Launching or redesigning a website is a pivotal moment for any business. It represents both an opportunity for growth and a potential risk to hard-earned SEO rankings. For many U.S. businesses, maintaining visibility in search engines is essential to driving organic traffic and sustaining lead generation. However, a poorly executed site launch or redesign can result in the loss of indexed pages, broken redirects, slower page speeds, and even a complete disruption in search rankings.
The source materials highlight key factors that influence the success or failure of a new website from an SEO standpoint. These include redirect strategies, technical SEO considerations such as schema markup and alt tags, site speed optimization, and content management. This article explores these issues in depth, offering actionable insights for digital marketers, SEO professionals, and small business owners who are planning a website overhaul or launch.
By understanding and implementing best practices, businesses can ensure that their redesign not only enhances the user experience but also preserves and potentially improves their SEO performance. The following sections outline the most critical considerations based on the provided source material.
Why SEO Often Takes a Hit After a Relaunch
A website redesign can have a significant impact on SEO, particularly if the transition is not carefully planned. One of the most common issues is the loss of indexed pages due to broken redirects. When a URL is changed or removed without a proper redirect in place, search engines encounter dead ends. This results in the loss of valuable backlink equity, which can lead to a drop in rankings and a decline in organic traffic.
The source materials emphasize the importance of implementing 301 redirects during a redesign. These permanent redirects inform search engines that a page has moved, preserving much of the original page’s SEO value. Without these redirects, search engines treat the new site as a completely new entity, which can delay indexing and hurt rankings during the transition period.
Additionally, broken internal links can disrupt both user experience and search engine crawlers. If the site navigation or menu structure is not updated to reflect the new architecture, users may encounter dead ends, and search engines may fail to index important pages. A comprehensive site crawl prior to launch is recommended to identify and fix these issues.
Ignoring Technical SEO Aspects
Technical SEO plays a crucial role in how search engines perceive and rank a website. During a redesign, it is easy to overlook elements such as schema markup, alt tags, and site speed. These technical components not only improve the site’s accessibility but also help search engines better understand and index the content.
One of the most important technical considerations is schema markup. This structured data provides search engines with additional context about the content on a page. For example, schema can indicate whether a page is a product listing, a blog post, or a service page. If schema markup is removed or not updated during a redesign, it can lead to a decrease in rankings and reduced visibility in search results.
Similarly, alt tags are essential for image optimization. Without properly optimized alt tags, images may not be indexed, resulting in missed SEO opportunities. The source materials suggest that businesses should ensure all images have descriptive, keyword-rich alt tags that accurately reflect the content.
Another technical consideration is page speed. A new website may introduce heavier assets such as auto-playing videos, large images, or unnecessary plugins, which can slow down the site. Search engines take page speed into account when ranking websites, and a significant drop in speed can lead to lower rankings. The materials recommend optimizing images, minifying code, and using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to improve performance.
Content Management and SEO
Content is a key driver of SEO performance, and changes to content during a redesign can have lasting effects. The source materials note that rewriting or removing high-performing content can result in the loss of keyword rankings and traffic. While refreshing content is often beneficial, it is important to preserve the SEO value of existing content.
One approach is to update content rather than replacing it entirely. This includes adding new information, improving keyword placement, and incorporating multimedia such as images or videos to enhance user experience. By maintaining the core value of the content, businesses can signal to search engines that the content is still relevant and useful.
The materials also recommend identifying high-performing pages and keywords before the redesign. This allows businesses to retain the content that is driving traffic and avoid making changes that could harm rankings. By focusing on improving existing content rather than removing it, businesses can maintain their SEO equity while also enhancing the user experience.
Pre-Launch Considerations
Before launching a redesigned website, it is essential to conduct a comprehensive site audit. This includes crawling the current site to document all URLs, titles, and meta descriptions. By doing so, businesses can identify which pages are performing well and which ones may need to be redirected or updated.
The materials emphasize the importance of testing everything post-launch. This includes checking for broken links, ensuring that the site is not blocked by search engines (e.g., via a noindex tag), and confirming that JavaScript is implemented correctly. Search engines may struggle to render JavaScript-heavy sites, which can lead to poor indexing and lower rankings.
Another important step is to ensure that the site is accessible to search engines. Developers often block search engines from crawling a new site during the development phase, but it is crucial to remove these restrictions before launch. This involves updating the robots.txt file to allow search engines to crawl the site.
Post-Launch Testing and Optimization
After the new website is live, it is important to continue monitoring and optimizing for SEO. This includes tracking rankings, traffic, and user behavior to identify any issues that may have been missed during the redesign process.
The materials suggest getting multiple pairs of eyes on the site to test key conversions and user flows. For example, if a page is designed to drive conversions, team members should walk through the process to ensure that all links and CTAs work as intended. This helps to catch any overlooked issues that could impact user experience and SEO performance.
Additionally, businesses should consider running a technical SEO audit after launch to identify and fix any lingering issues. This includes checking for broken links, ensuring that all redirects are functioning correctly, and verifying that schema markup and alt tags are in place.
Switching Domains and SEO Implications
In some cases, a website redesign may involve a complete switch to a new domain. The source materials highlight the concerns of one website owner who wanted to move to a new domain that better reflected the direction of their business. While the new domain had better branding potential, it lacked any existing authority or backlink equity.
The recommended approach was to keep both domains live simultaneously while the new site was being indexed. Once the new domain was fully indexed, the old domain was redirected to the new one using 301 redirects. This helped to preserve as much of the existing SEO value as possible during the transition.
The materials also note that it may be beneficial to update existing backlinks to point to the new domain, particularly if those backlinks are from directories or other non-blog sources. However, the materials caution that an aggressive backlinking strategy should be approached carefully, as it could have the opposite effect if done too quickly or aggressively.
Conclusion
A website redesign or launch is a critical juncture for any business’s SEO strategy. By understanding and implementing the best practices outlined in the source materials, businesses can avoid the common pitfalls that lead to SEO loss. Key considerations include setting up proper redirects, maintaining technical SEO elements such as schema markup and alt tags, preserving high-performing content, and ensuring site speed and accessibility.
While a redesign can be an opportunity to enhance the user experience and align with new brand goals, it is essential to approach the transition with a clear SEO strategy in place. By doing so, businesses can ensure that their new website not only looks great but also performs well in search engine rankings.