Rebranding your website can seem like a huge undertaking. This is especially the case if you are thinking about how all of these changes could possibly affect your rankings in the search engines. You would hate to create an awesome website only to find that you lose most of your traffic just because you changed the name of your business. Luckily, you don’t have to fear a decrease in your rankings. You can avoid it if you do your research and know which strategies to use. Here are a few tips that you should keep in mind when rebranding your website.
1. Keep Your Domain Name
If you want to keep your rebranding simple and do as little damage to your rankings as possible, then you need to hold on to your original brand name. Unfortunately, this is not always possible r every business. In fact, in some cases, a name change could be just what you need in order to take your business to the next level.
However, if you must change your domain name, keep in mind that this could have a big impact on your rankings. It’s inevitably the price that you will have to pay in order to get a fresh start. So ultimately, if a name change can be avoided, then do your best to keep your original domain name.
2. Keep Your Existing Content (When Possible)
So, you have decided that a name change is not optional and that your domain name must change in order to take your brand to new levels. While you may not be able to salvage all of the traffic that came from your domain name, you can save the content that people associate with your site. When rebranding your website, you need to keep as much of your old content as possible. Even if you do need to change the content, try to replicate as much of it as you can.
The benefit is that you will actually be able to maintain some of your authority and authorship. And this can ensure that your rankings remain as high as possible. And pay attention to the small things, such as your headers and fonts as these things can have an impact.
3. Hold On to Your Old Site (At Least For a While)
When it comes to determining how long one should hold on to their old site, there are a lot of different opinions out there. Some branding agencies suggest that business owners leave their old website up for a few days, while others suggest that it be left up permanently. In this case, you will have to decide which option best suits your goals and time constraints.
If you leave your old site up permanently you will be required to do a little maintenance. And this means that you will need to revisit your site from time to time. This may also help you to ensure that you’re able to keep the URL.
There is one thing that the experts seem to agree on, however. Most say that you should not take your old site down immediately after launching your new one. And this is because it can take days for the servers to recognise your new IP address. So it’s better to leave it up for at least 3-7 days after you have launched the new one just to be on the safe side.
4. Hold on to the Same URL Structure
One of the most important parts of your rebranding will be ensuring that your new website has the same URL structure as the old one. Your URL structure acts as the building blocks for your website. And when your old and new structure match, it makes the transfer seamless.
5. Use Redirects Correctly
If you want to optimise user experience, then you need to make good use of redirects. All of your older pages must be redirected to the corresponding new pages. How simple this is will depend on the structure of your URL. You can make things less complicated by keeping the exact same URL structure and website pages.
If your new website does not have the same structure as your old one, then this will makes things a bit more challenging. You won’t be able to redirect your old pages to the exact same pages on the new site. Instead, you will need to redirect them to the pages that are the most relevant. It’s a good idea to create a spreadsheet that contains all of the URLs for your old site in one column and all of the URLs for your new site in another. Of course, this will be time-consuming, so you need to prioritise and start with the pages that are generating the most traffic.
6. Let People Know Your Brand Has Changed
When rebranding your website, you need to make sure that you let as many people know as possible. This means that you need to take the time to update your social sites. How complicated this is will depend on the platform on which you’re making the changes.
Just remember that Facebook will only allow you to change your page’s URL and name one time. So make sure that you are sure about the change. When it comes to Twitter, keep in mind that there are some cases in which someone may have the name, however, it may be inactive. You can try reaching out to them to find out if they will let you take over the account name. Unfortunately, Twitter can be slow to deactivate these accounts. Changing your name on LinkedIn is pretty straightforward unless someone already has the name. If someone already has, then consider altering the name a bit. In order to change your URL, get in direct contact with LinkedIn.
You should also spread the word through email announcements, press releases, online advertising, and guest posts. Make sure that you monitor your rankings and traffic so that you’ll know if your promotion is actually working.
7. Remember Mobile
With Google changing er to mobile first, it’s even more important to focus on your mobile promotion when rebranding. It’s crucial that your new pages are mobile friendly. They need to be easy to access as well as read.
Take into account how much your site is getting from mobile devices. If most of your audience is using a mobile device to access your site, then you may want to consider launching your mobile website first. If it’s not, then it’s okay to concentrate on your main website first.
The Takeaway
Revamping your brand can be an exciting adventure. It’s the chance to give your audience a fresh take on your business and breath new life into your company. However, when rebranding your website, there are several things that you need to consider before diving.
You should first consider the necessity of changing your domain name. You must consider how long your old website will remain active. You should think about how you will preserve your content and your URL structure. You should make sure that you have a redirect marketing strategy. Singapore business owners should also be prepared to promote their new website and ensure that it is accessible on mobile
