is not working. Invite them in to support user testing.

Audit your pages for reuse, repurpose, develop, or ditch. Start the review early in the process. Collaborate with colleagues and take the organisation with you on the migration journey.

Test automated migration on a small area of your content before applying at scale. This will help you decide if automation or using an editor is the route for you.

Use accessibility software to test your site at each stage.

Staff meetings, internal channels. Bring your colleagues into the process. Reassure them they are not losing content or explain early in the migration why they are.

Encourage digital, development, and communications colleagues to connect. In the interests of happiness, efficiency, and courtesy, create channels for migration freelancers like us, staffers, and stakeholders to work and meet.

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