How to Redesign Your Website Without Losing Google Rankings
A website redesign can wipe out years of Google traffic. How Tampa Bay businesses keep their rankings with a page list, redirects and launch checks.
In short
- Make a list of every old page before you start, and keep the ones that bring visits
- Forward every old address to its closest new page in one step, never all to the homepage
- Check forms, links and Google’s reports on launch day and for the next eight weeks
It happens more often than it should. A business launches a beautiful new website, and within a month the phone goes quiet. The new site looks better, but Google can’t find the pages that used to bring in visits, so the rankings slip.
The good news: a website redesign doesn’t have to cost you search traffic. When the move is planned, rankings usually hold, and often improve. Here’s how to protect them, in plain words.
Why rankings drop after a redesign
Google ranks pages, not whole websites. Each page that brings visits has built up trust over time: its address, its words, the links pointing to it. Rankings usually drop for a few simple reasons:
- Old addresses stop working. A page that lived at /water-heater-repair moves to /services/water-heaters, and the old address shows an error.
- Pages get cut. A redesign trims “extra” pages that were quietly bringing in visits.
- Words get thinner. A long, useful page becomes three lines and a photo.
- The new site is slower. Big images and heavy effects make pages crawl on phones.
- Google is told to stay away. Sites under construction often use a setting that asks Google not to list them. If nobody switches it off at launch, the site can drop out of search.
List every page you have now
Before anything gets designed, make a list of every page on the current site. Your sitemap is a good start, often found at your address followed by /sitemap.xml. Add pages from Google Search Console, Google’s free tool for site owners, which shows the pages that get seen and clicked in search.
For each page, note:
- Its address
- Whether it brings visits from search
- Whether other websites link to it
- Where it will live on the new site
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Keep what works
Pages that bring visits should keep their topic and most of their useful words on the new site, even if the design changes completely. Improve them, don’t gut them. If two old pages cover the same thing, combine them into one stronger page and forward both addresses to it.
Forward every old address
A redirect forwards visitors and Google from an old address to a new one, like mail forwarding after a move. The permanent kind, sometimes called a 301, tells Google the move is for good, so the new page can take over the old one’s place.
- Send each old address to its closest new page, not all to the homepage.
- Make it one step. Chains, where an old address forwards to another old address, slow things down.
- Include old versions people still link to, like addresses ending in .html.
- Keep the redirects in place for good.
When we rebuilt the Larsen Bookkeeping website, all 127 of its old addresses were set to forward to working pages.
Keep the same domain if you can
Changing your domain name during a redesign adds a second big change for Google to process. If you need both, plan the redirects even more carefully, and keep the old domain renewed.
Check everything on launch day
Launch is not the finish line. On the day the new site goes live:
- Make sure the “don’t list this site” setting is off.
- Open every old address on your list and confirm it lands on the right page.
- Send a test from every form, and tap the phone links.
- Update the website link on your Google Business Profile and other listings.
- Submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console.
- Test speed on a phone with our free site check.
Watch the next eight weeks
Expect some wobble for a few weeks while Google catches up. Each week, check Search Console for pages Google can’t find, and fix any you missed. Compare calls and form requests with the same weeks last year, since Florida service work rises and falls with the seasons.
Redesign SEO checklist
- A list of every old page, with visits and links noted
- Useful pages kept and improved, not cut
- Every old address forwarded to its closest new page, in one step
- New site at least as fast as the old one on a phone
- “Don’t list this site” setting switched off at launch
- Forms, phone links and listings tested and updated
- New sitemap submitted
- Search Console and calls checked weekly for eight weeks
Questions about redesigns and SEO
Will my rankings drop at all after a redesign?
A small wobble for a few weeks is normal while Google processes the changes. With every old address forwarded and useful pages kept, rankings usually recover quickly and often improve.
Can I change my page addresses during a redesign?
Yes, as long as every old address forwards to its new one. Cleaner, shorter addresses are fine. Just don’t leave old ones broken.
Do I need to keep my old website’s hosting?
No. Once the new site is live and the redirects are working on the new host, the old hosting can go. Keep the domain itself renewed, always.