Intro and goal of project 

As the exclusive SEO agency partner for Sodexo sports and leisure in the UK, POLARIS were responsible for collaborating with the Bateaux London team and web agency to plan, manage and migrate the SEO equity of the business from a legacy website to a new website, on the same domain. 

Business Case 

Like many hospitality businesses, Bateaux London took the opportunity during the pandemic to review their digital position and take to market a new and improved website. The aim of the new website was to improve customer experience, providing a more seamless booking experience and also showcase the experience in a more realistic manner. 

Setting the objectives and goals of the migration from an SEO point of view 

Owning the SEO strategy for the cruise experience business,  POLARIS firstly set about establishing what the objectives were of the migration project. A project initiation report was completed which documented benchmark performance statistics against organic traffic, rankings, onsite experience, page load times and conversion rates. This was then briefed into the client and then locked so that we could review performance post migration to determine the success of the project.  

Evaluating the site structure for SEO retention and growth planning 

Working with the client and web agency, POLARIS evaluated the new information Architecture to determine suitability and viability for both SEO performance retention and also opportunity growth into new areas for the future. 

By working through the information architecture with the client, landing page gaps were identified that if not added into the IA would result in a swift loss of organic traffic. Aswell as this, all page templates were audited for onsite SEO effectiveness and a report delivered detailing opportunities for design enhancement to ensure best practice from an SEO perspective was achieved.  

Once the IA was confirmed and signed off by all parties along with the page templates, we then partnered to review the digital profile of the business, and determine what was relevant to keep through migration and also what should be added to provide further SEO opportunity post launch. 

Presenting new opportunities to the business led by user and competitor insights  

An extensive search landscape audit was conducted into user behavior, user demand, competitor positioning and seasonality that could drive relevant SEO traffic that would transact with the business.  

This audit fueled the start of a content ideation and mapping process which then helped to determine what content was required to be migrated for SEO traffic retention but also what content needed to be created to increase the business’ SEO footprint online. As a result, 4 new keyword groups were identified and content created around these keyword groups which was built into the site.  

Site migration project management and ownership 

In the first quarter of 2021, POLARIS successfully managed the migration of a new website for Bateaux London. A new website was launched, and taking Pre migration works into consideration, a 2nd stage process was followed by POLARIS to monitor the changeover on a daily basis.  

For the first 10 working days of the changeover, a POST Migration report was delivered providing daily insight into the project stakeholders, detailing SEO performance and general site performance too.  

During this 10 day period, a technical audit was also conducted to analyse page speed performance, usability, and indexation and crawl rates to ensure the transition was as smooth as possible. This was delivered into the web agency to ensure the process of migration was seamless from a technical perspective and that the objective of improving user experience was also achieved.  

Outcomes 

The outcome of the website migration project was that the client successfully launched a new website, with all SEO traffic and rankings sustained. Minimal loss to SEO traffic and minimal degradation to user experience.  

Results 

A new website was launched successfully in February 2021 for bateauxlondon.com. Post migration, organic traffic and rankings were not only sustained, but rankings increased, within the first 4 weeks of migration.  

Client Testimonial  

"Polaris is a fantastic agency that will stick to the business' objectives and advise clients accordingly. They've shown great professionalism since they've worked with us and resilience due to the current 'covid-19' situation." 

Claire Bedouin, Bateaux London