Redesigning your website without losing your Google rankings

Before you touch anything: take an inventory

Your old website has pages that Google knows about, and some of them bring in visits. Before you redesign it, make a list:

• Every page, taken from the sitemap or from a tool that crawls the site.
• The ones that bring visits: in Search Console, under Performance, you can see pages and searches from the last few months.
• Links from other websites, which point to specific pages.
• Everywhere your website address appears: Google Business Profile, social media, business cards, listing sites.

Keep the page addresses, or redirect them

The most important rule: every old page that matters must keep working. If the address stays the same, perfect. If it changes, you need a permanent redirect, the “301”, from the old page to the new one that covers the same thing.

The classic mistake is sending all the old pages to the home page: to Google, it's as if those pages had vanished, and the history they had is lost.

If you change the domain too

It can be done, but it's the most delicate step. You need 301 redirects from every page on the old domain to the matching page on the new one, Search Console's “Change of address” tool, and the old domain has to stay active, with its redirects, for as long as possible: Google recommends at least a year. If the old domain wasn't registered to you, get it back before you start: we explain how in the guide on domain and email.

The day you switch over: the checklist

1. No “noindex” left over from the test version. It's the most common mistake: the new site goes live, but it tells Google not to show it.
2. The robots.txt file doesn't block the pages.
3. The new sitemap submitted in Search Console.
4. Every 301 redirect tested, one by one, from your phone.
5. HTTPS working, and the versions with and without “www” leading to the same address.
6. Forms, call buttons and WhatsApp buttons properly tested, with a test message.
7. Speed on your phone, off Wi-Fi.

The first few weeks

Some ups and downs in the rankings are normal while Google re-reads your site. In the first weeks, check Search Console for pages not found (404 errors) and add any redirects that are missing. Update the address wherever it appears: Google Business Profile, Instagram, Facebook, listing sites.

The mistakes that cost the most

• Throwing away useful text because “the new site has to be minimal”.
• Changing all the addresses with no redirects.
• Huge images that slow everything down.
• Redesigning the website and renaming the business on the same day, for no reason.

Redesigning a website is like moving a shop: customers only find you again if you leave a sign with the new address.

When we redesign an existing website, we do the inventory, the redirects and the checks ourselves. If you'd like an opinion on yours, send us the address: we'll take a look before we reply.

Further reading

• Getting found on Google as a local business
• Website: 10 questions to ask before you sign
• How much does a website cost in 2026?