Directus migration
Headless CMS Migration to Directus
Rocket Lab moves websites off WordPress, Umbraco, Contentful and older in-house CMSs onto Directus, a headless CMS with a no-code editor for your content team and REST and GraphQL APIs for your developers. We moved Webjet's Australian and New Zealand sites, 110,000+ pages, off Boost CMS and Umbraco onto Directus while the existing site stayed live.
- Content models, templates and SEO planned together
- Directus Bronze Partner
- Sydney and Melbourne team
- Webjet AU and NZ 110,000+ pages, moved onto Directus
- Directus Bronze Partner, 100+ solutions delivered
Moving off WordPress, Umbraco or Contentful?
We are a Directus Bronze Partner, having delivered 100+ solutions with Directus. You work directly with the designers and engineers doing the migration. We also take on Directus builds and migrations for clients outside Australia.
Who it is for
Teams moving off WordPress, Umbraco, Contentful or a legacy CMS
A migration to Directus suits teams whose content has outgrown the system it lives in.
WordPress
Sites that have outgrown their themes and plugins, where a new layout or content type needs a developer every time.
Umbraco and other page-based CMSs
Content tied to page templates, which makes a redesign or a new channel hard to deliver. Webjet's Hotels, Packages and Cars pages came off Umbraco.
Contentful and hosted headless CMSs
Teams that want their content in their own SQL database, with REST and GraphQL APIs on top and the choice to self-host or use Directus Cloud.
Several CMSs at once
Content split across platforms, with separate templates and logins for each product line. Webjet ran Flights on Boost CMS and its other product lines on Umbraco before the move.
Case study
Webjet Australia and New Zealand: 110,000+ pages moved onto Directus
Webjet's Flights pages ran on Boost CMS, and Hotels, Packages and Cars on Umbraco. We moved both sites onto one Directus instance and rebuilt every template to Webjet's refreshed design system, while the existing site stayed live.
110,000+ pages
50,000+ Australian and 60,000+ New Zealand pages moved onto structured content models, as reusable data rather than page-by-page copy.
One headless CMS
Flights, Hotels, Packages and Cars on one headless CMS for the first time, replacing two legacy systems.
SEO built in
URLs and page metadata carried across as part of the migration, not retrofitted after launch.
Content teams in control
A no-code editing layer with roles and permissions, so content teams publish deals and campaigns without developer involvement.
Read the Webjet case study.
How a Directus migration runs
Every migration is scoped to your content, templates and integrations. This is the shape of the work.
Audit
We list your content types, pages, URLs, integrations and the people who edit them, and agree what moves, what is merged and what is retired.
Content models
We design structured content models in Directus, so content moves as reusable data rather than page-by-page copy, with roles and permissions for each team.
Templates and front end
Directus is headless, so you can keep your front end and connect it to the new APIs, or rebuild the templates on your design system at the same time.
SEO and redirects
We carry URLs and page metadata across, and map a redirect for every URL that changes, as part of the migration rather than after launch.
Move and launch
Content is moved and checked against the source, and the switch is planned so your existing site keeps running until the new one is ready.
Handover
Your content team learns the Directus editor, and we can stay on to support and improve the platform.
Directus Migration FAQs
What does a migration to Directus involve?
A migration to Directus has four parts, planned together rather than one after another:
- Content models: your pages, posts and product data moved into structured collections in Directus, so content is reusable data rather than page-by-page copy.
- Templates: your front end connected to the Directus REST or GraphQL API, or rebuilt on your design system at the same time.
- SEO: URLs and page metadata carried across, with a redirect for every URL that changes.
- Editors: roles and permissions set up so each content team can publish without a developer.
Read more on our Directus migration page.
Does our site have to go offline during a migration to Directus?
It should not need to. We plan the switch so your existing site keeps running until the new one is ready. Webjet's site stayed live while we moved its 110,000+ Australian and New Zealand pages onto Directus, without disrupting travellers or business continuity.
Will we lose our search rankings when we move to Directus?
No one can promise rankings through a migration. What we control is the groundwork: URLs and page metadata carried across, and a redirect for every URL that changes, built into the migration rather than fixed after launch.
How long does a Directus migration take?
It depends on how much content you have, how many templates and integrations there are, and whether the front end is rebuilt at the same time. We scope it with you before work starts and agree the plan and timeline together.
Do we have to rebuild our front end to move to Directus?
No. Directus is a headless CMS: it serves your content through REST and GraphQL APIs, so an existing front end can be connected to it. Some teams rebuild their templates during the migration instead. Webjet did, in React and TypeScript, to its refreshed design system.
Do you take on Directus work outside Australia?
Yes. Our team works from Sydney and Melbourne, and we take on Directus builds and migrations for clients outside Australia as well.
Did you know we are a Bronze Directus Partner?
That's right. We liked Directus and used it so much that we were recognised as one of the very few Directus partners in Oceania.
We've delivered many solutions with Directus for small, medium and large organisations.
Other technologies we work with
Directus and headless CMS development: content models, REST and GraphQL APIs, dashboards your team can use, and migrations onto Directus.
Custom, scalable web platforms built on modern frameworks like React and Next.js. Engineered for performance and maintainability.
React and Next.js web app design, development, takeovers, upgrades and support.
We design robust technical architectures that let your product scale securely as your business grows.
In our clients' words
Founders and long-term partners on what it is like to build with us.
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We have a long standing partnership with Rocket Lab who provide Webjet with critical strategic and development services for our front-end websites.
Over the years Rocket Lab have seamlessly integrated with James Hardie in delivering a number of key projects for the business that to this day continue to be critical to the success and functionality of our operations.
When it comes to out-sourcing and partnering with a technology vendor, Rocket Lab is top of mind. Julien, Jen and the team are incredibly detailed and thorough whenever they’re engaged in a project. And, they do so at velocity.
Rocket Lab’s ability to help define and execute our business through software in a timely fashion, has been a breath of fresh air and a pleasure to work with.
The guys worked together very well with our internal resources and blended into our process seamlessly. We were very impressed with the level of skill from each of the engineers…
Our business has hundreds of suppliers and thousands of customers so we needed a highly robust structure and that’s exactly what was delivered by Julien, Jen and the RL development team.
Julien and his team are a real pleasure to work with. They are well rounded with a solid understanding of design/user experience best practices as well as diving deep under the hood with solid web and app development capabilities.
Their team delivered a site that met our expectations, and they’ve continued to assist us in refining and enhancing it over time. They are dedicated, creative, and technically skilled, helping to ensure our website looks good and functions smoothly.
Tell us what you are building.
A 30-minute call. No pitch deck, no obligation. We will tell you if we are the right fit.
