Does redesigning the website effects the SEO?

[BryanCasson]

Hi Prasanth,

If you are going to change the design of a website it will not affect your SEO so long as you keep your URL structure the same. So if your URLS are www.mysite.com/mycategory/my-page then you want to make sure that you use the same URL when implementing the new site. It is the URLS and the page content that have gained Google trust and authority over the years and not the design itself.

If you are changing the type of code your site uses (aspx to php) and just cannot keep the URL structure then you will need to make sure that you 301 redirect every single page to its matching page on the new site. (Eg www.mysite.com/mycategory/my-page.aspx will need to 301 redirect to www.mysite.com/mycategory/my-matching-page). Unfortunately, when you change the URL structure there is always some loss of page authority even when you have a 301 redirect in place. As for linkbuilding, make sure that all target pages that have incoming links 301 redirect to the new URL, then notify the site linking to you that your URL has changed.

[marcinlejman]

I would add to what Bryan already said that while keeping URL structure is important, or at least doing proper 301 redirects if keeping URLs is not possible, a redesign is an opportunity to improve your rankings (but also to lose them) by changing a number of on-site elements.

Keep in mind at least the following:

• unique titles

• unique meta descriptions

• proper use of h1 / h2 / h3 headers

• proper use of your target keywords in anchor text for internal links

• proper use of , and list elements

**_- proper use of alt and title tags for images

• please consider using microformats (schema.org) if they make sense in your case

• proper internal linking (analyze if all your internal pages are easily reachable. Even without changing URLs, you can still add or remove links on individual pages to improve the flow)

These are all elements which are easily changed during a redesign - for better or for worse.

Hope it helps in your decisions._**

[mediabase]

Hi Prasanth, I want to tell you that when websites are redesigned usually everyone is very focused on how it looks: the layout, the colors, the design-related images and so on. Changing these things usually doesn’t have a huge impact on search engine optimization. Search engines, being blind, don’t care much about what color your site is. They just read through the HTML and catalog the content.

The aspect of a website redesign that has a large impact on SEO is the site architecture. Site architecture deals with how many pages you have and how those pages are organized.

Changing the way your website looks shouldn’t have a big impact on your search rankings but changing the number and organization of pages can have a a big impact on your search rankings.

For more information please refer to the following link.

http://thoughtfaucet.com/making-things/how-to/website-redesign-seo-checklist/

[Naghirniac]

An important topic to look at is the new changes at google, and already plan it in your website.

You will need to have content above the fold, and websites with that will be in advantage. http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/page-layout-algorithm-improvement.html

[PrasanthMohanachandran]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts i am really thank full i will follow the guidelines and redesign the website thank you

[PrasanthMohanachandran]

This post is deleted!

[PrasanthMohanachandran]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts i am really thank full i will follow the guidelines and redesign the website thank you

[Linwright]

Great responses here. I would simply add that while you need to be keenly aware of the tips provided in these responses, don't be afraid to do a site redesign. Recently we did a site redesign for a new client who had decent rankings and traffic. We 'Wordpressed' their site, keeping all content, images, and the layout basically the same but simply placing it into a Wordpress format. Within a week after the redesign the client's rankings improved in 41 places, according to SEOMoz Ranking. What does this mean? It means that you should not be afraid to go forward with a redesign, because if done correctly you can actually improve your rankings without doing any SEO work.

[BryanCasson]

"Wordpressing" a site does wonders for old outdated sites, mostly due to the ease of content creation as well as the automatic pinging serves & rss feeds built in. Almost all my websites have been redesigned into Wordpress and the results have been fantastic. Just remember to do those 301 redirects and things will work out eventually.

[KeriMorgret]

A couple of recent great resources about redesigning websites without losing rankings are available at

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/achieving-an-seo-friendly-domain-migration-the-infographic

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/web-site-migration-guide-tips-for-seos

They are aimed at migrating your site to a new URL, but much of the information they have is applicable in your situation about URLs and things to consider during a redesign.