SEO Checklist for Site Redesign

Have you thought about the repercussions of redesigning your website without keeping in mind how you are going to preserve the "value" built up with Search Engines? What would happen if you lost all of your rankings when the new site is deployed? Don't think that can happen? You might want to rethink how you think ...

"Redesign" is meant in the following context. I'm not talking about changing domains. Instead, I'm referring to changing the entire file, folder, & page structure of an existing site, and perhaps a migration to a new code type, such as going from .PHP to .ASP.

  1. First and foremost, make sure new site is SEO Ready before going live. Make sure that the optimized code and text content is not stripped out when your new URLs are created.
  2. Account for your top URL’s. Do you know which pages on your site have ranking? Is your page name changing? Is the extention on the page changing? Make sure that the  Search Engines get mapped to the right page so that they pick up on the change.
  3. Prepare a custom 404 "Page Not Found" Page. Someone is sure to get lost when you put in a URL that no longer exists. Make it easy for them to get directed to the correct page.
  4. Update your robots.txt file. We are not talking "Lost in Space - Danger Will Robinson stuff here".
  5. Make sure you update your analytics and conversion definitions. Getting the right kind of analytics is essential to success on the Internet. Don't lose any data.
  6. Make sure you have a text and XML sitemaps on your new site. It is always best for the Search Engines to find your pages "naturally".

We have seen some true horror stories when companies have decided to redo their online presence, only to find out that they are not getting the contacts and leads that once used to flow into their sales teams. We invite you to contact us if you are planning on improving your results on the Internet. Even if we do not build the new site, we can be a liaison between you and your developer to ensure that you maintain the work that has already been done on your behalf.

Don't be caught stepping backwards when you are trying to move forward!

 

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