How Can You Avoid Ranking Drops When Launching a New Website?
Consider this: you work for months to redesign your organization's website and proudly launch it to the world. Each page contains new content, graphics galore, and expert resources to delight your users. However, in the months following the launch of your new website, you notice that your Google rankings have dropped.
This is understandably a source of consternation and concern for tech marketers. Why would my rankings drop after we spent significant resources rebuilding a website, especially if it was rebuilt with the express purpose of prioritizing SEO? Rankings fluctuate between 5% and 10% on average after a website launch. Fortunately, while this can occur, it is less common if tech marketers use the strategies we discuss in this blog.
A New Website is Comparable to a New Home.
Please bear with us as we explain this analogy; we guarantee it will make sense. When you buy and move into a new home, you most likely do all three of these things. Each of these corresponds to the transition to a new website:
- Take a look at your existing furniture (i.e., move existing website content)
- Purchase new furniture (i.e., write new website content)
- Furniture should be given away (i.e., delete old website content)
Google is now like your next-door neighbour (let's call him Gabby) who has visited your home several times. Gabby is aware of the appearance of each of your rooms (i.e., pages) as well as the furniture (i.e., content) in each. So, when you move into your new home and invite Gabby over, he will need to adjust to your new layout, even if you have some of the same furniture. Did you give Gabby's favourite chair away? Did you purchase a new couch that proved difficult to transport up the stairs? Gabby would undoubtedly need to familiarize himself with your new home.
In essence, this is what Google does following the launch of a new website. Googlebot crawls your new website and compares it to the information in its index from your previous site. As Googlebot explores your new website, Google's algorithm begins to display pages for additional keywords in various positions, each generating a different level of click traffic. If you check in one week, your metrics may tell a completely different story than if you check in another week.
Reducing Post-Launch Volatility
Understanding the volatility of a website's rankings as Google adjusts to your additions, deletions, and other changes, tech marketers can take six steps to reduce the impact on rankings.
1. Redirect all deleted or different URLs pages.
When it comes to launching a new website, 301 redirects will be your best friend. If you change the URL of a page or remove old content, use a redirect to get your users (and Google!) to the right place. 301 redirects eliminate the possibility of 404 errors, which can harm your website's reputation with Google. Run an automated crawl of your website before launch to collect all URLs. Then, to ensure that none fall through the cracks, map them to the new pages on your website.
2. Begin revising content on your existing site as soon as possible.
Typically, tech marketers create new content for their website offline and then implement it just before launch. Instead, begin updating your existing site's content to give Google time to re-crawl and index everything. This way, when your new site goes live, it won't be completely devoid of content. Another thing to keep in mind is to avoid deleting content unless absolutely necessary. Instead of deleting outdated pages, choose to update them.
3. Avoid removing anything that provides good results.
A rich result is anything on a SERP that goes beyond the standard page listing. These are some examples:
- Article highlights
- Carousels
- Events
- FAQ
- Reviews
The addition of markup to your pages (particularly schema) is what allows you to appear in rich results. Because they appear at the top, rich results typically have higher engagement rates and drive more traffic to your site. If you have Schema markup on your current website, keep it on the new site. If you don't already have markup, adding some will give you more chances to appear on SERPs!
4. Immediately after launch, submit a new XML sitemap to Google.
Instead of leaving Gary to wander aimlessly around your new home, give him a tour to get a head start on what's new! Submit your new website's XML sitemap to Google immediately after launch using Google Search Console. The listing of all pages assists Google in highlighting the additions and deletions.
5. Ensure that your new site's SEO is improved.
As previously stated, when launching a new website, most tech marketers prioritize SEO. As a result, it's critical that your new site's SEO outperforms the old one. We don't just mean on-page content, title tags, and meta descriptions.
Does the new site work well on mobile devices? Do the pages load quickly on all devices? Is your URL structure and organization logical? These three items, along with a variety of others, must be taken into account before launching your new website. Any negative changes will have an impact on your rankings after the launch.
6. Make new content a priority in the coming months.
When it comes to your website content, Google does not appreciate "bait and switch" tactics! Make a plan to write and publish new content—blogs, case studies, and more—in the months following the launch of your new website to demonstrate to Google that your content marketing efforts are serious. Furthermore, creating more content provides you with more reasons to post on social media and launch paid advertising campaigns.
While most, if not all, websites will see volatile rankings in the months following a new website's launch, tech marketers can take proactive steps to mitigate the impact. We do have one more suggestion for you. Avoid focusing solely on the metrics found in Google Search Console when analyzing the impact of your new website's performance on Google. Check Google Analytics for the growth of organic search users quarter over quarter and year over year. Furthermore, an increase in qualified leads from the organic search may indicate that your website is appearing for the right queries for those users further down the funnel.
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