In a constantly evolving digital world, a website redesign is often necessary to maintain an effective and competitive online presence. In the case of a website redesign, SEO should play an important role. Too many companies are satisfied with a simple graphic redesign while neglecting the SEO approach.

SEO, which aims to optimize the visibility of a website on search engines, must be taken into account from the beginning of the redesign project. The goal? Prevent the loss of ranking in search results, maintain and boost Internet traffic to ensure the continued online success of the company. The redesign of a site generally allows a complete new exploration by Google crawlers, so it would be a shame not to take advantage of this moment to better build your site and offer more material to Google. 

What is a website redesign?

A website redesign is a process of modifying all the components of a website. This often involves changing the Content Management System (CMS), modifying or even designing a new aesthetic and optimizing the functionality and usability of the site to make it more attractive and easy to navigate for visitors. 

Redesigning a site is also an opportunity to update the content to make it more relevant and engaging, and to improve the technical performance of the site for better indexing by search engines. 

A website redesign therefore aims to modernize the company’s image, improve the user experience and optimize the site’s positioning on search engines like Google. Do not underestimate the importance of this approach, and the role of SEO optimizations within this approach, because it is by carrying out an adequate and quality redesign that your website will be able to stand out, attract and retain a targeted audience, while meeting the constantly evolving requirements of online search criteria.

Keep in mind that a qualitative overhaul must allow you to maintain the positions acquired on the search results. Although drops in positioning are inevitable, a migration, carried out according to the rules of the art, must allow you to keep the vast majority of the ranking acquired. SERP movements will be inevitable, but will also bring you their share of good surprises!

When to do a website redesign?

Are you wondering if a redesign is necessary? Or if SEO optimizations can suffice? There are some signals that may indicate that it is time to thoroughly review the architecture and/or design of your website . A website redesign should be considered in the following cases:

• Old design

Is your current site design outdated? This can harm your brand image and user experience. A redesign can then be useful to refresh your site. However, this one-sided approach neglects SEO.

• Bad SEO results 

If your website is not achieving the expected results on search engines (poor positioning, decreasing traffic, low conversion rate, etc.), an SEO-focused redesign could help you optimize your visibility. You can then take advantage of the SEO-focused redesign to add the graphic layer.

• Poor web performance 

A slow website can frustrate users and hurt your search engine rankings. If you notice web performance issues, consider a technical overhaul of your site. The real impact of poor web performance on your website’s rankings is, however, difficult to assess. You can, however, be certain that poor web performance will impact your business performance, as users generally prefer to visit a healthier site.

A rigorous performance analysis using a free webperf tool is therefore a first step to take. These tools allow you to evaluate the loading speed of pages, the responsiveness or even the visual stability of the pages. Such an analysis is essential to define the areas requiring improvement during the redesign, and to ensure an optimal user experience.

• Technical problems

Broken links, a complex menu structure, an unsecured or non-mobile friendly site are all red flags. 

• Change of strategic direction 

If your current site no longer fits your business or responds to the marketing strategy you want to implement, whether in terms of business objectives, target or brand positioning, a site redesign then becomes necessary. 

Implementing a website redesign should be considered a long-term project requiring technical and web marketing expertise to ensure its success.

How to successfully redesign a website?

A website redesign can be a complex operation that requires careful preparation to ensure its success. The redesign must be considered as a global project, which is not limited to a purely graphic or technical aspect, but also includes strategic thinking on business objectives, the user journey and SEO positioning . 

ANALYZE WHAT ALREADY EXISTS CAREFULLY

The first step to successfully redesigning your site is to audit your existing site . This detailed analysis allows you to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your current interface, its technical, ergonomic or SEO issues. The goal is to define what needs to be kept, improved or deleted. It is advisable to carry out a competitive benchmark to measure the level of performance of your site compared to other players in the market. This audit is essential because it allows you to define the objectives of your new site precisely and to lay the foundations for suitable specifications .

PROPERLY BUILD THE STRUCTURE OF THE FUTURE SITE

It is essential to consider the tree structure of your future site . A clear and well-thought-out structure is essential for a good user experience and to optimize your natural referencing. Consider using SEO elements such as breadcrumbs to facilitate user navigation and internal meshing to strengthen the visibility of your pages. Don’t forget to optimize your SEO texts by integrating targeted keywords in a natural way.

TAKE STOCK OF EXISTING AND NEW CONTENT

When redesigning your site, it is wise to evaluate your existing content and classify it: keep the pages that perform well, merge the ones that perform less well and delete the ones that are obsolete or rarely consulted. This is also the ideal time to consider new page creations . Defining a content strategy (editorial calendar, charter, themes to be covered) allows you to supply your site with fresh and relevant content for your users, while strengthening your natural referencing. You will then have to quantify the creation of pages by type (e-commerce listing, blog articles, editorial pages, etc.). 

CHOOSING THE DESIGN OF THE NEW SITE

The design of your new site must be thought out to be consistent with your brand identity and your objectives. It must also promote the user experience. A mock-up of the site must be created and user tests conducted. These tests are crucial to obtain concrete and objective feedback before the launch in order to be able to make the necessary adjustments. It is possible to call on an external service provider for the development of sites. 

TRACK SITE MIGRATION

Once the design is finalized, it is time to move on to the technical implementation of your new site. It is best to test it on a pre-production version before putting it online, in order to correct any problems encountered. Once the site is online , it is essential to re-analyze it to check that everything is in line with your expectations and the objectives set. This will allow you to quickly correct any inconveniences for an optimized user experience. 

In short, the success of a website redesign covers a spectrum of interconnected actions where the technical, strategic and creative aspects reinforce each other for an optimized final result.