Immersive Labs SEO Migration Case Study

Client Overview

Immersive Labs, a leader in cybersecurity training and cyber drills, approached our team with a clear objective: transition their existing WordPress website to Webflow CMS without sacrificing their hard-earned SEO performance. As Immersive's trusted cybersecurity marketing agency, we were uniquely positioned to guide them through this process. Beyond a smooth migration, they sought a modernized design, greater flexibility for updates (like CTAs and navigation), and an SEO strategy to enhance their organic visibility. With preparation kicking off in October and the migration executed in November, this project became a testament to strategic planning and cross-team collaboration.

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The Challenge

Immersive Labs’ WordPress site, while functional, was weighed down by sluggish performance—likely due to an accumulation of plugins, a common pitfall for the platform. The client also envisioned a revamped information architecture to better organize their content, including blogs, webinars, white papers, and event pages. However, migrating to Webflow introduced complexities: URL structures would shift, redirects needed precision, and the new CMS presented both opportunities and limitations for SEO. The stakes were high—any misstep could lead to traffic loss, a fate we’ve seen in past migrations where Google struggles to reindex new URLs.

Our task? Execute a seamless SEO migration that preserved their existing rankings, improved site speed, and capitalized on Webflow’s strengths to drive organic growth.

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Our Approach

We tackled this migration in three distinct phases, each guided by a relentless focus on SEO best practices and close collaboration with Immersive Labs’ design and development team.

Pre-Migration: Laying the Groundwork

• Site Audit: Using Screaming Frog, we crawled the WordPress site to capture a comprehensive snapshot. While technical issues were minimal (mostly broken links), the crawl revealed opportunities to refine the site’s structure.
• Redirect Mapping: We reviewed the client’s existing redirect file, cleaning up outdated or broken redirects to ensure only 200-status-code URLs remained. This set a solid foundation for the transition.
• Information Architecture: Partnering with the design team, we mapped out a new site structure—static pages for key offerings and dynamic collections for blogs, webinars, and white papers—adapting to Webflow’s unique setup.

Migration: Precision in Action

• URL Management: Static page URLs changed, requiring meticulous 301 redirect mapping to preserve link equity. Blog URLs, however, hit a snag—Webflow’s automatic slug generation wasn’t SEO-friendly. We reverted these to their WordPress versions to avoid unnecessary redirects and maintain user experience.
• Collaboration: Weekly calls with the design agency ensured alignment. They worked in batches (e.g., services pages, then blogs), allowing us to review staging environments and flag SEO concerns in real time.
• On-Page Optimization: We refined titles, meta descriptions, and H-tags on money pages, embedding target keywords like “cybersecurity training” to boost relevance.

Post-Migration: Monitoring and Momentum

• Speed Boost: Webflow’s lean architecture and native features (like image compression) slashed load times, a stark contrast to the plugin-heavy WordPress setup.
• Traffic Tracking: Post-launch, we monitored organic performance via tools like Ahrefs, watching for dips and gains as Google recrawled the site.
• Adjustments: Minor content tweaks and redirect fixes addressed initial hiccups, ensuring a stable transition.

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The Results

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The migration launched in November, and the numbers speak for themselves. By late December, Immersive Labs’ organic traffic climbed from a baseline of 3,000 monthly visits to 4,000—a 35% increase—with the upward trend still gaining steam into early 2025. Unlike typical migrations, there was no post-launch dip, a rare win attributed to airtight redirects and swift Google reindexing.

Key highlights:

• Non-Branded Growth: Non-branded traffic, tied to keywords like “cyber drills,” outpaced branded searches, signaling stronger rankings and broader reach.
• Site Speed Surge: Webflow’s efficiency delivered a faster, more responsive site, enhancing user experience and SEO performance.
• Conversion Lift: Assuming consistent conversion rates, organic conversions likely rose by 35-40%, amplifying the client’s ROI.

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Why It Worked

This success hinged on three pillars:

1. Meticulous Planning: Pre-migration audits and redirect cleanup prevented traffic leaks.
2. Team Synergy: Our partnership with the design agency ensured SEO priorities shaped the redesign, not the other way around.
3. Webflow’s Edge: Faster load times and optimized on-page elements turned a technical migration into an SEO springboard.

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Looking Ahead

For Immersive Labs, this migration wasn’t just a platform switch—it was a strategic leap forward. The 35% traffic boost is just the beginning, with potential for further gains as Google continues to reward the site’s enhanced structure and speed. For other WordPress users eyeing Webflow, this case study proves it’s possible to modernize without compromising SEO—provided the process is handled with precision.

At [Your Agency Name], we thrive on turning complex migrations into measurable wins. Ready to supercharge your site’s performance? Let’s talk.

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