How To Redesign Website Without Losing SEO

Redesigning a website can feel like a huge challenge, especially when you’re worried about protecting your hard-earned search engine optimisation (SEO) rankings. Many website owners are concerned that a redesign could lead to a drop in traffic and visibility. However, with thoughtful planning and careful execution, it’s possible to refresh your website without losing your SEO traction.

Here, we’ll walk through the best practices to redesign your website without losing SEO, covering what to do before, during, and after the process.

Before the Redesign:

1. Run an SEO Audit: Before diving into your redesign, conduct a thorough SEO audit to identify any existing issues. Look out for broken links, duplicate content, and missing meta tags, which could already be affecting your rankings. Addressing these early ensures you don’t carry over any problems into your new site.
2. Review Keywords and Rankings: Analyse your current keyword performance. Understand which keywords are driving the most traffic, and plan to integrate them into your redesigned site. Retaining successful keywords is key to maintaining your visibility.
3. Set Up 301 Redirects: If you’re updating your URLs as part of the redesign, set up 301 redirects from the old pages to the new ones. This way, any existing backlinks will still count, preserving your site’s SEO authority.

During the Redesign:

1. Keep Key Content Intact: It might be tempting to do a full content overhaul, but remember to preserve the pages that are already ranking well. Refresh and improve your best-performing content rather than replacing it completely.
2. Optimise Images and Videos: As you redesign, optimise your media files for SEO. Use descriptive file names, alt text, and captions to help search engines understand the content. This is particularly useful for improving visibility on image and video searches.
3. Check Mobile-Friendliness: With mobile usage on the rise, ensure your new site is fully responsive. Test your design across various devices and screen sizes to confirm it’s user-friendly on smartphones and tablets.

After the Redesign:

1. Submit Your Sitemap: Once the new site is live, submit your updated sitemap to search engines like Google. This will help search engines crawl and index your fresh content efficiently, boosting your chances of maintaining good rankings.
2. Monitor Rankings and Traffic: Keep a close watch on your SEO performance post-launch. Track keyword rankings and site traffic for any significant changes, and be ready to make tweaks to preserve your visibility.
3. Update Backlinks: Reach out to websites linking to your old URLs, and ask them to update their links to point to the new pages. This will help maintain the strength of your backlink profile and your site’s authority.

The Takeaway

Redesigning a website without compromising SEO requires careful strategy and follow-through. By conducting a solid SEO audit, preserving key content, optimising media, ensuring mobile responsiveness, submitting your sitemap, monitoring your performance, and updating backlinks, you can redesign your site while maintaining its visibility. Follow these steps, and you’ll be able to refresh your website’s look and feel without sacrificing your SEO efforts or traffic.