Magento 2 Migration Common Challenges for Small and Medium Businesses

The buzz is already doing rounds about the Magento 2 and end of life for Magento 1. Do you run your website on Magento 1 or Magento 2? Adobe will stop Magento 1 support at the end of June 2020. And if you have your eCommerce store running on Magento 1 after June 2020, it could be extremely prone to threat attacks and security violations, performance problems, and module updates as you maintain it on your own.

Once you migrate to Magento 2, you will get access to a myriad of great features and enhancements like better performance, advanced SEO, improved checkout, strong security, and marketing automation.

For some SMBs, this can be an intimidating process. However, there is nothing to worry about, it is not as complex as it sounds. It might take a little more than basic technical knowledge if you have to do it all by yourself. But, if you  contact a Magento development company, this should be a piece of cake for you.

Let us understand how the process of upgrading from Magento 1 to Magento 2 works

• Pre-migration: This is the first stage of the migration process during which the website’s data and content is reviewed in order to get a clear idea of how much manual labor should be performed. During this stage one prepares design specifications, and writes a project outline with major stages and deadlines for each phase.
• Migration: The next step is the actual migration process. It starts with setting up a testing environment when you move Magento 2 on a new server. After that, themes, extensions, plugins, data, and content are moved from Magento 1 to Magento 2 on the new server.
• Post-migration: Third and the last phase in the process is synchronizing your order history and customer data in order to perform a smooth shift from Magento 1 to Magento 2.

The migration process to Magento 2 can be definitely time-consuming. This can take anywhere between three to six months, which further depends on the complexity of your existing shop on Magento. Avoid falling into pitfalls in order to not prolong this process; it is advisable to hire dedicated Magento developer or seek opinion from an expert.

Common challenges of Magento 1 to Magento 2 Migration

Store and data migration to Magento 2 is the crucial stage in the transfer process. It is crucial because one needs to carry sufficient technical knowledge and exhaustive experience in order to react quickly in the event of losing database assets — more specifically, the customer and product data. Also, the blog content, meta titles, and customer orders should be transported inseparably.

Migration does not mean copying the data from Magento 1 data and pasting it into Magento 2. The Magento 2 platform should be prepared for transferring your custom data. Once it is done, a combination of custom migration scripts, the official Magento Data Migration Tool, and sometimes manual migration have to be applied in order to neatly transfer the settings and bulk data.

Optimizing SEO performance post-migration

SEO can make or break an eCommerce business and keeping that in mind, Magento 2 has introduced many improvements to SEO. There are features like Auto-Generation and Schema.org which aids in optimizing the online store. Auto-Generation feature helps to set templates for product metadata, and Schema.org could help to boost the search engine ranking of your eCommerce store.

Note: When in doubt, the Google Webmaster tools like Search Console and Analytics can help in overcoming SEO roadblocks and retain your rankings. By using those tools, you can dig out all of the existing 404 error pages and fix them by applying 301 redirects, formatting all internal links based on the Magento 2 rules.

Sort out design imperfections during the migration phase

When you will migrate your existing store, it will present itself with the opportunity to refresh the design and rethink the customer experience entirely. Magento 1 templates are incompatible with Magento 2, and that is because Magento 2 uses modern architecture and has different front-end and back-end requirements. This makes it impossible to convert the code built in your Magento 1 theme.

You will need to hire a Magento developer and a front-end developer who will help install a theme available in the Magento Marketplace or create a custom theme from scratch if you want to create something unique.

The Migration Process

The entire migration process is a major upgrade which can take longer than you think. If you’re at the stage of strategic planning, it’s smart to connect with a Magento 2 Migration Services provider that can keep the project on track and reduce the risk of avoidable mistakes.

Migration process:

1. Drawing up a migration plan: 3-4 weeks
2. Constructing a test environment: 1-2 days
3. Putting to use extensions and custom development: 3-4 weeks
4. Data Migration: 1-2 days
5. Making a design for Magento 2: 2-4 weeks
6. Database synchronization: 1-2 days
7. Magento 2 store launch on a live server: ~1 week

That considered, the Magento 1 to Magento 2 upgrade could take three months to complete. Sometimes it can take even longer depending on the complexity of your business and the original implementation.

Definition of Done

What is Definition of done or DoD? It is a predetermined set of requirements which the team is supposed to complete successfully in order to demonstrate value of the end product. If one does not have a clear schedule, outline, and understanding of what DoD means, this can significantly delay your project.

Teams involved in Magento development should keep in line with the DoD guarantee that all tasks fulfill release criteria, particularly in writing clean code accompanied by unit tests.

Endnotes

If you want to make your Magento 2 migration process smooth and hassle-free, it is advisable to task this to a certified Magento development company. An apt Magento agency will perform the migration with zero downtime and almost no data loss. This ensures your store continues running without any hindrances or glitches.

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Albert Smith

Albert Smith, Marketing Manager at Hidden Brains, drives brand growth with innovative strategies in web, mobile app, and software development.