In this month’s MainWP Roundup, we visit the perils of a domain migration, WordPress critiques, upcoming WordPress events, and ongoing acquisitions. Buckle up, let’s ride!
Woo’s Domain Migration Reversal
Woo had a tough time in April. They had to reverse their domain migration from Woo.com back to WooCommerce.com.
According to their blog post,
“Moving to Woo.com created challenges for our users to find WooCommerce in Google searches, which were made worse following Google’s March update. To address those challenges, we assembled a group of SEO experts and consultants to evaluate the best way to build on the strength of the WooCommerce brand. We collectively believe that reverting back to WooCommerce.com will deliver the best outcomes for WooCommerce and the wider Woo community.”
This caused the release of version 8.8 to be delayed.
Reading between the lines, they seemed to have SEO issues with the initial migration to Woo.com last year.
Apparently, the Google Search Engine wasn’t adequately updated to reflect the new domain. Then, as often happens, Google had an update.
According to Carl Hendy, a SEO specialist, they were hit by the Helpful Content Update.
It’s not every day that you see a domain name migration reversal, especially from a 3-letter .com domain. Google updates are partly to blame for the decision.
WooCommerce is owned by Automattic, who also own WordPress. pic.twitter.com/eMJlL6kyEb
— Carl Hendy (@carlhendy) April 6, 2024
SEO specialist Cyrus Shephard shares a tweet that caught my attention.
Crazy. 5 months after completing a major domain migration, WooCommerce will revert the entire thing after traffic goes south
This after assembling "a group of SEO experts and consultants"
Gotta be honest, the chance of things going *worse* after a second migration is easily > 0 https://t.co/yFPT2rBWP7 pic.twitter.com/sOJgUxfT0M
— Cyrus SEO (@CyrusShepard) April 6, 2024
He shares two images, one where the traffic flatlined last year during the first migration. The second image shows the traffic return but at about half the amount.
Now, they plan to do a second migration back to the original domain.
What’s the lesson here? Be very careful with migrations on a domain and site this big. Follow the recommended advice of your SEO experts, down to the last period.
WordPress critiques and art of discourse
Eric Karkovack wrote an article about WordPress critiques at The WP Minute.
The article seemed to be initiated because the owner of Cwicly page builder discontinuing the product because of harsh backlash.
And while product owners in the WordPress have to learn how to have thick skin, Eric makes a good point when he says,
“We must raise our game when it comes to discourse. Let’s talk about the way we offer criticism and how we choose to disagree. And how it impacts the humans on the other side of the screen.”
Eric rightly points out that often people use superlatives and hyperbole to describe their frustrations with a product or service online. That isn’t helpful, and it’s not a good critique.
Thus, these “critiques” can cross the line to a much more personal level.
Eric then takes the time to offer some helpful advice about how to improve critique in a more constructive manner, to, as he says, “improve the discourse.”
Upcoming WordPress events.
WordCamp Europe
June 13-15
Hallway Hangouts – Gutenberg future
Wednesday, April 24 via Zoom in the Core Slack Channel
Pagebuilder Summit
May 20-24th
Find more events here.
WordPress Events Central Hug
This website is the central hub for WordCamps at the WordPress.org domain. These are official WordPress events.
TheWP.World
Marcus Burnette tuns TheWP.World that lists WordPress users and companies throughout the world and shows them on a worldwide map. I’m on there!
Marcus has put together a list of events that are related to WordPress. The list also lists several online type WordPress events.
Acquisitions are still happening.
Acquisitions Alert… Automattic has acquired Beeper, a universal chat app with over 115,000 users allows you to send and receive messages on 14 different chat networks from single app.
Latest in the 'Business of WordPress' database – https://t.co/5mcZf71wJe
— The WP Weekly (@thewpweekly) April 9, 2024
The most recent acquisition is by Automattic. Automattic’s latest acquisition is Beeper, a universal chat application with over 115,000 users. The app enables users to send and receive messages on various chat platforms, encompassing over 14 different networks, all from a singular, convenient interface.
While acquisitions have slowed down some, they are still happening. You can learn more about the latest acquisitions at The WP Weekly’s Business page.
The WP Weekly Business
“Create once. Distribute forever.”
New Book by Ross Simmonds
Creat once. Distribute forever.
Ross Simmonds is the CEO and Founder of Foundation Inc. The company is a B2B content marketing agency that has worked with some larger brands, such as Canva, Unbounce, Jobber, Procore, Enboarder, and Snowflake.
Simmonds has been preaching content distribution for a while now. He coined the phrase “Create once. Distribute forever” which is the name of his new book.
Wrapping it up
Domain migrations for a large website are complicated. I understand Woo’s need to rebrand, but it turned into a nightmare when they lost much of their traffic. Have you ever had an issue with a domain migration before?
Eric Karkovack reminds us to use rational discourse when discussion issues we have with a WordPress product. Honestly, the best thing we can do is stay out of the language of superlatives and hyperbole.
Let us know what you think at the MainWP Users Facebook Group or the community forum.
