Hey, Matt here!
Today we’re going into 9 steps to perform a complete website rebrand, and preserving SEO value.
Let’s start!
Table Of Contents
- Why Do A Website Rebranding?
- How To Perform A Complete Website Rebrand
- 1. Identify pages not performing well in Google Search Results
- 2. Make a backup of your old website
- 3. Keep URL structure the same (if possible)
- 4. Collect all URLs for the new domain (You can also redirect all URLs to the new domain)
- 5. Set up 301 redirects (From your old → new domain)
- 6. Remember to make seperate redirects for images and/or videos (If applicable)
- 7. Let Google know about the changes
- 8. Add your new domain to Bing Webmasters
- 9. Don’t rush things, update changes slowly. (Keep your old site running for a while)
- 10. Promote your rebrand on social media, email newsletters, or elsewhere
- Extra Tips for preserving SEO value
- Conclusion
Why Do A Website Rebranding?
Doing a rebrand for your personal or professional project can be a good choice.
But you should try to avoid it.
Getting it right the first time is the best choice of course.
However..
Sometimes you are forced to do a rebrand, or you might have other reasons.
It can be a fresh start.
Or sometimes you just want to go a different direction in life or in business.
So let’s start with the steps to do a successful rebrand without losing SEO value. (No guarantees ofcourse, each case is different.)
How To Perform A Complete Website Rebrand
10 Steps To Perform A Rebrand:
1. Identify pages not performing well in Google Search Results
Update the pages not performing well, this is a good chance to start fresh and with a high performing website!
(Optionally you can choose to exclude these pages on the rebrand)
2. Make a backup of your old website
For example, when using WordPress, you can use a plugin to make a full backup of your website.
3. Keep URL structure the same (if possible)
In general it’s good to keep most things the same, or update things with caution.
This way Google and other search engines can process what has happened.
4. Collect all URLs for the new domain (You can also redirect all URLs to the new domain)
Collect all URLs that you want to move to the new domain.
Or if you just want to redirect all URLs to the new domain, you can choose to do so, with a few lines of code in the .htaccess file.
5. Set up 301 redirects (From your old → new domain)
It’s recommended to keep 301 redirects in place, for at least a year. (This gives Google enough time to process the domain move)
6. Remember to make seperate redirects for images and/or videos (If applicable)
You might want to setup redirects from your old image & video location to your new domain location.
7. Let Google know about the changes
Sometimes it can take a few weeks before this tool works. (For a new domain)
8. Add your new domain to Bing Webmasters
If you use Bing Webmasters, update the old domain.
9. Don’t rush things, update changes slowly. (Keep your old site running for a while)
Google may need several days or even weeks to recognize the new IP adress and index it.
10. Promote your rebrand on social media, email newsletters, or elsewhere
Note that you can expect a temporary drop in search traffic.
Extra Tips for preserving SEO value
Extra Tips
- Take action slowly, don’t try to change too much. (This way Google can process the rebrand of your website)
- Update internal links on your website (If applicable)
- Submit your new sitemap to Google Search Console
- Update the disavow links file on the new domain, in Google Search Console (If applicable)
Conclusion
It’s important to keep in mind that you can expect a temporary drop in traffic.
This is perfectly normal.
But you do have to make sure to follow all steps correctly.
If you can’t figur it out yourself, consider hiring a professional in SEO.
Now, if you want to easily manage this process with a checklist & tools, check out the Complete SEO Manager!
With that being said, have a good one!
And see you on the next one.
Matt, SEOperate