Redesigns can have a significantly negative impact on hard-earned search visibility. Steps must be taken to ensure search rankings don't drop. Content structure, internal linking and keywords usage in the new site is critical. Not messing with external linking is a good idea. Google webmaster tools and other analytics can be used to set-up and monitor launches. This talk focused on staying sane - and successful - through a redesign. Case studies included.
2. +
Maintaining... Through a Redesign
Sanity – insert your own definition
Visibility – in organic search results
The Realistic Ability to Measure – a major
redesign is going to make it hard to
compare apples to apples.
4. + Top Reasons for Redesign and #1 Effect
on Measurement, Visibility and Sanity
Company Name
Change/Acquisition =
Domain Name Change.
Every URL Changes
New SEO Company =
Tactical changes too
many to mention in this
small box
New CEO/CMO = New
brand agency, new web
design
Repositioning of
Company/products =
New content, new
keywords
5. +
Pre-Redesign (1)
Keyword discovery research – what keywords define the
company
Which content drives traffic into site (review landing pages) and
set content/SEO strategy to maintain that content
Look at Page Authority (moz.com) and don’t kill pages with high
page authority
15. +
Changing DomainsFilename Changes
Inventory which page names are changing
Set up redirect list for .htaccess file
Use 301 redirects
Consider leaving high Page Authority pages’ URLs the
same regardless of high value of adding keywords to URL
Test redirects before launch
Test redirects of main pages after launch by searching and
clicking
19. +
Right about Now
Spot check for redirect errors – click on organic search results
Home page change? 3 hours
Sitelinks? 1-3 days
Old and new URLs at same time – yup – some overlap
DNS propagation – 4-5 days across world
Major ranking changes – 2 weeks
Launch
2-weeks
24. +
Conversation Rate Down?
Did the landing page change for a specific keyword?
Did your SEO company get you to produce a new page?
Was there lead generation on the page?
25. +
Don’t forget to Count:
Mobile search
Error pages
Consider traffic that has moved to Google+
Consider traffic that has moved to Twitter
Consider traffic that has moved to Facebook
26. +
Careful about SEO Advice
Moving from http://tidemark.net to http://www.tidemark.net (two
sites unless redirects done properly and webmaster tools
configured properly)
URL/file name changes – can’t compare page-to-page traffic
easily in Omniture or Google Analytics
Letting them choose the target landing page for important
keywords when they have no knowledge of company lead
generation strategy
Most will say 301s are the right way to go for everything – I
disagree. Leave some things alone. Don’t change the URL all
the time.
27. +
Have the same person/team work with
analytics and webmaster tools.
Have the same person/team work with
paid search and web traffic analysis.
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