New Website Launch - what to do with the URLs of the pages with ranks

[jac.reyes]

Hey there,

So, we are "redesigning" our website, it will have a new user journey and overall layout, use, and feel.

Situation: Previously, most of our keywords ranked over time organically though all of them pull up our domain.com as the landing page. Now that we are redesigning the site, most of the keywords pointing to the home page will now have their own page. Keywords properly grouped and content will now be on topic and focused per page.

Q: What are the things that we need to do so we won't lose those keywords?

Appreciate your help. Also, if you can cite specific SEO checklist when redesigning a site, that'll be a great help!

Thanks!

Jac

[DirkC]

Hi,

You can find a good checklist here: https://moz.com/blog/web-site-migration-guide-tips-for-seos and you can find a bunch of other useful links here: https://moz.com/blog/achieving-an-seo-friendly-domain-migration-the-infographic - the lists are for migration of domains, but big chunks are also valid if you are just changing design/url structure.

The process described in the first list is (more or less) the one I use for site and/or design migrations.

If your current homepage is currently your principal landing page - I would try to make sure that it's doesn't change to much in terms of content & links to other sections. Also make sure that you check the performance of your homepage (it's also mentioned in the migration checklist) - I prefer to use webpagetest.org rather than pingdom.com - also check the page with Google page speed analyser.

Hope this helps,

Dirk

[jac.reyes]

Hello Dirk,

Thank you! Those were very helpful.

I have a ff up Q. What if, yes, given that right now, all keywords are 90% just pointing to homepage. Do I just pick the best ranking keywords and prolly just let go of the rest?

Jac

[DirkC]

Hi Jac,

If you keep the content on your homepage quite similar to the existing homepage, you should normally be able to keep the rankings for the keywords that are currently generating traffic to your homepage. If everything goes well, Google should be able to figure out that for some keywords, other landing pages on your site are a better choice than just the home (although it's never a guarantee - just browse the q&a section and you'll find plenty of questions wondering why Google seems to prefer the home page rather than the skilfully crafted landing pages on the site)

rgds,

Dirk