Library Website Migration from Drupal to WordPress
The Library in Dauphin County migrated its outdated Drupal website to WordPress to improve usability, performance, and mobile optimization. The project preserved the site’s design, functionality, and SEO while enhancing the overall user experience.
Industry
Education
Technology
WordPress
Services
Website Migration & CMS Implementation, Custom Web Development & Theme Customization, Content Migration & Data Integrity
Project Overview
The Library, a non-profit organization in Dauphin County, provides public library services to the community through multiple branches and online platforms. Their website, built on Drupal, was outdated, difficult to manage, and not mobile-optimized. The Library decided to migrate the website to WordPress to improve user experience, enhance performance, and maintain SEO while retaining its design and functionality.
Project Objectives
The primary objectives of this project were:
- Migration from Drupal to WordPress: Seamlessly move all content, design, and functionality from Drupal to WordPress without losing SEO value.
- Preserve SEO: Ensure the current search engine rankings were maintained throughout the migration process.
- Improve User Experience: Redesign the website for improved user navigation, mobile responsiveness, and intuitive content access.
- Maintain Core Functionalities: Keep key features, such as the library card registration, event calendar, and search functionalities, intact and operational.
Project Execution
1. Design and Discovery Process
During the discovery phase, our team analyzed the existing site structure and user behaviors to design a solution that retained the original website’s core functionalities but used WordPress’s flexibility to improve performance and ease of use.
Key considerations:
- Mobile Optimization: Ensuring a mobile-responsive design to improve accessibility.
- Simplified Navigation: Improving user pathways to make accessing library resources faster and more intuitive.
- SEO-Friendly Design: Retaining all existing SEO juice by mirroring the URL structure and using SEO plugins.
The design was created using GeneratePress, a lightweight and SEO-optimized theme. Elementor was used to build flexible, visually appealing landing pages while keeping site speed and functionality intact.
2. Development and Customization
The development process included the following:
- WordPress Theme Customization: Tailoring the GeneratePress theme to match the library’s branding and design while maintaining flexibility for future updates.
- Content and Functionality Migration: The migration process involved recreating landing pages using Elementor and transferring content such as events, library resources, and blog posts.
- Custom Features: Custom functionality for user interactions (such as event registration forms, resource filters, and library catalog search integration) was developed.
- Configured and integrated SMTP to activate the website’s mailing system, ensuring reliable email delivery for client communications.
- Additionally, implemented reCAPTCHA v2 as per client requirements to enhance form security and protect the website from spam and automated submissions.
3. Content Migration to WordPress
A critical part of the migration was transferring all the existing content (e.g., programs, resources, and events) from Drupal to WordPress. The migration process was handled using scripts to ensure all text, media, and metadata were preserved.
- Programs and events
- Resources like e-books, audiobooks, and research tools
- Custom donation forms integrated with Blackbaud for online donations
The goal was to ensure that no content was lost, and that all content was properly formatted for WordPress.
4. URL Redirection and SEO Preservation
We implemented a thorough SEO migration plan to ensure that no SEO value was lost:
- Pre-Migration Activities: Crawling the existing site, identifying existing URLs, and mapping them to the new WordPress URLs.
- During Migration: Redirecting all old URLs to their corresponding new pages to ensure continuity and prevent broken links. We also updated the internal links, XML sitemaps, and Google Search Console with the new URL structure.
- Post-Migration: Monitoring the site for 404 errors, fixing any broken links, and ensuring that the website’s SEO ranking was not affected.
- Integrated Google Analytics and Search Console to track performance, analyze user behavior, traffic sources, and keywords, enabling data-driven decisions for better visibility and growth.
We also kept the page speed in mind by using lightweight images and optimized JavaScript, ensuring quick load times.
5. Thorough Testing and Quality Assurance
The testing phase involved both automated and manual testing to ensure everything functioned correctly across different browsers and devices.
We focused on:
- Functional Testing: Ensuring that all content, forms, and interactive elements worked as expected.
- Cross-Browser Testing: Verifying that the website functioned properly on major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.
- Mobile Responsiveness: Ensuring that the website provided a seamless experience across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
6. Launch and Ongoing Support
After all issues were addressed and the final testing was successful, the website was launched. The library staff was provided with a training session on how to use the WordPress CMS, and ongoing support was offered to address any post-launch issues.
Post-launch activities included:
- Analytics Setup: Setting up Google Analytics and monitoring user behavior to ensure the website met performance goals.
- Ongoing Support: Providing ongoing technical support and content updates to keep the website running smoothly.
Results & Feedback
- Seamless Migration: The website was successfully migrated from Drupal to WordPress, preserving the user experience, design, and functionality.
- SEO Retention: The site maintained its search engine rankings and traffic due to the careful management of URL redirection and SEO best practices.
- Improved User Experience: The new site design was more intuitive, mobile-friendly, and accessible, with a simplified navigation structure and faster load times.
- Increased User Engagement: The migration improved interaction with users, from easier event registration to better access to library resources.
- Optimized Performance: The site’s speed and overall performance improved, with enhanced mobile responsiveness and reduced loading times.
Client’s Feedback
“I was thrilled with EbizON’s service! They successfully migrated my Drupal website to WordPress on time and within budget, and their communication was seamless. Their team was friendly, punctual, and cost-effective. I highly recommend EbizON for their professionalism and attention to detail.”
Gregory Pruett
Network & Server Admin, Dauphin County Library System
What Our Customers Says
reviewed by JOE WILLIAMS
Senior manager, Remedy Liqour
Head of Business Engagement, WRI
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Vice President, Sokolin
Content Officer, Society for Science & Public
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reviewed by Beat Walder
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Head of Business Engagement, WRI
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For fully managed WordPress installs, WPEngine is my Go-To
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