How do you maintain SEO rankings during a website redesign?
Conduct a Pre-Redesign SEO Audit
- Identify top-performing pages, keywords, and traffic sources using tools like Google Analytics and Search Console.
- Audit your backlink profile to determine which pages hold the most link authority.
- Map out current page URLs and their metadata (titles, descriptions, H1 tags).
- Analyze mobile and desktop speed scores to retain technical performance.
- Note current crawl frequency and index status of critical pages.
Preserve URL Structures or Redirect Correctly
- Keep the existing URL structure wherever possible to avoid losing rankings.
- If URLs must change, implement proper 301 redirects to relevant new pages.
- Avoid using 302 (temporary) redirects, as they don’t pass link equity.
- Maintain internal linking to preserve crawl paths and page relationships.
- Test all redirects before launching to ensure there are no broken or dead links.
Maintain On-Page SEO Elements
- Ensure that page titles, meta descriptions, alt tags, and headers are transferred accurately.
- Maintain keyword placements and ensure optimized content is not lost or overwritten.
- Include schema markup where it was previously applied, especially for products or services.
- Optimize images, scripts, and fonts to retain fast loading speed.
- Ensure the mobile version mirrors SEO efforts on desktop.
Monitor Performance Post-Launch
- Use Google Search Console and third-party SEO tools to monitor traffic and crawl errors.
- Submit the updated XML sitemap and ensure the robots.txt file is configured correctly.
- Watch for sudden ranking drops or deindexing of high-value pages.
- Track user engagement and bounce rates for early SEO health signals.
- Perform weekly audits for the first few weeks after launch.
Communicate Changes to Search Engines and Users
- Announce major redesigns via blog posts or newsletters to maintain transparency.
- Notify Google through sitemap resubmission and structured data testing.
- Highlight the redesign on social media to keep engagement steady.
- Reconfirm crawlability of new elements such as dynamic navigation or JavaScript menus.
- Retain original high-ranking content without unnecessary rewriting or removal.
