How to Redesign a Website Without losing SEO?

If you redesign your website, will it impact your SEO?

The answer is yes.

You can redesign a website without losing SEO. Take the right steps to keep Google from getting confused. Protect months of hard work on your search rankings.

Why would a company choose to redo their website when it risks their website's redesign SEO? When we talk about website redesign, we mean changing the look and feel (the design). 

Here are some good reasons to update your site's look:

• Your current design looks outdated
• Users struggle to find what they need
• The site doesn't work well on mobile
• Your brand has changed direction
• Your site loads too slowly
• You need better conversion rates

Now let's talk about how to redesign a website without losing your SEO. A good plan keeps your rankings safe during and after the redesign.

I've worked on over 50 website redesign SEO projects. I kept SEO rankings stable for every single one.

I've gathered years of knowledge into this step by step guide. Follow these SEO for website redesign best practices. Redo your website without fear of ruining your rankings.

Redesign Website Without Losing SEO for 2026

Let's get started.

Don't want to read the whole article? Skip to the end and download my 27-point website redesign checklist.

Step 1: Create a Staging Site First

Never start redesigning your live site. It will hurt the user experience for visitors. You also risk your entire website crashing.

Create a copy of your live website instead. Set up a staging site where you can manage the entire redesign. Handle content work and testing there. Switch to the live site with the new one when ready.

Keep the staging site away from Google and the public. You can do this in several ways.

Method A

This method only works for WordPress sites.

Go to WordPress settings. Click Discussion. Uncheck Search Engine Visibility. Save changes.

Method B

Add this code to your robots.txt file in the root:

User-agent: 
*Disallow: /

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Note: Remove these changes before you launch the redesigned website.

Step 2: Focus on User Experience

Now go ahead and work on the SEO website redesign. Your online business relies on the kind of experience users have on your site.

Just like your written content, design your website with users in mind. Make sure your site is easy to use. Check that it works great on mobile devices.

A good user experience helps your SEO. It's that simple.

Step 3: Map Your URLs

You might change the URL structure of web pages during the redesign. If you change URLs, tell search engines about it.

Not doing this will hurt your domain authority. It will drop your organic rankings. You'll lose organic traffic.

How do you handle this?

First, list all URLs on your old live website. Save your sitemap as a text file. WordPress users can use the Yoast plugin to download the latest sitemap.

Next, create a list of page names, titles, and URLs for the new website too.

Make a spreadsheet with these columns:

• Old URL
• Page name
• New URL
• Page title

This list becomes your safety net.

Step 4: Update Meta Tags

Check the page title and meta description of all pages on the new site. Do this before you go live.

Only update meta descriptions if you're changing the content. Make sure they match the new content on each page.

Step 5: Set Up 301 Redirects

You'll probably change the URL structure during a website redesign for SEO. Some or all URLs might change.

For example, your old about us page looked like this:

"yourdomain.com/aboutus.php"

With the redesign, you can change it to:

"yourdomain.com/about-us"

Use a 301 redirect code to tell search engines that these pages are the same. This Webflow 301 redirect tells the search engines that your about us page has changed URLs. Traffic from your old page goes to the new one.

Adding a 301 redirect also saves all bookmarks and social media links. They'll redirect to the new website. You won't lose any backlinks.

Remember the URL list from step 3? Use that list now. Add the new URLs to each page.

WordPress users can add the redirect code to the .htaccess file. This file sits in the root of your website.

Your 301 redirect code looks like this:

Redirected from 301 /aboutus.php https://yourdomain.com/about-us

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For the old URL, type just the page name. For the new URL, type the full path.

Step 6: Fix Broken Links

Check the website for broken links after adding 301 redirects. You'll probably find a few broken links in your CSS or JavaScript.

Broken links might not hurt your SEO right now. But they will later.

Find and fix broken links before you publish. Use tools like Screaming Frog or Google Search Console.

Step 7: Proofread Everything

Nothing turns people off like spelling and grammar errors. They ruin the reading experience. They leave a bad mark on your brand.

Read all the content on the website at least once before going live. Get rid of all mistakes.

Check that header and subheader tags are correct (H1, H2, H3, etc). Make sure SEO keywords are placed correctly as well.

Step 8: Verify Tracking Codes

SEO is a guessing game without tracking codes. They give you exact data on what happens with your website. Plus the why and how.

One key part of the website redesign SEO checklist is making sure all tracking codes still work. Before you launch, check that all codes are in the <head> of your website. Test that they work properly.

Check the tracking, goals, and event tracking from these dashboards:

• Google Analytics
• Facebook Pixel
• Google Ads
• Any other tools you use

Step 9: Run a Full SEO Audit

Time to run a full SEO check. Cover both on-page and off-page parts.

Use my advanced SEO checklist to help with this. It covers everything that impacts your search rankings. Plus a few tricks of my own. An SEO consultant can help you create a custom checklist.

Review these basics:

• Title tags and headers
• Image alt text
• Internal links
• Page speed
• Mobile friendliness
• Schema markup
• Content quality

Step 10: Launch Your New Site

You're done with the content changes and design updates. You checked that all the code and tags are in place. Time to hit the publish button. Switch the old website with the new one.

Step 11: Submit Your New Sitemap

Your old sitemap might not have all the details of your new website. The last step is to send your XML sitemap to search engines again.

Submit to these places:

• Google Search Console
• Bing Webmaster Tools
• Yahoo
• Other search engines you track

This tells search engines to crawl and index your redesigned website. The change won't hurt your rankings.

Step 12: Monitor Your Rankings

Here comes the hard part. Track and watch how the redesign impacts your rankings. I recommend having a tracking system ready before and after you redesign.

Some people track changes by hand. They write down the ranking positions for different keywords. Others use ranking tools like SEMrush.

Watch for major positive or negative changes in rankings. Expect heavy ups and downs for the first few days after publishing.

Don't get too excited about sudden traffic jumps. Don't get too upset about quick ranking drops. Just like SEO takes time, wait a few weeks before taking action on pages that aren't doing well.

Keep monitoring your website for at least two to three months.

Check Your Bounce Rate

Look at your bounce rate before and after the redesign. A higher rate means users don't like something. They're leaving fast.

If you see an increase, pay attention. You need to improve user engagement.

Handle Content Changes Carefully

Making major content changes during redesign might hurt rankings. To tell apart design and content effects, limit the first changes to design parts only.

Watch rankings after launch. Then adjust the content later.

Focus on User Experience During Testing

Put user experience first during redesign. A friendly interface matters most.

Run tests before launch. Ask friends for feedback on the new design. Make sure people have a good experience.

Don't Worry About Social Media Counts

Changing URLs during redesign might reset social media counts. You might lose likes and tweets at first. Don't panic.

Over time, social networks will recognize 301 redirects. Your social media votes will transfer to the new pages.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Redesigning a website is tricky. You might see a short drop in traffic. But you can prevent long-term problems by avoiding these mistakes.

Mistake 1: Designing Without SEO Input

Don't focus only on design at first. Get an SEO expert involved from the start. Plan things like URL structure and redirects early. This cuts down on traffic loss.

Mistake 2: Changing URLs Without Reason

Avoid changing web addresses unless you really must. Google takes time to understand new content.

If you must change URLs, do it carefully. This is extra important when moving to a new system.

Mistake 3: Redirecting Everything to the Homepage

When removing pages, don't redirect them all to the home page. Each page has earned authority and ranking in Google's view. Redirecting to the home page means losing these benefits.

Instead, redirect page by page. Send each old page to the most similar new page.

Mistake 4: Forgetting Important Pages

You need to focus on key web pages. Don't overlook high-converting forms and popular blog posts. Missing these pages during redesign means losing SEO benefits.

Create a clear spreadsheet. List these important URLs:

• High-traffic blog posts
• Pages with good conversion rates
• Pages with strong backlinks
• Top-ranking pages

This will make sure you map redirects correctly.

Download the Website Redesign SEO Checklist

As promised, here's my easy to use checklist. It will help you revamp your website without hurting SEO rankings.

Download the 27-point website design checklist now.

Final Thoughts

There's no easy way to redesign your website. It's a complex process. You're rebuilding your website inside and out.

A redesign might just mean adding a new logo. Or reshuffling the menu. Or changing the page design. These changes will impact SEO a little bit.

Changing all the content on your website will affect SEO more. The project might also involve adding new pages or removing old ones. Changing URL structures has an even bigger effect on rankings. That's why you must follow the required steps. Create a new sitemap and submit it to Google.

Once you finish redesigning and publishing, monitor results for the next few months.

Expect major swings in the first few weeks. If rankings keep dropping, look at the design and content again. Make it more SEO friendly.

The process is tough. But your rankings won't drop if you follow this guide closely. Making your website work faster and be mobile-friendly will improve rankings over time.

When you redesign your website, use this guide to get maximum SEO benefit.

All right, that's it.

FAQ

1. Why maintain SEO during a website redesign?

Keeping SEO efforts strong during a redesign stops drops in search rankings and organic traffic. You've worked hard to build those rankings. Don't throw them away.

2. What steps ensure a smooth transition?

The post covers steps for a smooth move. This includes URL structure, redirects, and keeping content safe.

3. When can you modify URL structures?

The guide explores when and how businesses can change URL structures. The key is doing it while reducing SEO impact.

4. Which pages should you prioritize?

Focus on key web pages. Give attention to high converting forms, high traffic blog posts, and other critical pages for SEO success.

5. How do 301 redirects help?

Using 301 redirects is crucial for keeping SEO value. The post guides you on using redirects correctly. This ensures a smooth user experience.