Will a website redesign hurt my Google ranking?

Where the damage comes from

Google remembers your site page by page, each with its own web address. When a redesign changes those addresses and nothing points the old ones to the new ones, visitors and Google land on a page that no longer exists. The history attached to the old address is lost.

A new look alone does not hurt you. Lost addresses, deleted pages and missing words do.

What Google says to do

Google's guidance for sites that change addresses is to use permanent redirects, from each old address to the matching new one. A redirect is an instruction that sends anyone arriving at the old address on to the new one. Google names the 301 and 308 kinds.

It also says to keep the redirects in place for as long as possible, generally at least one year, so Google can pass its information about each page to the new address.

And it says to expect some movement. How your pages show in search can shift for a while during a move, and Google calls that normal. For a medium sized site it can take a few weeks or more for Google to start showing the new addresses in place of the old ones.

A short list to protect your place

• Before anything changes, list every page on the current site, and note which ones get visits.
• Keep the same web address for a page wherever you can.
• Where an address has to change, give the designer the old and new pair and ask for a permanent redirect for each.
• Keep the useful words from pages that already attract visitors. Do not throw them out for a shorter, prettier version.
• Move the whole site in one go, not a few pages at a time.
• Afterward, click through the old addresses yourself to make sure they land somewhere sensible.

Watch it after launch

Google Search Console is a Google tool for site owners. It shows which pages appear in search and flags pages that cannot be found. Ask your designer to set it up before launch, in your name, so you have a before and after.

If a dip lasts more than a few weeks, the first thing to check is whether the redirects are working. A missing one is a common cause.

What nobody can promise

No designer can promise that you will rank higher after a redesign, so be careful of anyone who does. Rankings depend on many things Google does not publish. What a careful redesign can promise is that it will not throw away what you already have.

If you are weighing a rebuild, read how to redesign your website. To have us plan it so your addresses are protected, see our website redesign work, or get in touch.