Overcoming B2B Website Migration Challenges: What Are You Up Against?

A B2B website migration is nothing short of defusing a bomb if you ask us. One thing goes wrong, and suddenly nothing works. 

Pages don’t load, and links lead to nowhere. That’s damning when a staggering 83% of potential customers won’t wait more than three seconds for a website to load.¹ And poor usability or functionality drives 42% of users away from websites.¹

But when replatforming is done right, these are non-issues. Our success in moving our client Devil Mountain’s website to BigCommerce is a case in point. It was a smooth and strategic B2B migration. 

Coalition Technologies has moved thousands of pages while preserving SEO value and maintaining data integrity. 

Given our expertise in B2B website migrations, we have a thing or two to say about the potential roadblocks during replatforming. In this article, we point out the top 10 areas where you can face problems. But we are not ones to leave you hanging with the problems. We’ll provide specific, detailed solutions for each type of issue. 

With some technical know-how and an appetite for problem-solving, you’ll breeze through. Let’s begin.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a website migration?

Moving a site to a new host, platform, domain, or URL structure is called a B2C or B2B migration. It involves transferring content, databases, and integrations while preserving functionality and search visibility.

How long does it take for a website to migrate?

Most standard B2C and B2B website migrations take about 30 minutes, though server-to-server moves may require up to 3 hours. Planning for a smooth transition can span weeks or even months, depending on the website.

What is the first step in any website migration?

The first step is to define a clear scope and set specific objectives. You’ll want to pinpoint the main reasons for the migration and understand exactly what parts of the site are involved.

1. SEO

When we migrate a B2B site, URLs change, and a new site structure is implemented. This can easily trigger a temporary dive in search visibility. Since SEO drives 1,000% more organic traffic than regular social media content or other channels, this means a sharp drop in visitors and sales.¹ But with a tight SEO migration setup, that loss can be minimized to a great extent.

Here’s how we would do it:

• Match every old page address to its new one and set up permanent redirects.
• Keep page titles, descriptions, headings, and hidden tags intact.
• Submit updated sitemaps to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. 
• Check search rankings daily for 30 days and fix any broken links or redirect loops.

We’ve seen sites rebound faster when we treat SEO as one of the pillars of successful site migration, because it is.

2. Data

B2B website migrations can misplace or scramble your most critical data, like customer records, product catalogs, pricing tiers, and order histories. Almost 58% of data loss incidents occur due to migration failures.² This means customers face issues, and you lose their trust. That’s a direct hit to your revenue and reputation.

Our strategy for solving this is to:

• Back up every database, file, and asset in full before we begin.
• Restore a few records on a test site to prove those backups actually work.
• Move data in small batches and compare old vs. new to spot any gaps.
• Run automated checks after each batch to catch mismatches immediately.
• Keep a rollback plan so we can flip to the original data if anything goes wrong.

When you own data integrity from start to finish like this, the risk of data loss and corruption during B2B migrations drops drastically. 

3. Links

The internet forgets. Over 66% of site links from the last nine years have disappeared.³ Not all of them from B2B website migrations, but a good chunk of them for sure. And every dead link is a dead end for customers and search bots. It frustrates visitors and wastes the crawl budget. Redirect chains slow pages and weaken your site’s link strength.

Coalition Technologies follows this plan to avoid the problem:

• List old and new page addresses side-by-side in a spreadsheet.
• Set up permanent (301) redirects straight to the new pages to kill chains.
• Change every menu, footer, and in-text link to point to the updated addresses.
• After the B2B website migration, run a link-checker tool to find any broken links.
• Schedule weekly link audits for the first month to catch any stragglers.

A B2B migration is a chance to polish your site’s navigation and SEO. Treat it as such, and you’ll be fine.

4. Downtime

B2B buyers expect 24/7 access to account dashboards and support portals. But during a lengthy B2B website migration, that’s not possible. A single hour of unplanned downtime can cost hundreds of thousands in lost revenue and goodwill. In fact, high-cost outages have surged. 60% now exceed $100K, compared to 39% in 2019.⁴

Let us walk you through our solution:

• Pick a low-traffic time slot for the migration based on your traffic analytics.
• Divide the work into smaller stages so only part of the site is offline at once.
• Apply and test each change on a staging site before touching the live site.
• Write down and rehearse rollback steps to restore service instantly if needed.

A tight migration schedule means your customers barely notice you moved. If you can do it right, you’ll retain sales and customer trust.

5. Integration

Your B2B site lives and dies by integrations. It uses ERP for inventory, CRM for leads, and payment gateways for revenue. When those break during migration, it puts a hard stop on productivity. Orders stall, data goes missing, and workflows freeze. Poor website integration after a B2B website migration means costly fixes and resource drain.

Coalition Technologies takes this approach to avoid the issue:

• Check every integration and API endpoint before launch.
• Test all processes in a copy of your site to spot any glitches.
• Use common file types so different software can share data easily.
• Align schedules with partners and vendors weeks ahead of time.

Nail your integrations during the B2B website migration, and your site will hum like a well-oiled machine. Because when your integrations click, your business flows uninterrupted.

6. Database

Complex B2B databases have custom setups and heavy workloads that can slow down or break after a move. After B2B website migrations, complex queries that used to execute in seconds can slow down exponentially. One case reports numbers dropping from 0.5 seconds to 17 minutes.⁵ This poor performance stalls orders and frustrates users. 

This is how Coalition Technologies will tackle the problem:

• Compare the old and new databases to make sure everything works the same.
• Fine-tune how data is fetched and rebuild key lookup tables for the new setup.
• Move data in small batches so the database isn’t overwhelmed.
• Call in database experts to handle any complex structure or script changes.

A high-performance database keeps your site responsive and your clients loyal. It’s worth thinking about before a B2B migration.

7. Content

Migrating thousands of listings, guides, articles, and other content is tricky. A lot can go wrong. Some corrupted files here and some missing metadata there can tank your SEO migration and make your site look amateurish. It’s no wonder that over 80% of B2B website migrations fail.⁶ A single botched data migration can wipe out over 24 TB of sensitive information.⁶ 

Coalition Technologies’ solution to this:

• List every page, field, and asset so nothing gets left behind.
• Use automated tools to move content in bulk and retain its layout.
• Make sure titles, image descriptions, and hidden tags stay in place.
• Spot-check pages, download files, and preview rich snippets to catch glitches.
• Have experts review technical documents to ensure they display correctly.

During a B2B migration, you need to get your formatting right so readers find the info they need without a hitch. After all, it’s the polished pages that earn the clicks.

8. Security

Migrating a B2B site often moves customer details and proprietary data across networks. If that data isn’t locked down, breaches are all but expected. When you lose sensitive customer data, you also lose their faith. With it goes your goodwill. Despite growing awareness, a survey shows that unpatched vulnerabilities still account for 60% of breaches.⁷

To solve this problem, we would:

• Protect data in transit with strong encryption so no one can snoop.
• Move files only over secure connections instead of open channels.
• Limit who can access B2B migration tools and update their passwords often.
• Scan the system for vulnerabilities before and after the switch.
• Confirm the process meets all privacy and payment regulations.

No one wants an “oops” moment while replatforming. And certainly not for security reasons. As long as your security is solid, your SEO migration will be safe and successful.

9. Access

B2B sites often have layers of users. Admins, sales reps, account managers, and customers all need different views and controls. If those settings get scrambled during B2B website migration, someone might lose the ability to place orders, update prices, or even log in. That frustration slows sales and floods support lines.

Let us walk you through our solution:

• List every user role and permission level before you start.
• Recreate those roles in a test environment and try logging in as each user type.
• Map old accounts to new profiles so no one gets locked out.
• Put an identity management tool in place to keep roles consistent and auditable.

You are migrating your B2B website for peace, not chaos. By accounting for and addressing possible user access issues, you can maintain peace for your users and team members.

10. DNS

Changing where your domain points isn’t instant. DNS (Domain Name System) updates can take up to 48 hours to reach every corner of the internet. In that gap, some visitors see the new site, others hit errors, and emails can bounce or land in spam. That inconsistency during a B2B website migration looks unprofessional and drives prospects away.

Here’s how Coalition Technologies would deal with this:

• Lower the DNS time-to-live (TTL) to 5-10 minutes so updates happen fast.
• Wait one to two days after changes before assuming everything’s live.
• Double-check the email settings so messages reach inboxes.
• Visit the main site and any subdomains from several locations to confirm they load.
• Run a global DNS lookup tool to find any holdouts still on the old address.

Get DNS right, and every visitor and email lands where you want. And your B2B migration goes exactly as planned.

Too Technical For You?

Knowing how to avoid security breaches, migrate B2B website components into a new environment, or fix slow-loading pages is not something we expect of a business owner. You have your customers, products, employees, and sales to think about. It’s okay if you don’t understand the technicalities of SEO migration. 

And even if you do, it might not be wise to handle something as serious and massive as website replatforming alone. That’s where we can help. Coalition Technologies can take web design and development worries off your plate so you can devote time and energy to what you’re good at: running your business.

We are the #1 marketing agency, and for good reason. All the clients whose websites we have designed have experienced positive results. Want us to migrate your B2B website, as well? Contact us to get the ball rolling. We promise zero stress and maximum satisfaction. 

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Citations: 

1. https://userguiding.com/blog/b2b-statistics-trends 
2. https://cyfuture.cloud/kb/howto/how-to-avoid-data-loss-during-a-server-migration
3. https://ahrefs.com/blog/link-rot-study/ 
4. https://uptimeinstitute.com/about-ui/press-releases/2022-outage-analysis-finds-downtime-costs-and-consequences-worsening 
5. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/78393724/mysql-database-performance-decimated-after-server-migration 
6. https://www.netapp.com/learn/cds-blg-migration-failures-are-rampant-whats-causing-them/
7. https://www.indusface.com/blog/key-cybersecurity-statistics/