In today's fast-paced digital landscape, it's essential for e-commerce businesses to stay up-to-date with the latest technologies and trends to remain competitive. Replatforming your website can provide many benefits, such as improved site speed and functionality, increased customer satisfaction, and cost savings. However, the replatforming process can be complex and challenging, and requires careful planning and execution to ensure a successful outcome. This guide provides a step-by-step approach to replatforming your website, from planning and preparation to implementation and post-launch support.
By the end of this guide, you will be able to:
- Identify the key benefits of replatforming, including improved performance, increased flexibility, and better security.
- Understand the key steps involved in replatforming, from defining objectives to executing the migration.
- Analyze different platforms and select the one that best fits your business needs and requirements.
- Develop a comprehensive migration plan, including timelines, milestones, and tasks.
- Implement the migration plan, monitoring progress and addressing any issues or challenges that arise.
- Finalize the migration and conduct a final assessment to ensure that all systems and processes are working as intended.
Difference between replatforming and redesign
There's a lot of confusion around a replatform of a website versus a redesign.
How do they differ?
Who are the different parties involved in each?
How do I know which one I need for my site?
Replatforming and redesign are two different processes that serve different purposes in improving a website's performance and user experience. Here are the key differences:
Replatforming: Replatforming involves migrating an existing website from one technology platform to another. The primary goal of replatforming is to address technical limitations and upgrade to a new platform with improved performance, flexibility, and security. Replatforming typically involves migrating existing website content, data, and functionality to the new platform while retaining the website's design and user experience. Replatforming is often necessary when the existing platform is outdated, inflexible, or unable to support business growth and innovation.
Redesign: Redesign involves making significant changes to a website's visual design and user experience, without changing the underlying technology platform. The primary goal of redesign is to improve user engagement, brand perception, and website performance. Redesign typically involves modifying the website's layout, navigation, and visual elements to create a more intuitive and user-friendly interface. Redesign is often necessary when the existing website design is outdated, not aligned with the company's brand identity, or unable to meet user needs and preferences.
In summary, while replatforming involves migrating to a new technology platform, redesign focuses on improving the website's visual design and user experience. Replatforming is typically necessary to address technical limitations, while redesign is more focused on improving user engagement and brand perception. In a lot of cases, replatforming entails also a redesign of key flows to make them compatible with the new platform.
What are the benefits of replatforming?
Replatforming can be beneficial for your website in certain circumstances, but it is not always necessary or appropriate. Replatforming involves migrating your website from one platform to another, such as moving from one content management system (CMS) to another, or from a self-hosted platform to a cloud-based platform.
The decision to replatform should be based on a thorough assessment of your current website and its performance, as well as your business goals and future needs. Here are some reasons why replatforming might be a good idea:
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Better features and functionality: If your current platform is outdated or lacks the features you need to grow your business, replatforming can help you take advantage of new features and functionality.
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Improved performance: If your website is slow or experiencing technical issues, replatforming can help improve performance and speed.
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Enhanced user experience: If your website is difficult to navigate or not mobile-friendly, replatforming can help you create a better user experience for your visitors.
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Cost savings: If your current platform is expensive to maintain or doesn't provide good value for the price, replatforming can help you save money in the long run.
However, replatforming can also be a complex and time-consuming process, and it can sometimes cause temporary disruptions to your website's performance and SEO. Before deciding to replatform, you should carefully evaluate the potential benefits and drawbacks, and consider consulting with experts in web development and SEO to help you make an informed decision.
Additional resources
- To better understand if is the right timing to replatform, look at this article.
- To help you better plan out your replatforming project, here's a list of some best practices on how to make changes to your site without disrupting data collection.
- To help you navigate replatforming complexities, here's a webinar recording with a Contentsquare expert sharing insights, tips, and best practices for success.