Is your company currently going through a website redesign? Is there one scheduled in the near future? Regardless of which camp you are in, content and technical SEO will be a critical piece of the puzzle, and for this process to run smoothly, a good relationship between your IT and marketing teams is crucial.
Earlier this month, eMarketer published the article “Can’t Marketing and IT Just Get Along?” based on a study conducted by Harvey Nash and KPMG in April 2015. The article outlined the relationship between CMOs and IT teams when they collaborate on business goals; CMOs tend to shape overarching goals and the IT teams build tools to support those goals. The article stressed the importance of clear communication and collaboration between marketing and IT teams as they work toward the same goals.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR WEBSITE REDESIGNS?
Over the past several months, the search engines appear to be coming down harder on redesigned websites than in the past. This makes it even more important to have a technical SEO plan in place during website redesign, and for all parties to implement that plan to the letter. The benefits of properly configured technical recommendations cannot be understated; healthy websites are easily indexed by search engines, which in turn helps to drive more traffic to your website, minimize potential technical problems, and reinforce the search equity earned from your previous website into your newly-launched one.
As a digital marketing agency with search at our core, we are frequently called upon to assist with website redesigns. We work with the marketing and IT teams within a client’s organization, as well as any number of partner agencies that may be assisting with design, UX, and creative. The guidance and recommendations we provide are intended to help our clients maintain, and ultimately, improve their search equities.
SEO FOR WEBSITE REDESIGNS
Here are four key ways we can leverage SEO in support of a website redesign:
- Create technical SEO requirements and content recommendations designed to mitigate the inevitable loss of organic website traffic that comes with launching a new website.
- Review wireframes to avoid any navigational traps that might impede the search engine’s ability to completely index a website.
- Recommend a strategy for redirecting important webpages from the old website to the new one.
- Provide regular checks and balances along the road to website launch: not sure if your URL structure is search-friendly? Need an extra set of eyes to review your content? Want to confirm your Analytics profile is configured accurately? We will apply SEO best practices to these questions any more to support the entire redesign process.
It is essential that all parties working on a website redesign – whether internal client teams or external agency partners – recognize that everyone shares a common goal: launching an effective, indexable, engaging new website that will help the client realize their business goals and provide a positive ROI. Establishing a clear and open communication pattern early in the redesign process will go a long way to ensure success for the client.
