Website Redesign, When You Need One and How to Keep Your Rankings

In short

Key takeaways on website redesign and SEO

• A website redesign affects SEO because Google reads a page's address, content, headings and internal links, and a redesign usually changes several of them at once.
• Most small business websites earn their rankings from a few pages, such as a solicitor's practice area pages or a dentist's treatment pages. Those are the pages to list before any design work starts.
• Google's own guidance says permanent redirects do not lose link credit, and it advises keeping them in place for at least a year.
• A redesign on the same domain needs no Change of Address request in Search Console. That tool is only for a move to a different domain.
• Rankings often move for a few weeks after launch while Google reads the new site. Google describes this as normal.
• A regulated business has details its website must show, and a new page template can leave them out without anyone noticing.

A website redesign replaces the design and structure of a site you already have, and often the system it is built on. For a small business it is usually the right decision when the site looks older than the business or has stopped bringing in enquiries. There is one risk to plan for. Pages that Google has ranked for years can lose their positions when their addresses or their content change.

I design and build websites for small UK businesses, and I offer website redesign services for firms that already have a site. This guide first helps you decide whether your site needs a redesign, a smaller refresh or no change at all. It then explains how to keep your Google rankings through the change, using Google's own documentation as the source wherever Google has said something on the subject. The technical steps are for whoever builds the site, and knowing what they are lets you ask for them.

How to tell if your website needs a redesign

A website needs a redesign when its problems come from the design, the structure or the system it is built on, and editing individual pages will not fix them. These are the signs I look for.

• The site looks older than the business. The design dates from an earlier stage, and a new client sees a firm that looks smaller or less established than it is.
• It is awkward to use on a phone. Text needs zooming, buttons sit too close together, or the menu hides the pages people want. Google indexes and ranks the mobile version of a site, so a poor phone layout affects search as well as visitors.
• You cannot change it yourself. Updating a fee or a team member's details means paying a developer or waiting for one.
• It is slow. Pages take long enough to load that visitors leave, and the Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console marks them as poor.
• Visitors arrive and do not get in touch. I have written separately about the five reasons a website stops bringing in enquiries, and when several of them apply at once the cause is usually the structure of the site.
• The business has changed. You have added services or opened a second office, and the site has no sensible place for them.
• The system it runs on has reached its limit. The site builder or theme cannot do what you now need, such as online booking or a separate page for each service. This is common with sites that were built as cheaply as possible, and I have explained why cheap websites cost more in the long run.

One sign on its own rarely justifies a redesign, and age is no reason by itself. There is no fixed interval after which a website must be redesigned. A site that is several years old and still brings in enquiries can be left alone.

Website refresh, redesign or rebuild, which one you need

The size of the job depends on where the problem sits. A website refresh changes how the site looks. A website redesign changes how it is organised, and a rebuild also moves it to a new system.

Each row down the table gives Google more to read again, so it needs more planning. If the first row describes your site, a redesign is a bigger job than the problem calls for, and I tell people so when that is the case.

Does a website redesign affect SEO

Yes. A website redesign affects SEO because it changes the things Google uses to understand and rank a page. The change can raise rankings as well as lower them. These are the parts of a site Google reads that a redesign usually touches.

• Google stores what it knows about a page against the page's address, which is also called its URL. A new address starts with none of that history unless a redirect connects it to the old one.
• The text, headings and page title tell Google what a page is about. If a ranking page loses the paragraphs that answered the search, it loses the reason it ranked.
• The links between your own pages show Google which pages matter. Google's guidance on links says every page you care about should have a link from at least one other page on your site.
• The layout of a page affects how Google reads it. Gary Illyes of Google explained on the Search Off the Record podcast that changing the HTML structure of a page can change what Google identifies as its main content, and that Google learns the new structure in time.
• Google indexes the phone version of each page. A design that hides text on small screens removes that text from what Google reads.
• Speed counts as well. Google says Core Web Vitals are used by its ranking systems, and the same page says it will still show the most relevant content when the page experience is poor.

A redesign that plans for these can keep its rankings. In the same podcast episode Illyes said of moving a site, "if you've done everything right, then technically, there shouldn't be any loss of traffic." Google's documentation on site moves adds that some movement is expected while it reads the new pages. In its words, "With any significant change to a site, you may experience ranking fluctuations while Google recrawls and reindexes your site."

How to redesign a website without losing SEO

To redesign a website without losing SEO, record which pages bring in searches before anything changes, keep their addresses and content where you can, redirect every address that does change, and check the result in Search Console after launch. The steps below follow the order of the work.

Record what the current site earns before the design starts

Open the Performance report in Google Search Console, choose the longest date range it offers and export the list of pages. The pages with clicks are the ones to protect. On a small business website there are usually only a few of them. For a law firm they tend to be the practice area pages, and for a dental practice the treatment pages. For an accountant they are the service pages, and for an electrician or a plumber they are the pages for each service and each area covered.

The list needs more than clicks. The Links report in Search Console shows which of your pages other websites link to. Your analytics, if it records form submissions, shows which pages people were on when they sent an enquiry. I make this list before I design anything, because it decides which pages must keep their address and their wording.

This is also the time to find out who holds the logins. A website depends on a domain name account, a hosting account, Search Console, analytics and usually a Google Business Profile. Businesses often discover during a redesign that a former supplier or employee holds one of them, and it is far easier to recover access before launch day than on it. Google's site move guide also reminds you to keep your Search Console verification file or tag in the new site, because Search Console access lapses without it.

Decide which pages to keep, merge or remove

Every page on the old site is either kept, merged or removed.

• A page with clicks or links is kept. It keeps its address if possible, and it keeps the substance of its content.
• Several thin pages on one subject are merged into a single stronger page. Google's guidance allows the old addresses to redirect to the new combined page.
• A page that nobody visits and nothing links to can be removed. It should then return a "not found" response, and Google stops using the address over time.

Keep page addresses where you can and redirect the ones that change

The safest address for a ranking page is the one it already has. Where the new system or the new structure forces a change, the old address needs a 301 redirect. A 301 redirect is an instruction from your server that a page has moved permanently to a new address. Visitors are taken to the new page without noticing, and Google treats the new address as the replacement for the old one.

Site owners often worry that a redirect loses some of the value of the links pointing at the old page. Google's guide answers that directly. It says, "Don't worry about link credit. 301 and other permanent redirects don't cause a loss in PageRank." PageRank is Google's name for the credit a page receives from links.

The list of old and new addresses is called a redirect map. For a small firm's website it is a short table. This is what part of one looks like for a law firm.

These rules from Google's guidance on redirects and site moves apply to every map.

• Send each old address to the page that replaces it. Google warns against redirecting many old addresses to the homepage, and says it may treat those addresses as missing pages.
• Redirect in one step. An old address that redirects to a second address, which then redirects to a third, is a chain, and Google's advice is to avoid chains.
• Include files as well as pages. PDFs and images have addresses too, and other sites may link to them.
• Leave the redirects in place. Google's wording is "Keep the redirects for as long as possible, generally at least 1 year", and it suggests keeping them indefinitely for the sake of visitors.

The links inside your own site should then be updated to point straight at the new addresses, so that nothing depends on a redirect to work.

Carry the content of ranking pages across

A new design changes how a page looks. The words on a ranking page are a separate decision, and for the pages on your list the decision should usually be to keep them. Bring across the page title, the main heading, the subheadings and the paragraphs that answer what people searched for. Improve the weak pages during a redesign, and leave the wording of ranking pages close to what it is.

New systems often reset the page title and the description that appear in Google's results, which can revert to a default when pages are recreated, so check them on every page from your list. Check the phone version too. Google's guidance on mobile indexing says, "Make sure that your mobile site contains the same content as your desktop site."

Build the new site where Google cannot index it

The old site stays online while the new one is built at a separate, temporary address. That temporary copy should be kept out of Google, or the same content will appear at two addresses. Google's documentation says a robots.txt file "is not a mechanism for keeping a web page out of Google" and names two methods that work, which are a noindex setting and password protection. A password is the safer of the two, because a noindex setting can be copied to the live site by mistake.

If a noindex setting was used, it has to come off when the site goes live. Google's site move guide says "Don't forget to remove any noindex or robots.txt blocks that were only needed for the migration." This is the mistake that removes a whole site from Google's results, and it is caused by one forgotten setting.

Check the new site on launch day

These checks take place as soon as the new site is live on your domain.

• Every address in the redirect map takes you to the right new page in one step.
• No page has a noindex setting, and the robots.txt file does not block the site.
• The new sitemap has been submitted in Search Console, and Search Console still shows the site as verified.
• Each enquiry form delivers its message to the right inbox, and phone numbers work when tapped on a phone.
• Analytics is recording visits in the same account as before, so the months before and after launch can be compared.
• The website link on your Google Business Profile opens a live page.
• Your email still sends and receives.

Website migration SEO, when the domain, host or system changes too

Website migration is the term for moving a site to a new system, a new hosting company or a new domain name. Many redesigns include one of these moves, and website migration SEO is the work of keeping rankings through it. What Google has to do is different in each case.

A change of system does not change rankings by itself. The risk comes from addresses, because each system has its own pattern for them, so a move between systems usually changes the address of every page. If you are leaving a site builder, find out early what it lets you export. My comparison of the main website platforms covers what you can take with you from each.

A change of hosting company keeps every address the same. Google's guide to moving hosts says it is normal to see a short fall in how often Google visits the site after the move, followed by a steady return. Email is the part most often overlooked. If your email runs through the same company as your website, moving the website can stop the email, so find out where your email is set up before anything moves.

A change of domain name is the largest move. Search Console has a Change of Address tool for it, and Google says you only need that tool when moving to a different domain or subdomain. A redesign that stays on the same domain does not use it. Law firms should also know that the SRA's digital badge is tied to the website address recorded in the firm's mySRA account, so a new domain needs updating there.

Google's site move guide advises doing these moves separately. It says, "Change only one thing at a time." Its example is a business that wants a new domain, a new system and a new layout, and its advice is to do them one after the other. For that reason I recommend keeping your domain name through a redesign and treating a change of domain as its own project once the new site has settled.

What a UK business website must still show after a redesign

A new design brings a new footer and new page templates, and details that the law or a regulator requires can be left behind in the old ones. Check the new site for whichever of these apply to you.

• A limited company's website must show the registered company name, the company number, the registered office address and the part of the UK where the company is registered. The rule is set out on gov.uk.
• Any site with an enquiry form collects personal data. The ICO says you must give people privacy information at the time you collect their personal data. Its guidance on cookies says you must tell people about the cookies you set and get consent for those that are not essential. A new site often sets different cookies from the old one, so the cookie notice needs checking against what the new site does.
• For law firms, the SRA Transparency Rules require the firm's SRA number and the SRA digital badge in a prominent place, the complaints procedure, and price information for the services the rules list. My law firm SEO guide explains how those pages also rank for fee searches.
• For dental practices, the GDC's guidance on advertising lists what a practice website must display. The list includes the practice address and contact details, the GDC's contact details or a link to its website, the complaints procedure, the date the website was last updated, and the qualification and GDC registration number of each dental professional named.
• A healthcare provider that has received a CQC rating must display it on its website, with a link to the CQC's own page for the service.
• For every business that serves the public, the Equality Act 2010 places a duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission's guidance lists websites among the services it covers. Colour contrast and forms that work with a keyboard are easier to get right in a new design than to correct afterwards.

What to expect from Google after launch

Expect rankings to move for a few weeks after a redesigned website goes live. Google's site move guide says "a small to medium-sized website can take a few weeks for most pages to move", and that this movement "is normal and a site's rankings will settle down over time." During that period you may see old addresses in the results, and positions that change by a few places in either direction.

Search Console tells you whether something is wrong. The Page indexing report lists pages Google could not index and gives a reason for each. After a redesign the reasons to look for are "Not found (404)", "Excluded by 'noindex' tag", "Blocked by robots.txt" and "Redirect error". The Performance report shows clicks for each page, and you can compare the pages on your list with the same pages before launch.

The pattern of a fall usually points to its cause. A fall on every page at once suggests a setting that covers the whole site, such as a noindex tag left on. A fall on a few pages suggests a problem with those pages, which is usually a missing redirect or content that did not come across. Both can be corrected, and the sooner they are found the less is lost. I check the pages on the list against their earlier positions once a new site is live.

Questions to ask whoever redesigns your website

Whoever builds the site does this work, and these questions tell you whether they plan to.

• Which of my pages rank on Google now, and what will happen to each of them?
• Will every address that changes be redirected to the page that replaces it?
• Does my current site stay online until I have approved the new one?
• Who will hold the domain name, the hosting and the Search Console account when the work is finished?
• Will my rankings be checked after launch?
• Will I be able to change text and prices on the new site myself?

A designer who plans for search has an answer to each of these before any design work starts.

Frequently asked questions about website redesign

Will I lose my Google rankings if I redesign my website?

You should not, as long as the pages that rank keep their addresses or are redirected, and their content comes across to the new site. Rankings can move for a few weeks while Google reads the new pages. Nobody can guarantee a position on Google, before a redesign or after one.

How often should a website be redesigned?

There is no fixed interval. A website needs a redesign when it has stopped doing its job, which usually shows as fewer enquiries or a site that is hard to use on a phone. A site that still brings in work can be left as it is, whatever its age.

Does changing hosting affect SEO?

A change of hosting keeps every address and every page the same, so it should not change rankings as long as the site stays available during the move. Google's guide to moving hosts says it may visit the site less often for a short time afterwards and then return to its usual rate.

How long does a website redesign take?

The build depends on the size of the site and how much of the content is new, so the timeline belongs in the proposal for your project. On Google's side, its documentation says most pages of a small or medium site take a few weeks to move to their new addresses in the results.

How much does a website redesign cost?

It depends mainly on the size of the site and on whether it moves to a new system. My guide to what a website costs in the UK sets out the market ranges for each way of getting a site built. A redesign is quoted for the individual site.

Planning your own website redesign

If your site shows several of the signs at the top of this guide, start with the list of pages that rank. It shows how much there is to protect, and it is the first thing any redesign should be planned around. I look at your current site and how it does on Google before we speak, so you are welcome to book a free discovery call and bring your questions, or send me a message through the contact form.

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