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Tue, 9 Sep 2025

Seamless Website Migration and Digital Refresh

Overview

King’s School Rochester, founded in 604 AD, is the oldest school in the UK to remain on its original site. As a forward-thinking institution with centuries of heritage, the school required a modern, resilient digital platform that could support its ambitions — without disrupting the day-to-day needs of staff, parents, pupils, or prospective families.

The existing website was hosted on an ageing and inflexible platform that no longer met modern performance, security, or content management requirements. Hatched Agency was appointed to deliver a seamless website migration and digital refresh, ensuring continuity, stability, and future scalability.

Client

King’s School Rochester

Location

Kent, UK

Solution

Discovery & Technical Audit

Hatched began with a comprehensive pre-migration audit and planning phase to fully understand the existing website infrastructure and usage. This included:

  • Mapping all current URLs to preserve internal links and SEO equity
  • Identifying key user journeys and dependencies
  • Reviewing third-party integrations and forms
  • Auditing CMS structure and content hierarchy

A parallel staging environment was created, allowing all development and testing to take place without impacting the live website.

Website Migration & Hosting Upgrade

Using a carefully controlled, staged deployment process, Hatched migrated the website to a high-performance, secure hosting environment. This included:

  • Real-time data syncing and a managed DNS switchover strategy
  • CMS upgrades and structural improvements behind the scenes
  • Performance optimisation, including improved caching and image handling

Crucially, all migration work was completed with zero downtime, ensuring no disruption to staff workflows, parent access, or enrolment enquiries.

Testing, SEO Preservation & Quality Assurance

Once the site was live on the new hosting environment, rigorous testing was carried out to ensure reliability and performance:

  • Broken link and 404 error checks
  • Page speed and performance testing
  • Form submissions and integration validation
  • Mobile responsiveness and cross-browser compatibility

Key SEO elements — including metadata, URL structures, and sitemap indexing — were fully preserved to maintain and protect search engine performance.

Digital Refresh & Enhancements

With a robust technical foundation in place, Hatched delivered a series of front-end improvements timed for the start of the new school term:

  • A refreshed homepage focused on storytelling, clarity, and visual impact
  • A new navigation structure separating Prep and Senior School content to improve usability
  • New co-curricular content sections highlighting music, drama, sport, and enrichment
  • A community Business Directory supporting alumni- and parent-run enterprises

Results

For King’s School Rochester, Hatched Agency delivered more than a technical migration. We provided a strategic, invisible transition that safeguarded the school’s digital operations while quietly laying the groundwork for future-focused improvements.

  • 100% uptime throughout the migration process
  • Faster load times and improved site performance
  • A seamless user experience before, during, and after the switchover
  • Positive feedback from staff and IT teams on the smooth transition and CMS improvements
  • A strong, scalable digital platform ready for ongoing content growth and marketing activity

The result is a stable, high-performing website that respects the school’s heritage while supporting its ambitions for growth, engagement, and communication.

We’ve been consistently impressed with the service provided by Hatched since moving our website hosting and maintenance to them. The migration was seamless, with zero downtime—something we greatly appreciated. Since then, the Hatched team has supported us with a range of updates and improvements, always with a responsive and collaborative approach. We’re excited to have launched a new-look homepage and refreshed navigation in time for the start of new term. It’s been a real pleasure working with such a professional and forward-thinking team.

Annie Hebden Head of Marketing & Communications, King’s School Rochester