SEO and Your Website Redesign
We know search engine optimisation or SEO will catapult our website further than if we do not use the tools available. The idea of SEO is important, but the benefits do not matter as much as what you do. In other words we want you to know exactly how redesigning your website is important regarding the SEO tactics.
Search engines are literal. They do not work off of human emotion; therefore, you have to use the tools the search engines recognise even when you reform your site. The first thing you need to consider is whether or not you need a new URL for the site. Is your domain keyword savvy? Can a consumer find your site if they know the name or do not know the name? Did you know most consumers assume the site they want will have a company name in it? For example consider pet care. In the US Petsmart is very popular. What if someone thought the site should be www.petsmart.com? Would they be able to find it? The answer is yes. That company knows their domain name needs to reflect their company name. So if you sell photos for example and your company name is Ocean Photos, then you might consider www.oceanphotos.co.uk as your website. It tells the searcher you are selling underwater photos or photos of the ocean at the very least.
Now consider that you need to change your domain name for SEO reasons. You want to make it more applicable to a search. You don’t want to give up the website you have completely. You need to do a 301 redirect. The old domain may have been www.photos.co.uk. So from that old domain you have to redirect your new customers to the new site. In this practice you also want to make sure the search bots can get to your new site. This is why a 301redirect link is essential.
There are other methods of redesigning your site. For example, if you are only updating your content to refresh it for new eyes you still need to consider SEO. As SEO practices are changing you most likely need to update your content anyway. Keyword stuffing is no longer appropriate for content, so if your site is stuffed with bolded keywords over 5 times you definitely need to understand the new SEO. The new practices offer more words that relate to the keyword rather than the use of the keyword.