A website redesign can tank your search rankings if done wrong. Here's how to do it right.
Before the Redesign
Audit Current Performance
- Document current rankings for key terms
- Export all URLs from Google Search Console
- Identify your top-performing pages
- Note current site structure
Create a Redirect Map
Plan 301 redirects for every URL that will change. This is the most critical step.
During Development
- Keep staging site blocked from search engines
- Maintain (or improve) page load speed
- Preserve on-page SEO elements
- Keep internal linking structure logical
- Ensure mobile-friendliness
At Launch
- Implement all 301 redirects
- Update sitemap.xml
- Submit new sitemap to Google Search Console
- Check for crawl errors
- Monitor rankings closely for 4-6 weeks
Common Mistakes
- Forgetting redirects (404 errors)
- Blocking search engines accidentally
- Removing valuable content
- Changing URLs unnecessarily
- Ignoring page speed
Need help with your website redesign? Contact PYCO IT.