Website relaunch without losing rankings: a checklist

Before the relaunch: inventory and plan

The most important work happens before the new website goes live. Google names mapping old addresses to new ones as the key step in any site move.

1. List all old URLs: pages, PDFs and images, for example from the old sitemap, with a crawler or from Search Console.
2. Flag important pages: which pages bring in visits, enquiries or links from other websites? Start with these.
3. Plan the new structure: decide on the matching new page for every old address.
4. Back up the old website: make a full backup before anything gets switched over.

Record the result in a simple table: old URL, new URL, status. Later on, this list is the basis for your redirects and for testing before go-live.

If you're moving from a website builder to WordPress, our guide WordPress or website builder will help you decide.

301 redirects for every old address

Every old URL permanently redirects to its new equivalent. Google recommends server-side, permanent redirects such as 301 or 308. According to Google, redirects like these have no negative effect on PageRank. Here's what the list might look like for a joinery in Kriens:

Three rules from Google's guidelines:

• Redirect straight to the final destination, with no chains of several hops.
• Pages with no new equivalent cleanly return a 404 or 410 error code.
• Keep redirects for as long as possible, at least a year.

Carry over content, titles and descriptions

If something ranks on Google today, there's a reason: content that answers questions. Cut texts heavily or drop whole pages during a relaunch and you put exactly those rankings at risk. Carry over the content of pages that perform well and improve it, rather than replacing it.

The same goes for page titles and meta descriptions. Google recommends a unique, descriptive title and description for every page. Keep titles that have proven themselves and rewrite the weak ones. Images count too: take file names and alt texts that work today with you.

Then there are the technical signals: every new page points to itself with a canonical tag, and the SEO basics such as headings and structured data are right from the start.

Testing before go-live

1. The new website is built in a test environment that's blocked for search engines. The old one stays online in the meantime.
2. Test the redirects: individually with the URL Inspection tool in Search Console, and the whole list with a crawler.
3. Switch internal links to the new addresses, so the website itself doesn't run through redirects.
4. Set up tracking: web analytics, goals such as form enquiries and, where needed, the cookie notice.
5. Check forms, the mobile view and loading time.
6. Remove any blocks left over from development, such as noindex or a blocking robots.txt.
7. Pick a time with little traffic. Google recommends this so that any errors have less impact.

After go-live: submit and monitor

Submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console. To do this, open the ‘Sitemaps’ report, enter the address of your sitemap and click ‘Submit’. If your domain is changing as well, also report the move with the Change of Address tool. You don't need that for new paths on the same domain or for switching from http to https.

Also update the links you control yourself: your Google Business Profile, social media profiles, directories and ad campaigns. After that, keep an eye on these for a few weeks:

• the Sitemaps report: how many of the submitted URLs are indexed?
• the Page indexing report: are any errors or excluded pages showing up?
• search queries and clicks compared with the old website,
• your web analytics: are enquiries still coming in through the forms?

According to Google, ranking fluctuations are normal during a site move. For medium-sized websites, it takes a few weeks or longer for Google to show the new addresses instead of the old ones. You can see how we handle a relaunch on our Website relaunch page.

Common mistakes that cost rankings

• Deleting pages without a redirect: visitors land on an error page, and Google can't find the connection to the new page.
• Forgetting images and PDFs: Google explicitly lists images and videos as part of the mapping too.
• Leaving the test-phase block in place: a forgotten noindex keeps your entire new website out of the search results.
• Overlooking email when changing domain: if the mail records at the new provider aren't right, emails stop arriving.
• Relaxing too soon: according to Google, the move is only complete once Googlebot has visited every old and new address at least once. There's no fixed timeframe for this.

Sources

• Google Search Central: Site moves with URL changes
• Google Search Central: Title links in Google Search
• Google Search Central: SEO Starter Guide
• Search Console Help: Manage your sitemaps using the Sitemaps report

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