I’m currently developing a new website for a company. Their existing site was also created using Webflow by another person, and they are particularly concerned about maintaining their strong Google ranking during this transition. SEO isn’t my area of expertise, so I could really use some guidance.
Could anyone share the key considerations or steps I should take to ensure the SEO performance isn’t negatively impacted in this process? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!
P.S. Due to an NDA, I’m unable to share their website.
It depends on what the “redesign” entails.
However at a high level, you ideally want to maintain these things;
Domain name
Paths
Page titles
Page SEO settings, and any JSON-LD content
H1’s and H2’s
Content
For the domain name and paths, redirects can work if things are changing, if you cover them well, you’ll generally have minimal disruption.
Google has recently made significant changes in how indexing works, and has just finished a major update on April 21st. The content of your pages used to be less important than the titles and headings, but now Google is extremely sensitive to content quality, and pulls a lot of its keywording and ranking signals from throughout your page.
If “redesign” means "keep all the same pages and 100% of the same content, at the same URLs, and just restyle it, then that’s the closest you can get.
@memetican Thank you for your helpful advice! Here are some details about the redesign:
Domain Name: We will keep the same domain.
Structure and Content Changes: We are planning big changes in the website’s structure and content. We will remove some pages and merge others. The static pages, except for articles, will have new content and headers. How could these changes affect the SEO negatively, and what can I do to lessen any bad effects?
Content Quality: The quality of the writing and the clarity of the content have been improved in the new design. Is this just my subjective assessment, or can these improvements actually have a positive impact on our SEO?
Since you’re making structure and content changes, there’s no way to know until it’s re-indexed. Use your original content as a reference for keywords and content. 301 redirect any paths to your new URLs.
Like @memetican said, based on the modifications to the website, you won’t be able to predict the impact of the new website on Google’s ranking.
If I were in your shoes, and trust me, I’ve been in your position, I will:
1) Set some clear expectations with my clients.
The most crucial step.
Here are some topics you can discuss:
Switching the conversation from Google ranking to Business conversion: As mentioned above, you can’t control the new website’s Google ranking. However, you can control how users experience the new website, offer, and convert to clients. Like most business owners, I don’t really care about Google ranking; I care more about sales.
Short-term vs. long-term: As a business owner, I’m already “investing” in revamping the website. I know there will be risks. You can come up with a plan to highlight that you might face disruptions during the first phase (phases are better than dates in SEO ), and here is how you will put in place to mitigate it. In the long term, we expect better business results and Google ranking (to emphasize what is essential to your client).
2) Audit the website content and keyword ranking
Regarding the content change and impact, I will be careful if I were you.
Today, the website’s pages are ranked by keywords. If you change the content of the page, it will impact the ranking of the keyword. By how much, we can’t estimate without the website
3) Come up with a 1-year roadmap highlighting expectations, mitigation strategy, and outcome.
I hope this clarify your next steps and you will have a happy customer for life.
Good luck.
Thank you very much, @Sofian_Bettayeb and @memetican! The advice has been really, really helpful. Any tips on auditing the existing website and how I can use that to the new website’s advantage would be most appreciated. Cheers!
I redesigned my dental lab’s website. I decided to hire experts for building and promoting it because missing important SEO details is easy. Here’s what worked for me:
First, we did a thorough check of the old site to find and fix any SEO problems. This meant looking at HTML errors, links, and the sitemap. Next, we picked the best search keywords and spread them across different pages. Creating and optimizing unique content with these keywords helped improve our ranking. We also made sure the site was mobile-friendly, fixed code issues, and set up proper meta-tags and analytics.
), and here is how you will put in place to mitigate it. In the long term, we expect better business results and Google ranking (to emphasize what is essential to your client).