Some web redesign don’ts you should avoid for improving your SEO
We all know that web design always has an expiration date. No matter how good it is, at some point, you will always have to update, improve or complement it with new ideas. In fact, redesigning your website, more than routine work, may be the starting point of a fairly successful evolution, simply, the best thing that can happen to your digital image — as long as you implement the proper changes related to search engine optimization (SEO.) If the new design of your website conveys renewal, innovation, and modernity, then you do have a powerful branding tool. After all, your business’ website is the face you project to the world. For this reason, you should do everything as possible for the users to find it useful, practical, accessible, well-structured, attractive, quick to navigate, and fun (if applicable.)
In this post, we’ll talk about some don’ts that you should avoid when redesigning your website to achieve better search rankings on the most popular engines, such as Google, Yahoo or Bing.
So, the first thing you should consider is never starting a web redesign project without a plan to follow. The plan, in addition to being clear, must be somewhere between realistic and ambitious. Set clear goals: You can’t achieve everything, however, be risky. That’s the line you should walk on.
When you decide to redesign, it is important that you set the start date of the new website in the calendar. Always remember this basic principle: The website must work first, and then it should look good. Do not reverse that order. The main goals usually spin around attracting more traffic and increasing conversions. How do you get this? Simple: Through the production of quality content, links to social networks and the possibility that your content is easy to share in the social media.
Read also: Some still useful Link Building advice you should implement on your website, by ReputationDefender
Another detail you should avoid is, in fact, a fairly common amateur mistake. If you do not submit the map of your website to the search engines, you simply can’t guarantee that your site is included in the index of such search engines, as Ask, Google, Bing, or Yahoo. Those who forget to do this (or who deliberately do not do it,) often believe that there is always the possibility that the engines themselves find the web on their own (for example, through the constant work of Google’s spiders.) Well, no: If you do not send the map of your website to the search engines, that means, in the long run, that you are leaving the reins of your SEO at random. Spiders do not always find your website, and when they do, they do not always rank it as you would like it to be ranked for your users and potential customers to find it after typing a couple of keywords that lead to it. For this reason, it is best to send the sitemap directly to all search engines. The process is really simple and will not take you much time.
Another don’t you should not fail to consider is the fact that your website should be increasingly mobile-friendly. Look closely at your website from your smartphone: Does it take too long to load? Are some functions not useful? Is the website still aesthetically appropriate? Is it easy to navigate it, in general? Redesigning your website is a new opportunity to improve the user experience, so take advantage of it.
In addition to all of the above, a bad keyword optimization is a direct shot in the foot. Never forget that keyword research is one of the foundations of SEO positioning. Look for useful SEO tools to find the best keywords, such as Google keyword planner, which besides of being free, it allows you to download the list in an Excel file. On the other hand, you should always put yourself in the shoes of a user looking for information: What kind of questions would you ask a chatbot, like Apple’s Siri, to get to your website? Think about it.
Finally, if you do not do everything as possible so that the users who visit your website can easily share your content on the social media, you are losing SEO rankings. The sharing function on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and other social networks offers great versatility and positioning possibilities since it generates more links to the website and encourages conversations about the brand, your services, or products.
There is no such thing as a perfect SEO, as well as there are no perfect SEO techniques that will guarantee you the best search positions in the engines whatsoever. What you can be clear about is that if you do not strive to improve more and more after each web redesign, others will take the positions you have conquered in the past (if you did have them.)
SEO is a constant work. The study, patience, and trial and error are needed. Redesigning can be the turning point of your Internet business success or a dizzying drop.
Recommended: SEO website redesign checklist: don’t mess up your site traffic
