How Does Redesigning a Website Affect SEO?

So. You’re ready to redesign your website. You got the new colors, logos, and imagery; every design aesthetic has been picked out and is in place to dazzle your new website visitors.

There’s just one thing… SEO!

The BIGGEST mistake most web designers make when it comes to redesigning a website is failing to consider how their redesign will impact SEO rankings. Your newly redesigned website may be the most beautiful piece of digital art you have ever laid eyes on, but unfortunately, very few people will be able to see it once all your ranking content goes back to square one!

Taking SEO into account is crucial for ensuring your digital presence doesn’t lose any momentum. On this week’s episode of “Near Me”, our web design specialists of Team Triton will break down all the ways redesigning your website can affect your SEO rankings, as well as provide plenty of tips as to how to keep your SEO intact while upgrading your website’s visual and functional features.

If It Ain’t Broke… Don’t Fix It!

As we’ve mentioned above, failing to carry over already-ranking content is a common, costly error associated with many website redesigns. If your website, service pages, or location pages are already ranking on the first page of local, relevant search engine results, then you definitely want to keep it that way!

To ensure you don’t lose any withstanding with your SEO rankings, you need to keep your site structure the same during your redesign. The same goes for all facets of your content. Keywords, meta-tags, title-tags, image-tags, headings; all of these aspects of on-site SEO need to be carried over in your website redesign to maintain your online presence.

This logic also applies to your site index, as failing to carry over your site index on the redesigned site means all the content that was published prior to the redesign will lose its rank. This is because not having a site index tells Google not to even look at this page, so its algorithms won’t even consider your content for page ranking.

Consider the Structure

The golden rule with website redesign is that just because your website looks beautiful, doesn’t mean it’s going to rank well. The structure of your website is just as important as any graphic design elements, if not more essential.

The motive of search engines is to provide searchers with the most relevant possible results that searchers are looking for. This is where implementing Built-In SEO is crucial in determining your website’s relevance, ensuring that your website is properly structured to target your keywords, and in turn improving your rankings in key search results.

Arrangement of content is a primary factor that affects SEO rankings. In recent years, Google’s algorithms have shifted to prefer content that is featured higher up on web pages, as opposed to pushed further down the web page under various headings, images, etc. Much of this is due to the rise of mobile traffic, which is why your redesign needs to consider all of the following aspects of a mobile-first site index:

• You want the content to start as close to the top of the page as possible, so mobile users can start reading content the second the page loads on their smartphone.

• If the first thing a mobile user sees is a logo, images, or titles, and doesn’t see content immediately, Google considers those design factors to contribute to poor user experience, ultimately hurting SEO rankings.

• A simple redesign to edit content structure can immediately start improving your website’s SEO rankings.

Cutting Corners = Limiting SEO Potential

Another common mistake most businesses make with their website redesign plan is trying to cut as many corners as possible. This can mean everything from

• Using generic, stock imagery

• Failing to take the time to write compelling, engaging content

• Not conducting necessary keyword research

• Not inserting appropriate image tags, header tags, link titles, image titles, etc.

• Failing to take mobile users into account

The goal of every website redesign, in addition to improving SEO rankings, should be creating an original, engaging, and influential website that truly reflects your company’s values, missions, and personality. That’s where going above and beyond to improve the appearance and functionality of your website will drastically improve user experience and ultimately boost SEO rankings.

Design to Convert

A website that’s designed and structured to convert leads will ultimately create a more positive user experience, which in turn is what appeases Google’s algorithms and increases SEO rankings.

At the end of the day, your website needs to be structured in a way that ultimately converts leads. This is to say that you need to not only make your website easy to navigate and consume content but make contacting your business or making a purchase as simple and accessible as possible.

An easy way to achieve this is by implementing Call-to-Actions (CTAs) on every section of the site. These CTA buttons or links give users every opportunity to contact you, from phone numbers, to contact forms, to emails, to social media links, etc. Every customer has their own preferred means of enlisting your services, which is why you need to ensure that you incorporate every form of contact into the design of your website.

In addition to CTAs, be sure to create separate, individual pages for every service or product you have to offer, as opposed to listing off all of your services in a series of bullet points on your home page. This not only gives you more opportunities to rank but gives your customers a more in-depth look at what separates your business from the rest of the pack.

Your site structure needs to steer the user toward making a purchase or contacting your company. Keeping your content clear and concise, not bombarding the reader with lengthy paragraphs, also goes a long way toward improving user experience and converting leads.

Trust Team Triton With Your Website Redesign

The worst thing you can get out of a website redesign is having a new website that nobody’s ever going to come across. At Triton Commerce, we ensure that every website redesign we take on features built-in SEO tactics that are engineered to help your website rank higher and generate more leads in the process.

For professional web design that’s proven to get you the results you’re looking for, contact Triton Commerce today to schedule a consultation with our SEO experts. You can also stay tuned to our “Near Me” podcast to stay up to date on all the latest digital marketing trends and tips!