Your website is ten years old, slow and awkward on phones. Yet it still brings you clients through Google. The fear is legitimate: what if the redesign makes it all disappear? Done properly, a redesign actually improves your SEO. Here's how.
1. Take stock before touching anything
List every page on the old site and find the ones that matter: those that get visits, those that generate enquiries, those with links from other sites. Those are the pages to protect first.
2. Keep the URLs, or redirect them
This is the most common mistake. If a page's URL changes, Google treats it as a new page and forgets the old one. The fix:
- keep the same URLs wherever possible;
- otherwise, set up a 301 redirect from each old URL to the new one;
- never redirect all old pages to the homepage.
3. Keep what works in the copy
A page often ranks because of its content. You can rewrite and modernise it, but keep the topics, keywords and information your clients are looking for.
4. Get the technical foundations right
- A title and description for every page.
- Compressed images and a fast site, especially on mobile.
- A sitemap submitted to Google after launch.
- HTTPS everywhere, no broken pages.
5. Monitor after launch
In the first weeks, watch your traffic and Google Search Console. A broken page or a forgotten redirect takes minutes to fix if you catch it early.
In short
A successful redesign means a new look and a faster site, built on the same SEO foundations. At SWC Agency, auditing the existing site, migrating the content and setting up redirects are part of every redesign, starting at €2,290.