Website Redesigning Can Hurt SEO (Here’s How To Do It Properly)
Does website redesign affect SEO?
Yes, a website redesign can have a significant impact on SEO. If you’re planning to redesign your website, you need to know the potential SEO implications.
A website redesign is a big undertaking. Not only does it require significant time and effort, but it can also disrupt your business. One of the most common concerns during a redesign is whether or not it will hurt your SEO. After all, a well-optimized website is critical to driving traffic and generating leads.
The good news is that with some planning, you can redesign your website without harming your SEO. In fact, if done correctly, a redesign can even improve your SEO. Keep reading to learn how to properly execute a website redesign without losing your hard-earned search engine visibility.
Why Website Redesigns can hurt SEO
When you redesign your website, a few common issues can lead to SEO problems. The most common issue is when the URLs of the old pages are changed. This means that the search engine crawlers won’t be able to access those pages anymore, resulting in lower rankings and traffic.
Additionally, if your new design includes significant changes to the HTML structure, it could make it difficult for search engines to interpret your content accurately.
Website Redesign Mistakes That Can Destroy Your SEO
Are your website redesign mistakes destroying SEO? Here are some common mistakes that you can avoid.
1. Not Maintaining Redirects
One of the most important things you need to do during a website redesign is to maintain redirects from old URLs to new ones. If you don’t set up 301 redirects properly, search engine crawlers won’t be able to find your pages, and visitors will get 404 errors when they try to visit them.
2. Changing Your URL Structure
Changing your URL structure can also significantly impact SEO. When you change URLs, search engine crawlers must re-index your site and relearn how to navigate it. This can lead to a decrease in rankings as the new URLs aren’t associated with the old ones, which are more likely to be indexed by search engines.
3. Eliminating Content
When you’re redesigning your website, it can be tempting to get rid of outdated or irrelevant content that doesn’t fit in with the new design. Unfortunately, this can lead to a dramatic drop in search engine visibility as all the hard work and keywords associated with that content are lost.
4. Not Optimizing Your Content
It’s also essential to ensure that your website’s content is optimized for search engines. This means using relevant keywords, adding meta tags and alt text, and including other forms of SEO-friendly content such as links, images, and videos.
5. Neglecting Your Mobile Site
Mobile devices now account for over half of all web searches, so your website must be optimized for mobile users. This means having a responsive design and ensuring that all your content can be easily viewed on any device.
6. Slowing Down Your Site Speed
Site speed can considerably impact SEO. If your website takes too long to load, visitors are likelier to click away before seeing your content. This not only hurts your chances of getting ranked well in search engine results, but it also negatively impacts user experience.
7. Forgetting About Your Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Title tags and meta descriptions are two of the most important elements of SEO. They tell search engine crawlers what your page is about and give visitors an idea of what to expect when they click on your link.
How to Properly Redesign Your Website for SEO Success
Here are a few website redesign SEO considerations that can help you overcome the hurdle.
1. Safeguard Your Website with a Backup Copy
Before you start a website redesign, it’s important to back up your entire site so that you have something to fall back on if something goes wrong.
2. Evaluate Your Existing Analytics to Uncover Insightful Trends
Take some time to analyze existing analytics from previous designs. This will help you understand user behavior and create a design that caters to their needs.
3. Streamline Your Website by Setting Up Redirects
As mentioned earlier, setting up proper redirects from your old URLs to new ones during a website redesign is essential. This will ensure that search engine crawlers can still find your content and visitors won’t get 404 errors when visiting old pages.
4. Setting up a “Site Under Maintenance” Page
Getting a “site under maintenance” page is a good way to let visitors know that your site is down for redesign and will be back up soon. This can help reduce the amount of traffic lost during the redesign process.
5. Uncover Your Existing SEO Positioning
Before you start your website redesign, it’s important to check your current SEO standings. This will give you an idea of the improvements you need to make during the redesign process.
6. Stay Up to Date with Your Content
Make sure your website’s content is up-to-date and relevant to what people are searching for. This will help boost your SEO and ensure you’re providing visitors with valuable content.
7. Evaluate Your Website’s Performance
Once your website redesign is complete, it’s crucial to test it thoroughly. This includes checking for any broken links or missing pages and ensuring that all of the SEO elements are in place.
8. Conserve Content and Form for Longevity
It’s also essential to keep the same content and structure as much as possible during a website redesign. This will help maintain your current SEO standings and ensure that search engine crawlers can still find your content.
9. Enhance Your Content Through Strategic On-Page Optimization
Make sure to optimize your content on-page. This includes keyword research, meta tags, and descriptions, as well as other elements of SEO, such as alt text and internal linking.
10. Unleash Your Site to the World!
Once your website redesign is complete, it’s time to launch the new version. Make sure you announce the launch on social media and other channels to let visitors know your site has been redesigned.
11. Launch Review Analysis
Once your website redesign has been launched, it’s essential to do a post-launch audit. This includes checking for any missing elements or broken links that may have occurred during the redesign process.
Conclusion
Redesigning your website doesn’t have to be difficult or costly. If you follow the guidelines discussed here, you can ensure that your website redesign is successful and beneficial for both SEO and user experience. Keeping these tips in mind will help boost your search engine rankings and create a better user experience. Good luck!
