Redesigning Your Website Without Losing Search Engine Rankings
When approaching the task of redesigning your website, your search engine rankings can be a source of real concern. After all, if the new site loses all your hard work up to this point, wouldn’t it be better to stick with the old design?
Why A New Design Could Hurt Your Rankings
I say ‘could’ because, if done incorrectly, it could happen! Here are some ways a design change could hurt your rankings:
- Changing Domain Names
Search engines value history and reputation. The longer your site has been around, the more favorable it is to search engines, no matter what it looks like. Would you hire a brand new roofing guy to replace your shingles? Or the company that’s been around for 30 years? - Keep Your Page URLS
Search engines have been sending traffic to specific pages on your site because of their individual optimization. When you redesign your entire structure without properly redirecting those old pages, search engines may think you’ve closed up shop! That would be like your 30 year old roofing company changing their phone number without telling anyone. - Abandoning Content That is Performing
Sometimes it’s easy to get carried away with a redesign, thinking we need to revamp EVERYTHING. Including content that is already performing well on search engines. But if it isn’t broken, why fix it? Apply your new design to your existing content if it’s already doing well.
How To Make A New Web Design Perform Well
Whether you are tackling a redesign yourself or hiring a firm, know what you have. Check your rankings, see what is performing and what is not. Know what pages are on your site. Make sure you retain the items that are already bringing you traffic. Also, don’t forget key marketing “do’s” and “do-not’s” with your redesign. Demand that your concerns be addresses if you are working with a firm. Don’t let them talk you into ‘not worrying about that until later’.
Ambidextrous Services addresses any concerns you have up front. We start every project with a site research and structure, to understand where your site is working, so you can improve where it’s not without risk.
