Website relaunch: A new start with success

The relaunch of a website usually takes place not only visually with a fresh and more appealing design, but above all technically. The goal of the website renewal is obvious: The all-round optimization should improve search engine rankings and attract more potential customers. Numerous relaunch errors can lead to ranking losses and threaten the success of the online presence after the relaunch. If companies generate a lot of new customers via the website, the range kink can have sensitive economic consequences that are difficult to rectify after the fact.

If you've decided to relaunch, the only logical step is to improve the existing web store with new elements and features, spruce it up with a new web design, expand online payment options, add new product filtering capabilities, and maybe even add an onsite search engine. In fact, why not?

This is all very admirable, but it's really not as easy as it sounds. It's not enough to hire a top web designer to give the website a new look. It needs to be redesigned and updated so that it is protected like a fortress from the onslaught of the infamous SEO optimization and new Google rules.

If you just want to refresh the site visually and make a few technical changes, there is no risk of negative SEO when you relaunch your site, as you are unlikely to weaken your hard-earned position in the Google search engine.

SEO or positioning a page in the Google search engine for relevant keywords can improve your business. Top performance or fast loading of the website with the addition of title tag, meta tag, h1-h6 tags, alt tags and other factors that are important and affect the position of the page in the Google search engine - are the main reason to redesign the website.

What's the deal with redesigning a website?

However, the biggest part of the redesign is to change the entire structure and navigation of the website and the URLs and online content. Changing the platform is not necessary, but there are risks of losing your acquired online authority and position in the search engine.

On the other hand, it is also conceivable that the desired design changes are beyond the scope and capabilities of your current CMS (content management system). For example, if you are working on a platform that offers several design templates and none of them suits you, or if the platform in question does not allow you to program a design via an available editor.

Every website is based on a certain technical CMS or store platform. At first glance, everything looks the same, but the main difference is hidden, i.e. in the program code. That's why moving websites from one platform to another is not as easy as copy/paste.

The redesign of the pages sometimes requires a new platform

If the existing features of the website are not adapted to the new platform, the website will lose importance in the eyes of Google, half of the online features will not work and the worst - most online guests will not be able to find you. This means a drop in Google search engine position, less online traffic and lower revenue.

Regardless of the ability to change, Google will have to re-evaluate the entire website, because after all, it is a new design and new online content. Therefore, it is quite normal to expect a small drop in online traffic over a 2-3 week period.

If the online traffic drops from week to week and doesn't stop, it is very likely that there is a mistake due to which Google can't do its job until the end.

URL redirections have to work

One of the most important tasks when redesigning a website is redirecting URLs that redirect users to a new and improved page, and instructing Google to monitor and rank the new page instead of the old one from now on. A few things to keep in mind:

• When redesigning a website, 301 redirects should always be set up
• 301 redirects should not only redirect to the home page

And what happens when 301 redirects are not implemented? Then Google accuses online visitors of 404 pages, i.e. the phrase "Oops, page not found" pleases no one, resulting in lower online traffic and a loss of rank in the Google search engine.

Reduce the risk of a decline in online traffic

All important website data such as images, downloads, user accounts, purchase history and reports should be backed up.

If you change platform or redesign a page, there is a good chance that some URLs will change, so a detailed SEO analysis is required. For example, if the URL changes later, it is very easy to 301 redirect to the appropriate page.

Clients are advised to analyze all pages of the website and record the pages with the most visitors or conversions. Google analytics will show you which pages are visited the most, which landing pages are the most effective and which pages have the most external links (someone has linked to your online content). This is how a new website is designed without losing authority and position in the Google search engine.

Once all the data is in the new CMS system, the design process begins. The duration of this process depends on the size of the website, the amount of software customization of key elements and the complexity of the website itself.

After the redesign is complete, it is likely that several rounds of testing will be run to successfully complete the other changes. This phase, of course, includes testing that may take several days to weeks, as the new website should be thoroughly tested to ensure that it displays correctly on all browsers and electronic devices.

Companies that want to be on the safe side should therefore definitely have a professional agency take care of the relaunch, working as holistically as possible and keeping an eye on SEO aspects in addition to design and technology. After all, many years of experience with as many use cases as possible play a decisive role when accompanying website relaunches. We stand by your side as a reliable partner throughout the entire relaunch process!

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