Migrating AEM to WordPress: 7 Critical SEO Steps

Migrating from Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) to WordPress isn’t easy, especially when it comes to protecting your SEO. Losing rankings during the transition can have a major impact on your organic traffic and visibility. AEM’s complex architecture creates unique SEO challenges that need careful handling to avoid any disruptions.

At Multidots, we specialize in complex migrations like this, making sure your SEO stays intact throughout the process. In this guide, we’ll cover seven steps to help you preserve your rankings, from content mapping to performance optimization. You’ll learn how to maintain data integrity, keep your URL structures in place, and use WordPress’s built-in SEO advantages for a smooth and successful migration!

Why Migrate From AEM to WordPress?

Migrating from AEM to WordPress offers huge SEO benefits, thanks to WordPress's SEO-friendly structure and powerful plugins like Yoast SEO. WordPress provides a flexible environment that makes optimizing for search engines much simpler, meaning your site maintains and even improves its rankings post-migration.

At Multidots, we bring deep expertise in maximizing these SEO advantages during the migration process. By focusing on WordPress optimization, we help improve page load times – an essential ranking factor. Our understanding of Google on Core Web Vitals results in a faster, more efficient website that meets modern performance standards.

WordPress is also known for its scalability, making it ideal for high-traffic sites used by major media companies and Fortune 500 brands. Here at Multidots, we have extensive experience in scaling WordPress infrastructure for large enterprises, protecting performance even under heavy traffic.

Along with this, WordPress’s plugin ecosystem allows for smooth integration with marketing platforms. Multidots specializes in fine-tuning these integrations, driving greater marketing efficiency. Tools like Multicollab, developed by Multidots, enhance content management workflows, making WordPress an excellent choice for editorial teams looking for streamlined processes!

7 SEO Steps for a Successful AEM to WordPress Migration

Moving from AEM’s complex system to WordPress comes with unique challenges, but by following these steps, you can protect your SEO value and set your site up for continued growth on WordPress!

Step 1. Strategic Content Audit: Mapping your AEM Structure to WordPress

Before going head-first into the migration process, a thorough content audit is a must. Transitioning from AEM to WordPress isn’t as simple as moving content – AEM’s complex content types, custom fields, and hierarchical structures often don’t have direct WordPress equivalents. That’s why carefully mapping out the content is essential to avoid SEO and structural issues down the line.

Start by inventorying all your AEM content, focusing on unique or complex elements like custom post types or AEM content fragments. For WordPress, map these AEM content types to suitable post types and taxonomies, using custom post types where necessary to replicate AEM's structure. Maintaining content relationships is essential, and this might involve using plugins or custom development to preserve these connections in WordPress.

Automated tools can also be helpful for larger migrations, especially for analyzing and mapping large volumes of content. For AEM-specific features like content fragments or experience fragments, think about how these can be recreated in WordPress, possibly through Gutenberg blocks. Maintaining the hierarchy and URL structure is critical for minimizing SEO disruption, so document your mapping strategy thoroughly to flag potential SEO risks early on.

Step 2. Mastering 301 Redirects: Preserving Link Equity and User Experience

Mastering 301 redirects is essential for preserving both your SEO rankings and user experience during the migration from AEM to WordPress. When URLs change, you risk losing valuable link equity and frustrating users with broken links. A well-planned redirect strategy means every piece of content gets from point A to point B without losing SEO value.

When setting up redirects, configuring them at the server level, such as by modifying the .htaccess file for Apache servers, typically offers optimal performance. For more complex redirects, you may need a WordPress plugin that supports regex patterns. Pay close attention to AEM's dynamic URLs – either map them to static WordPress URLs or recreate the dynamic functionality within WordPress.

Then, you’ll need to test your redirects thoroughly to avoid redirect chains or errors. Use tools like Google Search Console to monitor for any issues and ensure no pages are missed. Poorly implemented redirects can slow down your site, so balance thoroughness with performance, especially for large-scale migrations, by batching redirects if necessary.

Step 3. WordPress SEO Optimization: Using Platform-Specific Advantages

One of the biggest advantages of moving from AEM to WordPress is the availability of powerful SEO tools that make optimization easier. 

WordPress SEO plugins like Yoast SEO and Rank Math provide built-in features like XML sitemaps, schema markup, and on-page optimization tools that would typically require custom development in AEM. Choose the plugin that best fits your site's needs to take full advantage of these features!

Optimizing the permalink structure is another step. Aim to match the AEM URL structure as closely as possible to maintain SEO continuity and avoid ranking disruptions. Categories and tags should be mapped strategically to replicate AEM’s content organization, ensuring a smooth transition in information architecture.

WordPress makes it simple to customize title tags and meta descriptions for each page and post, improving your on-page SEO. For better visibility in search results, you can also add schema markup using your SEO plugin or custom code to create rich snippets.

And don’t forget media content – WordPress’s built-in features for alt text and captions help optimize images and videos. If needed, additional media optimization plugins can further enhance load times and performance!

Step 4. Performance Tuning: Maintaining Speed and Core Web Vitals

Maintaining or improving site performance during an AEM to WordPress migration is essential for both user experience and SEO. Core Web Vitals – such as loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability – are important factors that impact your rankings and the overall user experience.

Start by choosing a lightweight, performance-optimized WordPress theme, like GeneratePress, and minimize plugin usage to avoid unnecessary bloat. Implement a caching solution, such as WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache, for faster page load times. These tools are vital for keeping your site responsive, especially for high-traffic environments.

For media optimization, use lazy loading and convert images to next-gen formats like WebP to improve load times without sacrificing quality. Minimize and combine CSS and JavaScript files with WordPress’s asset management tools or a performance optimization plugin to reduce the number of requests made by the site.

Incorporating a Content Delivery Network (CDN) is another effective way to speed up server response times and ensure fast global accessibility. Along with this, clean up post revisions, optimize your database tables, and consider object caching to improve the performance of dynamic content.

Monitor your Core Web Vitals regularly using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or Lighthouse, and address any performance issues that arise post-migration to keep your site running smoothly.

Step 5. Content Migration: Protecting Data Integrity and Formatting

When migrating content from AEM to WordPress, protecting data integrity and formatting is critical. To avoid common pitfalls, it’s essential to develop a thorough content extraction strategy that covers all content types, metadata, and relationships. This means nothing is lost or misaligned during the migration.

Handling AEM-specific features, such as content fragments or experience fragments, may require custom development in WordPress to maintain the functionality. This is where working with a WordPress agency, like Multidots, is invaluable.

A strong Quality Assurance (QA) process is also necessary. Use a mix of automated tools and manual reviews to verify content accuracy, formatting, and metadata integrity after the migration. For large-scale sites, a phased migration approach is often the most efficient, allowing for thorough testing and adjustments as needed.

Step 6. User Experience: Redesigning for WordPress Without Losing Familiarity

For a smooth transition for users, it’s important to analyze your AEM site’s current user experience and identify the key elements and interactions that define the brand. This will help you retain familiarity while moving to WordPress, meaning users don’t feel disoriented after the migration.

Maintaining consistent URL structures and navigation patterns is essential for preserving the user experience. If changes to the layout or navigation are needed, be sure to include clear wayfinding elements to guide users.

To make content management easier for your team, you can customize the WordPress admin interface to mirror AEM workflows. This might include using role-based permissions, custom admin themes, or plugins that bring AEM-like features to the backend.

After the migration, implement A/B testing to fine-tune the user experience and compare key metrics against the former AEM site, ensuring performance is maintained or even improved!

Step 7. Security Measures: Protecting Your New WordPress Site

Last but certainly not least, securing your new WordPress site is critical to protecting both your data and user experience. Start by choosing a reputable, security-focused hosting provider that offers regular backups, malware scanning, and DDoS protection – features that help maintain a secure environment. 

While AEM has complex security issues, WordPress offers powerful security solutions through plugins like Shield Security PRO or Sucuri Security, which provide firewall protection, malware scanning, and login security.

Implement strong password policies and two-factor authentication for all users, especially those with elevated privileges. Regularly audit user roles and permissions, removing any unnecessary access to minimize risk. Keeping the WordPress core, themes, and plugins up-to-date is vital for protecting against vulnerabilities.

Additionally, use a staging environment to test updates before applying them to your live site, and secure your WordPress configuration by disabling file editing in the admin area and protecting sensitive files. Enforce proper file permissions and install SSL certificates to encrypt data transmission, ensuring HTTPS is active across the site.

Develop an incident response plan and regularly perform security audits to identify and address potential risks. You might also consider implementing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) tailored to WordPress for added protection, similar to enterprise-level security solutions used with AEM.

Post-Migration Success: Monitoring, Optimizing, and Scaling Your WordPress Site

After migrating to WordPress, ongoing monitoring, optimization, and scaling are a must for making sure your site performs at an enterprise level. Here’s how you can do that:

• Keep a close eye on advanced performance metrics like Time to First Byte (TTFB), server response time, and database query efficiency. Tools like New Relic and Datadog provide continuous performance monitoring and optimization, helping you catch and resolve issues early.
• Use of advanced techniques such as Redis object caching and CDNs can significantly improve load times and performance, especially under heavy traffic. To handle sudden traffic spikes, implement load balancing and auto-scaling solutions, ensuring your site remains stable and responsive.
• Conduct regular security audits, WAFs, and up-to-date protocols to safeguard your site. Automated maintenance workflows can streamline operations, reducing the need for constant manual oversight on large-scale WordPress sites.
• Set up disaster recovery and high-availability solutions to protect your site during system failures, ensuring minimal downtime. 
• Integrate WordPress with enterprise-grade marketing automation and CRM systems to enable smooth business processes.

To make post-migration steps easier for you, Multidots provides custom strategies for high-traffic sites and enterprise-level maintenance to keep your WordPress site running smoothly.

Make Your AEM to WordPress Migration Easy with Multidots

Migrating from AEM to WordPress can be complex, but with Multidots’ extensive experience, the process becomes effortless. Having completed over 200 successful migrations, including mission-critical projects, Multidots has built a solid reputation for delivering results under tight deadlines. From preserving SEO to maintaining data integrity and ensuring a smooth user experience, our team addresses every unique challenge that comes with AEM to WordPress transitions.

Our migration process is tailored to each client’s specific needs, whether it’s complex content mapping, custom development, or performance optimization. Multidots’ flexible approach ensures that we meet both the technical and budgetary requirements of businesses, providing premium services at competitive rates.

Contact Multidots today to make your AEM to WordPress migration smooth and stress-free!