Kat Moir
Tips for Redesigning a Website without Sacrificing SEO
A website redesign is a big undertaking. Not only do you have to worry about the design itself, but you also have to think about how it will impact your search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts. After all, a good redesign can lead to increased traffic and conversions, but a bad one can cause your traffic to drop.
That's why it's so essential to maintain your SEO during a redesign. Here are a few tips to help you do just that:
1. Plan Ahead
Before you even start the redesign process, take some time to plan out how you want to approach it from an SEO perspective. What goals do you want to achieve? What keywords do you want to target? What pages need to be kept, and which ones can be removed?
Answering these questions will help you create a plan of action for your redesign. This way, you can be sure that your SEO goals are being met every step of the way.
2. Keep Your URL Structure Intact
Your URL structure is one of the most critical aspects of your website from an SEO perspective. That's because it's how search engines index and rank your pages.
So, when you're redesigning your website, it's essential to keep your URL structure intact. That means keeping the same page names and URLs as your old website. If you need to make changes to your URL structure, set up 301 redirects from your old pages to your new ones.
3. Don't Forget about Your Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Your title tags and meta descriptions are two of the essential elements of your website from an SEO perspective. They appear in search engine results pages (SERPs), so they significantly influence how people find and click through to your website.
Make sure to update your title tags and meta descriptions as part of your redesign. This way, you can be sure that they're accurate and up-to-date.
4. Optimise Your Website for Mobile
More and more people are using their smartphones and tablets to access the internet. In fact, Google has even said that mobile-first indexing is on the horizon.
That means optimising your website for mobile is more critical than ever. Ensure your website is responsive and loads quickly on mobile devices. These are just a few things you can do to guarantee your website is mobile-friendly.
5. Improve Your Website's Speed
Your website's speed is a crucial ranking factor, so it's essential to make sure your website is as fast as possible.
Here are a few things you can do to improve your website's speed:
Optimise your images
Minimise your CSS and JavaScript
Enable compression
Use a content delivery network
6. Improve Your Website's Security
Another important ranking factor is your website's security. Google wants to ensure that its users are safe when browsing the internet, so it's vital to ensure your website is secure.
There are a few things you can do to improve your website's security:
Install an SSL certificate
Enable two-factor authentication
Keep your software up-to-date
7. Add New Content
One of the best ways to improve your website is to add new content. It could be blog posts, infographics, videos, or even new pages on your website.
Not only will this help to improve your website's SEO, but it will also give your visitors something new to read or watch. It will help to keep them coming back for more.
Conclusion
If you're planning a website redesign, remember your SEO! Maintaining your current SEO during a redesign is crucial to keeping your website visible in search engines. Additionally, you should keep an eye on your website's performance during and after the redesign and adjust your SEO tactics as needed. Following these tips ensures that a redesign will maintain your website's traffic and ranking.
If you need a Wix web designer in Cambridgeshire, UK, let's work together. Online Designs UK is a web design company that creates simple and easy business designs. The company is based in St Neots and comprises an IT technician and an experienced web designer. Both team members have over six years of experience working with businesses on their websites and technology.