Redesign Just Starting - Should I Leave The Previous Incomplete Site or Setup A Temporary Holding Page and Redirect Previous URL'S?

[ruislip18]

Hi All

I've picked up a new website project and wanted to ask about the best way to proceed with the current site during the development process.

The current site is incomplete although it has been live for a while and has over 80 pages in the sitemap. Link to site https://tinyurl.com/ychwftup

The business owner wants to take down the current site and simply add a landing page stating "new website coming soon".

From an SEO perspective, am I better to keep the current site live until the new site is ready? Or would it not make any difference if I setup the landing page and add 301 redirects from each page in the sitemap to the landing page.

Many Thanks In Advance For Any Assistance

[Paddy_Moogan]

Hi there,

In short, it's usually highly recommended that during a migration, you keep the old website live right up until the point that the new one launches. At that point, you put the necessary 301 redirects in place and launch the new website.

If you go the other route and take the site down and add a landing page as you've described, it's almost certain that you'll lose any traffic that the current website is getting. This is because any pages that are currently driving traffic will not exist any more. I'd highly advise against this!

The only caveat would be that if the current site is not getting any traffic at all at the moment, then there is an argument that you have nothing to lose by taking it down. However, I'd still advise to keep it up and redirect the pages at the time of the migration because this will help preserve any existing equity that those pages have.

I hope that helps!

Paddy

[ruislip18]

Hi Paddy

Thanks for getting back to me, that has confirmed my thinking, much appreciated.

All the best with your work