SEO and Website Redesigns: What to Do Before, During, and After

Before the Redesign: Set the Foundation

Audit Everything You Already Have

A redesign without a full SEO audit is like renovating a house without checking the foundation. You need to know what’s working and what’s quietly holding your rankings hostage.

Your pre-launch checklist should include:

  • A full crawl of your website
  • A list of all high-performing pages
  • Keyword performance
  • Traffic sources
  • Backlinks to key URLs
  • Site structure and internal links

This snapshot gives you the “before” picture so you don’t accidentally delete your strongest traffic drivers.

Map Out Redirects Early

Broken URLs tank rankings fast. You need a redirect plan before designers start reworking layouts or developers start coding. Every old URL should map to a new one intentionally.

Set Clear SEO and UX Goals

Design choices impact search performance. Make sure the entire team knows the goals upfront:

  • Faster load times
  • Better user flow
  • Cleaner navigation
  • More accessible content
  • Stronger conversion paths

When UX and SEO collaborate early, redesigns don’t just look better, they perform better.

During the Redesign: Build With SEO in Mind

Keep Your Site Architecture Clean

This is where many redesigns go off the rails. Changing navigation, deleting sections, or adding pages without SEO oversight can create chaos.

During the rebuild, verify:

  • No essential pages disappear
  • Important content stays accessible
  • Internal links still make sense
  • New design elements don’t hide critical information

Maintain On-Page SEO Essentials

Beautiful designs often strip out SEO basics like headers, alt text, metadata, and keyword-rich copy. Make sure content stays optimized as layouts shift.

Review Development Decisions

Every design upgrade should support performance, not slow it down. Check for:

  • Heavy scripts
  • Poorly compressed images
  • Fancy features that kill load times
  • Accessibility issues

Small dev choices can either boost ranking or drag everything down.

After the Redesign: Launch Without Losing Traffic

Run a Full Post-Launch Site Audit

Once the site goes live, don’t celebrate yet. This is when the real work starts. Run a crawl and confirm that:

  • Redirects work
  • Internal links point to the right places
  • Meta tags didn’t get wiped
  • No-index tags weren’t left on staging pages
  • Site speed is where it should be

Catching issues fast protects your rankings.

Monitor Traffic, Rankings & Conversions Closely

Expect small fluctuations after launch. What you don’t want is a weeks-long drop. Track performance daily, and fix issues quickly if they appear.

Continue Updating Content

A redesign creates momentum (so use it). Update cornerstone posts, add new landing pages, refresh blogs, and strengthen internal links while everything is already in motion.

The SEO Advantage: Redesigns Done Right Boost Performance

A strategic redesign modernizes your brand, improves user experience, and can even elevate your search rankings if executed properly. If this is done wrong, it’s an SEO disaster. But if it’s done correctly, It’s a fresh start with stronger visibility and better traffic.

Ready to Redesign Without Losing Your Rankings?

At Maltese Marketing, we specialize in SEO, and we also guide businesses through website redesigns without sacrificing organic performance. With a team of experienced writers, strategists, and SEO experts, Maltese Marketing ensures your content resonates with users and ranks in search engines.

When it comes to blending powerful SEO strategy with modern digital performance, look no further. Trust Maltese Marketing to elevate your digital presence.

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