Does redoing a homepage impact search rankings?

[lightsfilmschool]

Hello, all! Does anyone know if redesigning a website's homepage affects search rankings? I'm considering redoing my website's homepage - including rewriting the copy, and perhaps in Leadpages - but I don't want to compromise search. I gather that SEO is a bit of a black box, but am curious to hear others' perspectives before moving ahead. Thanks in advance for sharing your time and thoughts!

[benesmartin]

Hi there,

it certainly does affect search rankings. You are changing the HTML, copy, UX  - all those changes are important for SEO.

How fast the changes will happen depends on how often does Google crawl your website and look for changes. Also, make sure you update the cache for the new version. After the redesign, it's a good idea to monitor closely the UX metrics, such as bounce rate, exit rate, time on page etc. because those metrics seem to be one of the ranking factors for Google. If those metrics go worse, consider to A/B test some versions of the homepage as well.

But basically, keep the relevant keywords on homepage, include proper internal linking, don't mess with HTML too much and make sure to manage 301's, if needed.

Hope it helps a bit. Cheers,
Martin

[LoganRay]

HI,

For your homepage, you're probably pretty safe to proceed with updating. In most cases, the vast majority of organic traffic coming to the homepage is branded, meaning they searched for your company's name or some close variation. As long as all of the key elements retain your brand (title tag, h1 tag, meta description, copy, footer with name/address/phone) stay intact, you shouldn't see a decline in organic traffic. BUT, to be safe, I recommend checking Google Analytics to see what percent of your organic traffic enters through the homepage. If it's the lion's share of your organic traffic, you might want to rethink this plan.

[lightsfilmschool]

Appreciate your perspective, Martin! Thank you!

[lightsfilmschool]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Logan! Appreciate the perspective!