Lee Hogan If you have been considering a web website redesign, think of it as an opportunity to improve your web page’s search engine optimization (search engine marketing). Many web admins with websites that rank even exceedingly nicely within the seek engine result pages (SERPs) fear that redesigning their site might break their keyword scores and consequently their website online’s unfastened, natural website visitors. But a redesign can virtually be a golden opportunity to enhance the search engine marketing of your website and increase its natural search site visitors dramatically.
Search engine optimization Site Review
Before embarking on a site redecorate undertaking, you should take stock of what you’re doing correctly and what you’re doing wrong along with your present website from a search engine optimization angle. Perform a thorough SEO web page evaluation of all on-web page and on-page search engine ranking elements and record your findings. This document will be used later to set SEO desires for your newly redesigned website.
SEO Rankings and Traffic Baselines
Before starting any remodel work, you will want baseline measurements of your existing site’s keyword ratings and organic visitors. These baselines can then be used after your newly redesigned site is going live to determine whether or no longer the search engine marketing goals on your assignment have been met.
If you aren’t already using an internet analytics package, you must take into account getting one. Google Analytics is unfastened and is top-notch for gaining perception into your website’s online traffic. Pay special attention to which URLs on your existing site are getting natural visitors from the serps and the search phrases used to locate those URLs within the SERPs. These statistics may be beneficial when optimizing the pages of your newly redesigned website.
It would help if you additionally pulled weekly ranking reports for not the simplest keyword terms which you are concentrated on but also the keyword terms found while reviewing your current organic traffic the usage of your internet analytics software. It’s advocated which you pull the rating reports weekly for no less than numerous weeks before beginning your website redecorate venture.
The Web Site Redesign
Once you are armed along with your search engine optimization website evaluation, have reviewed your natural site visitors via your web analytics bundle, and feature keyword ratings for your web page’s most critical keyword terms, you could begin planning and working in your website online remodel. The first step inside the system is figuring out what you would love to change approximately your present website.
Document all your website redecorate and search engine optimization dreams very well. This needs to consist of the most effective aesthetic and value changes and SEO associated changes to matters, like the organization of your web page, navigation systems and interlinking of pages, SEO-friendly URLs, coding standards, etc. If there may be something you need to trade approximately the website from a search engine marketing perspective, it is first-rate to do it all of a sudden as part of your remodel.
Work out your website’s online design on paper before an unmarried line of code is written. Use cord frames to design your web page layouts. Create mockups of every type of page because it will seem on the redesigned website online. Include the various search engine optimization factors as probable at the mockups – top navigation, left navigation (if applicable), footer links (if relevant), the h1 element, h2 factors, and so on. Use the mockups to locate and solve usability and search engine optimization-related problems earlier than you begin coding. If you rename or delete any URLs on your website as a part of the redesign, then make sure to implement 301 redirects so that the new URLs will get credit for inbound links to the antique URLs.
Once you’re glad together with your new website design, flip the developer(s) loose to put in force your adjustments.
Testing Your Site Redesign
It is essential to check your redesigned web page thoroughly. Test all pages on the website from proper usability, and search engine optimization angle. Review the HTML source code for every one of the pages in your website online. Check all on-web page ranking factors like the title, meta description, h1, and h2 elements. Make sure all hyperlinks are both SEO pleasant textual content hyperlinks or photo links. Check that every photograph links have the alt characteristic set properly in view that it’s miles considered the hyperlink text for a photo hyperlink.
Do no more prolonged neglect to record and, if possible, take a look at the procedure of upgrading your web page. If you have a improved environment, install a duplicate of the general site and undergo the method of upgrading. If you stumble upon any troubles while testing the improvement, adjust the system and documentation to regulator the problem, and strive for it once more. Repeat the technique till you’re relaxed which you have a sound plan.
Once you are glad that your redesigned website online is operating correctly and meets all of your search engine marketing goals, you’ll be ready to move to stay with the brand new site layout. Suppose a viable schedule improves for a non-top time of day. If your website has seasonal traffic, plan the improve for the low season.
After Your Site Redesign is Live
Once your website redecorates is stay, you’ll want to monitor your site closely. Continue to tug weekly keyword ranking reviews and screen your web analytics. Pay specific interest to pages that received lots of organic traffic before the redesign went stay. Use Google’s Webmaster Tools to monitor things like 404 Not Found errors.
Expect to see a temporary drop in rankings and site visitors because search engines like to google soak up all the changes you made as part of the redecorate. However, if you planned, tested, and carried out your web page redecorated nicely, ratings and traffic need to go back more vital than ever after some days, weeks, or probably even a month or depending on the volume of changes made to the site.