This article only explores the pitfalls of a website redesign. If a website is migrating its domain name, then the problems and solution is slightly different.
There are many ways that a website can lose organic traffic. From changes to Google’s algorithms to increased competition in a niche, there are many factors in SEO that are entirely out of a website creator’s control. However, there are also just as many critical mistakes that we’ve seen a website redesign can do that drives down website traffic.
The main issue is a website redesign can adversely affect Onsite SEO. Too often a website redesign is done by designers and product marketers. These teams are focused on the user experience: how the site looks and feels, and how the wording sounds and resonates. This can help a site visitor stay on page and convert as a customer. This is a focus on selling the business and its product / services through the brands look and feel. However, that “better” visual and messaging can be at the cost of acquiring visitors. There’s no one to sell to, if no one can find you.
SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is a marketing discipline that focuses on improving a website’s visibility on search engines to rank higher and for more search results. There is On-page SEO and off-page SEO. Onsite or On-page SEO, like the name hints at, focuses on optimizing web pages on the website. This includes the site structure such as the HTML, meta information, and visible content like written content and images.
One of the common changes in a website redesign is changing the messaging and copy on the website. In the course of changing those words, the website can lose keywords that it previously was ranking for and getting traffic from. Before updating messaging, review what keywords your site ranks for and how much traffic that brings to your website.
How to preserve your keyword rankings
Title tags are snippets of HTML code that specifies the title of a webpage. The title tag appears in the browser tabs and in search engine results. Similarly, heading tags are snippets of HTML code typically used for the headings on a webpage. There are tiers and hierarchy for heading tags with H1 being of highest importance after the Title tag, which should be used only once. Other heading tags are H2, H3, etc.
The most important tags on a page are the Title and usually H1 tags. These are the tags that have the most important value in SEO. The search algorithm will work its way through the content based on the hierarchy set forth by the tags.
Missing Title & H1 Tags: One potential issue is a redesign that removes those tags, so they are entirely missing. This most probable when a website is redesigned by an inexperience individual. An experienced designer without an understanding of SEO can also make this mistake.
Duplicate H1 Tags: On the other end of the spectrum, designers can opt to use H1 tags too often throughout the webpage. This will confuse search spiders on what the most important aspect of a page is. Note that visually the text format can be the same with H1 and H2 headings, but it’s the actual tag in HTML that matters.
Internal linking is when pages are hyperlinked to other pages within the same domain. This helps to signal to SEO that the content are related. They can also help to boost traffic to pages and help with the page’s authority. Pages without internal links are floating content in a pile of content.
Redesigns can easily affect these if pages are added, removed, or edit.
When updating messaging, it’s also common to want to update a page’s URL slug to match the updated messaging. This can be a big mistake if the page has high page authority. This will mean that the new page even if it looks exactly the same, will lose all of the authority it previous built up.
Backlinks are like gold in SEO. When one website references another website and does so via a hyperlink, that hyperlink is a backlink. Losing backlinks are tantamount to sabotaging your website. This can happen during a website redesign when pages are deleted, removed, or have its URL updated (i.e. change in URL slugs). Then the external link will now be referencing a non-existent page. Read more on How to do a Backlink Audit by SEMRush.
When redesigning a website, don’t let how the website looks, feels, and reads be the only factors that matter. Small businesses often rely on its discoverability on search engines, so a website is also designed for search engines and their bots. A website design should also seek to preserve the content and structure that has helped drive traffic and business to the site. Striking this balance can help businesses iterate and grow their business through continuous improvement on both messaging and in onsite SEO.
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