Are you looking to spruce up your website and give it a fresh new look? A web redesign is a great way to do just that, but there are some important things to keep in mind before diving in. We talked to the best web designer in boston, and we’ve found several keys you can’t overlook.
It’s not a secret that a successful site isn’t measured by the visual alone but also by how it performs in search engine rankings. In this blog post, we’ll share some pro tips for improving your site’s rankings with a web redesign. Let’s get started.
Set Up and Stick to Standard Formatting Structure
The formatting structure of your website plays a major role in UX and search engine visibility. That’s why it pays to set up and stick to standard formatting from the very beginning. This includes ensuring all pages have a consistent layout with easy-to-read fonts, clear headings, and appropriate use of white space.
This not only makes your site look professional but also helps users find what they’re looking for quickly. In addition, using header tags (H1-H6) appropriately is critical for ensuring that search engines can easily identify the main topics on each page. H1 should be reserved for the main heading, while H2-H6 should be used as subheadings or additional information.
Put the Proper Redirects in Place
Redirects make it possible for users and search engines to be directed to the correct page, even when URLs change during a redesign. However, many set up 301 redirects from old pages to new ones. This results in broken links and lost traffic. It’s also essential to prioritize redirecting high-traffic pages first so you don’t lose valuable visitors.
That said, you need to avoid chain redirections and redirect loops, which confuse both users and search engines. This happens when one URL points to another, which then points back to the original – creating an endless loop. Putting proper redirects in place ensures that visitors will be able to find your newly redesigned site easily while preserving valuable SEO equity over time.
Leverage Noindex in the Testing Environment
When redesigning your website, running a thorough test before making it live is a must. This is where the testing environment comes in handy. However, you don’t want search engines to index this testing environment, as it can negatively affect your site’s rankings.
One way to prevent this from happening is by leveraging the noindex tag in your robots.txt file. This tells search engines not to crawl and index any pages on your site that are tagged with “noindex.” It’s a simple yet effective solution. Remember, allowing search engines to index unfinished or broken content can harm your site’s reputation and impact its ranking potential.
Make Your Web Redesign Project Google-Friendly
Making your website redesign project Google-friendly is crucial to guarantee that it’ll dominate others in the search engines. One of the first things you should do is conduct thorough keyword research and optimize your content accordingly. This involves incorporating long-tail keywords into your copy, meta titles and descriptions, URLs, and image alt tags. It also pays to consider the site speed when making your web redesign project Google-friendly. Slow loading speeds can negatively impact user experience and result in a lower ranking from Google’s algorithm. Make sure to optimize images, minify code, use a content delivery network (CDN), and leverage browser caching.
After implementing all these pro tips for a web redesign, you should see a noticeable improvement in your site’s rankings. Basically, remember to always prioritize user experience while keeping SEO practices in mind.