Redesign without losing Google: what to check before you replace your site
A new site can be better looking and faster and still lose visits in the first month. The reason is almost always the same: pages Google knew about disappeared without warning.
Ariadne Studio · 3 min read
In this article 5 sections
Summary
- List the pages that already bring in visits before you change anything.
- Any URL that changes needs a 301 redirect to the new one.
- After you launch, watch Search Console for a few weeks.
Google doesn’t store your website as one thing. It stores each page, with its address and what it answers. When a redesign changes addresses or deletes pages carelessly, it’s as if those pages stopped existing, along with the rankings they had.
#1. List what already works
Before designing anything, open Google Search Console and see which pages get clicks and from which searches. Write down the addresses. Those pages are what the old site has built up, and they need to keep existing on the new one, on the same topic.
#2. Keep the addresses, or redirect
Ideally, important pages keep the same address. When that isn’t possible, the old address has to point to the new one with a 301 redirect, which tells Google “this page has moved over there”. Without it, anyone who clicks an old result lands on an error page.
#3. Bring the content along
A new layout is no excuse to cut the text that was ranking. You can rewrite it, organize it better and shorten it, but the page still has to answer the same question. Titles, descriptions and image alt text go on that list too.
#4. Check the technical side
- The new site can’t go live blocked from Google (it happens more than you’d think).
- Submit the new sitemap in Search Console on launch day.
- Test the speed on a phone: a redesign is the right time to make the site lighter.
#5. Watch the first few weeks
It’s normal for rankings to move around a bit right after the switch. What’s not normal is an important page disappearing. Check Search Console every week during the first month: pages with errors, clicks per page and the searches that used to bring visits. If something drops, it’s almost always a missing redirect.
