7 Major Pitfalls You May Face with Magento Migration

by Mariable P. SEO

Magento 2 is a completely new platform — pages load much faster, it simplifies store management, and it offers customers better search and checkout capabilities.

But Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration is time-consuming. On average it takes about three months. Granted, this period can be longer if the site is complex or highly customized, and especially if you run into pitfalls.

So what are the common pitfalls and how to avoid them?

Pitfall 1 — Magento 2 data migration isn’t as simple as dragging and dropping

There is no way to copy Magento 1 data and paste them into Magento 2. First, the Magento 2 platform has to be prepared for your custom data. Then, a combination of custom migration scripts, the official Magento Data Migration Tool, and sometimes manual migration are used to migrate your settings and bulk data.

Pitfall 2 — Messy code and a shoddy data structure may mean a lot of custom development

During migration, you may run into problems related to data structure depending on how old your site is and who developed it. Messy code can also make migration difficult because sifting through disorganized code is time-consuming. So the only way to avoid this pitfall is a good site audit to determine if custom migration scripts are needed or it’s better to just start with a clean install of Magento.

Pitfall 3 — Poor SEO performance after Magento migration

Search engine optimization (SEO) can make or break your business. If you don’t migrate correctly, the following issues can occur:

lower search engine ranking;

broken URLs;

redirects that don’t work.

So, the best option for keeping your SEO healthy after migration is mapping out your old site architecture and matching it up with the new site to check that all of your pages retain their ranking and you don’t lose traffic as a result of broken or unavailable pages.

Pitfall 4 — You can’t use Magento 1 extensions in Magento 2

Extensions that run on your Magento 1 site can’t be copied over during migration. Simply put, they won’t work. But if your Magento 1 extensions have a Magento 2 version, it’s pretty easy to migrate settings and data so your business isn't affected.

Pitfall 5 — Store theme and design have to be redone from scratch

Just like extensions, your site’s theme and design cannot simply be transferred over. The reason is that Magento 2 uses a modern architecture and has different frontend and backend requirements. Plus, now that people are accessing the web more on mobile, it makes sense to take advantage of Magento 2’s mobile-friendly responsive design features.

For more detailed information about the other problems and about the process in general, read this article “Major pitfalls in Magento migration process.”