Before you launch (or even start working on) the new version of your website, you need to consider seven crucial elements. Sticking to the principles outlined in this article ensures your website’s rankings won’t drop overnight. Where should you start when it comes to redesigning your website?

Website architecture

Today, both users and Google bots prefer the straightforward pyramid scheme, where there is one main page that leads to main subpages (and then other subpages). The advantage of this model is that every subpage is linked to at least one other, so there are no orphan pages (this point is critical from the SEO perspective).

As a result, Google bots will be able to crawl through your website and easily understand its content and structure.

If SEO is one of your goals, don’t forget about the blog/resources section, where you will be able to regularly add new content.

RWD

This acronym stands for responsive web design. RWD is all about adjusting your website to the needs of mobile users. Mobile-friendly webpages work and look good on small screens. Today thankfully, the majority of available templates are mobile-friendly by default, so you don’t have to worry too much about that.

Still, there may be the need to adjust the mobile version of your website. Test your new website’s mobile-friendliness before launching it.

Optimised navigation

Here, of course, the menu plays the main role. But website navigation also comprises other questions, such as:

• Internal linking between subpages
• Grouping subpages into categories
• Connecting specific content with related sales pages (e.g., a blog post describing the benefits of SEO audit services should lead the reader directly to the landing page with the offer of such services)
• Adding a search engine to your website (essential in e-commerce), etc.

Make sure your new website is intuitive to use and easy to navigate when you’re redesigning your website.

Redirects map

Do you want to remove some subpages from your website, add new ones or change their addresses? If so, remember about redirects. If you do not redirect old/changed URLs to new ones, your users will see multiple 404 errors, which will seriously harm your website’s position on Google.

The best way to redirect users to new URLs is by using a 301 (permanent) redirect. What such a redirect does is it tells Google that a given URL is permanently moved to a different address, so all the traffic should be moved to it as well.

Metadata

Every piece of content comes with so-called metadata (i.e., data about data). It comprises such elements as:

• Title tag
• Meta description
• ALT attributes

These elements help Google bots understand what a given piece of content/subpage is about. Ensure every blog post, every product description and every subpage has metadata. It should be something you consider when you’re redesigning your website.

Sitemap

That’s one more tool enabling Google bots to understand what your website is about. It’s a small XML file in which you provide all the necessary information about pages, subpages, files, videos etc., that your website includes, as well as the description of the relationships between them.

You will find many free tools (e.g., WordPress plugins) enabling you to create such a file. Once it’s done, all you have to do is upload it to Google Search Console. Once you’ve finished redesigning your website, make sure you submit a new sitemap to google.

Core Web Vitals (CWVs)

These are one of the latest Google requirements for new websites, and should be considered when redesigning your website. We can call them pillars of page experience and Google performance. Core Web Vitals are based on your website’s:

• Loading time
• Responsiveness
• Visual stability

Right now, there are three basic CWVs:

• Largest Contentful Paint: It measures how long it takes for the largest piece of content to appear on the screen.
• First Input Delay: It measures how long it takes for your website to respond to the first interaction.
• Cumulative Layout Shift: It measures how visually stable your website is.

If that’s the first time you’re reading about this, don’t worry. There are three free and easy ways of verifying whether your website is CWV-compliant, when redesigning your website. You can use one of the following tools:

• Google Lighthouse
• PageSpeed Insights
• Google Search Console

In this post, we’ve gathered all the most important information about redesigning your website from the SEO perspective. But there’s more! Read the full version of this article to find out more: Website Redesign Checklist.

Finally, if this is overwhelming, consider hiring a front-end developer.