How-to Recover SEO Rankings after a Website Redesign

A new website design is supposed to help your business, not kill it. However, when your new design goes live and all organic traffic starts to decrease, you may find yourself questioning whether you did the right thing.

If you are experiencing a decline in organic traffic, don’t freak out just yet. A disruption in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a common problem after a site launch when proper steps to maintain your rankings were not taken. This usually happens when the business didn’t hire a professional digital agency.

Here are top tips for recovering SEO rankings after a website redesign:

1. Redirects

One of the most important steps in redesigning your website is setting up proper redirects. Skipping this step is one of the most common causes of traffic loss.

Unless you keep all your URLs the same, redirects are necessary. They tell search engines like Google where the new version of each page is located. Without redirects, search engines and browsers will simply think the page is gone.

If you get professional website design services from a reputable agency, they should know how to do re-directions.

2. Site copy

In some cases, website redesigns also involve entirely new copy. While this can be helpful if the content writer is aware of and incorporated the original target keywords, it can be extremely harmful if not.

If the content on your pages is no longer written in a way that includes the keywords they originally ranked for, your rankings will suffer for those keywords. Google’s algorithm is designed to provide its users with the information they’re looking for. This means that if your site no longer has that information, they won’t show it as a result.

3. Submit Your Sitemap

Your sitemap speaks directly to Google, directing it to crawl the pages on your website and evaluate its content. It serves as your website’s directory. It maps out all the information or pages as well as what content is on them and what the content is about.

You can submit an XML sitemap to Google via their Google Search Console platform. If you don’t undergo this process when you launch your website’s newest design, you delay how long it takes for Google to crawl all your new content.

4. Ensure Consistency

If possible, try to keep the layout of your redesign consistent with your original version. The familiarity will make sure regular customers won’t be confused.

One of the effective ways to do this is to map out your existing website with a layout visualization tool to keep track of your old meta descriptions, tags, and headers.

Furthermore, it is also important that your redesign maintains a similar flow and structure to ensure that you don’t lose all that SEO value you worked so hard to build in the first place.

5. Update Your Google My Business

Google My Business (GMB) is another key area to focus on after a website redesign. You want to ensure that your listing reflects any changes you made to your brand, services, and company in general.

Google My Business is one of the most powerful tools that businesses can leverage to increase their local search rankings. The platform gives you the exposure needed to appear at the top of the SERPs in your local area.

Take the time to keep your GMB updated by verifying that all logos, images, and content are consistent with your new website design.

Handling a website redesign mainly involves:

• Identifying the current content that already works well.
• Knowing what elements to change and how.
• Monitoring site analytics after launch to see if your audience receives the change well.

The best way to have a successful redesign is to work with professionals who are offering website design services as they know what to do at every step of the process.

At Creativo, we can help you with all your redesign needs, big and small. To know more about our services, call us today.