How To Plan A CMS Migration
IntermediateQuick Answer
TL;DR
Planning a CMS migration involves six key phases: discovery (audit current content and requirements), platform selection, content modeling for the new CMS, migration scripting and data transformation, testing and QA, and cutover with redirects. Build a detailed timeline, assign clear ownership, establish success criteria, and always plan for a rollback strategy. Most migrations take 4-16 weeks depending on content volume and complexity.
Key Takeaways
- Start with a comprehensive content and feature audit of the existing CMS
- Define your new content model before writing any migration scripts
- Build automated migration scripts that can be run repeatedly during testing
- Plan the cutover carefully: redirects, DNS changes, and rollback procedures