Omaha SEO Company

402-616-5525

FREE CONSULTATION
  • Home
  • Services
    • Custom Websites
    • Search Engine Optimization SEO
    • Local Search Optimization
    • Pay Per Click Marketing
    • Social Media Marketing
    • Email Marketing
    • Graphic Design
    • Marketing Consulting
    • Videos & Photographs
    • Podcasting Services
  • Our Partners
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Blog

Website Redesign Mistakes Destroying SEO

Posted by: Omaha SEO Company , October 8, 2018
Posted in Website Design | | 445 Views

Website Redesign Mistakes Destroying SEO

Website redesign can give your website a fresh, new look – and it can help you to convey the right image to your website’s visitors and clients. But there’s also a risk of making some fatal mistakes during the process and leaving your website worse off afterwards than before you started.  Here are some disastrous website redesign mistakes destroying SEO.

Website Redesign Mistakes Destroying SEO

“Click Here to Enter” Pages

Many pages have a “splash” or welcome page – but this can mean search engines end up on the splash page instead of the more important parts of the website where the content is. This is why you’ll notice that most websites have scrapped the old-school Welcome page with the “Click Here to Enter” script.

Overbearing Pop-ups

Pop-up ads can automatically mean that your site ends up on the lower end of the SEO ranking list – and search engines might scrap you from their results entirely if your website is drowning in annoying pop-up and banner ads.

Lack of Links

Search engines like to see internal linking – site links within one post that link to another part in your website; search engines also like to see back-links to other, higher-ranking sites. If your website lacks these links, that’s an automatic downgrade on the SEO scale – and less visitors to your website.

Scrolling Content

Social networking popularized the “endless scrolling” design – and while it works great for social networking, it doesn’t work as great for search engines that trawl for keywords. If you’re making use of this design, don’t! A “next” button can do a lot more – and it’s easier for search engine bots, too.

Frames, Frames, Frames

In the 90s and up until the early-2000s, websites were all about frames – but let’s not forget that’s what caused the end of MySpace. It was just too much. Let’s put it like this: Frames do nothing useful for your website, and they can mean that search engines are directed away from the useful parts of your site.

Arbitrarily changing image names on pages that rank well

This isn’t always an issue, but if a web page is ranking well, changing the name of an image on that page may cause a loss of ranking. Especially if the web designer doesn’t know what they’re doing.

We’ve seen this happen more than a few times, where a client hires a web designer who doesn’t understand SEO to redesign a website that already ranks well. As part of the redesign process, they replace old images with new, larger images, but, lacking the appropriate experience, they use stupid image names that provide zero SEO value, like image1.jpg.

This takes away a vital piece of context that search engines use to determine where a particular web page should rank.

Deleting pages or changing page URLs without redirecting them

During a redesign, some pages will almost certainly no longer be needed. Less experienced web designers will often simply delete them. Other pages may be moved and/or renamed, which in most cases, changes their URL. In these cases, inexperienced web designers often change these URLs and consider the task complete.

This is a big mistake because some of those pages may already rank well. They might have inbound links pointing to them or have been bookmarked by visitors.

When you delete pages that already have inbound links, you’ll lose all of the SEO value from those links. In some cases, this could result in a drastic loss of ranking.

The issue goes even deeper though. Anyone clicking those links or bookmarks will be greeted by a 404 page. That presents zero value to anyone, and more importantly, it creates a negative user experience. This is important because Google has confirmed that user experience is a ranking factor.

The proper way to delete pages is to redirect any them to the most relevant page that currently exists. As for moving pages, which includes anything that changes the URL of that page in any way, it’s equally important to redirect the old URL to the new one.

In both scenarios, a 301 redirect should generally be used. This tells search engines that the old page has been permanently moved to the new location. For most hosting platforms, this is best accomplished by adding the appropriate entry into your .htaccess file.

If you’re unable to see a .htaccess file on your server, you may need to adjust the settings on your FTP program to view hidden files.

Some specialized hosting platforms may utilize a different method, so you may need to check with their support team to determine how to accomplish it.

Failing to perform a complete function check on everything

Once a redesigned website has been migrated to the live server, you need to do more than quickly review a few pages to make sure things look OK. Instead, it’s essential to physically test everything to make sure it not only looks right, but also functions properly.

This includes:

  • Contact forms.
  • E-commerce functionality.
  • Search capabilities.
  • Interactive tools.
  • Multimedia players.
  • Analytics.
  • Google Search Console / Bing Webmaster Tools verification.
  • Tracking pixels.
  • Dynamic ads.

Failing to reconfigure WordPress and plugins after migration to the live server

Remember how we talked about the importance of putting up a wall between your development environment and the search engines’ crawlers? Well, it’s even more important to tear that wall down after migrating the website to the live server.

Failing to do this is easy. It’s also devastating. In fact, it’s a mistake I made several years ago.

After migrating a client’s website to their live server, you forgot to uncheck the box in Yoast SEO that told search engines not to crawl or index it. Unfortunately, no one noticed for a few days, at which point, the website had been almost completely dropped from Google’s index. Fortunately, they didn’t rely on organic traffic, and, once you unchecked that box, the website was quickly reindexed.

Because of the impact mistakes like these can have, it’s critical that after migration to the live server, you immediately check the configuration of WordPress as well as any plugins that could affect how search engines treat your website.

This includes plugins for:

  • SEO.
  • Redirection.
  • Sitemaps.
  • Schema.
  • Caching.

Neglecting to pay attention to detail

None of these mistakes are particularly complicated or difficult to avoid. You simply need to be aware of them, implement a plan to avoid them, and pay close attention to detail.

Omaha SEO Company

We are premier internet marketing company providing Omaha SEO services as well as a wealth of additional services to clients both locally and across the US. Our goal is to continually over-deliver to each and every client we work with. We are a team of SEO experts, web design wizards, social media master-minds, and online reputation management specialists. With over 10 years of experience we have developed a system that insures the success of our clients.

Our SEO agency is here to ensure your website is ranking high. Our goal is top position. Exactly where the best most qualified traffic is. Give us a call for your FREE Consultation.

Previous
Next

Recent Posts

  • Are People Reading Blogs Anymore? June 21, 2022
  • Is Storytelling Effective for Marketing? May 27, 2022
  • What’s the Difference Between EAT and YMYL Content? May 9, 2022
  • Top Ways to Make Your Content SEO Friendly April 22, 2022
  • What Should I Be Looking at in Google Analytics? March 28, 2022

Omaha SEO Company Reviews

Omaha SEO Company
Omaha SEO Company
5.0
Based on 41 reviews
powered by Google
review us on
Jared Mertz
Jared Mertz
13:58 16 Dec 19
Omaha SEO company does an excellent job, and the team is great. Their response time is quick, any requests are taken care of immediately, and the service is unbeatable. Thank you!
Ash H
Ash H
13:54 09 Dec 19
My husband and myself were looking for a company to not only build our website, but also attract people to it. Nabil and all Omaha SEO staff were beyond amazing and exceeded our expectations in every way. I am so grateful for their guidance throughout this whole process and I recommend them ten times over!
Kevin Blackmon
Kevin Blackmon
17:10 01 Dec 19
I had them to create my “Save the Date” announcements, I worked with the Graphic Designer, gave them what I was picturing and they took the concept I had in mind and made it better than I could have imagined. The turnaround was speedy. I highly recommend this company, very professional and customer oriented.
Arik Solberg
Arik Solberg
20:39 26 Nov 19
At the start of the year I had decided to invest in a company to help me grow my landscaping business and reach a new market here in Colorado. Omaha SEO Company was the right choice and I began seeing results right off the bat. Their team started by stream lining my website and making sure all my internet search information appeared correctly and professionally. I was even given help designing my logo, which I absolutely love! Ive since recieved quality leads increasing my business this season. I couldnt be happier being backed by their aid/support, and I look forward to growth in 2020!
Larissa Carlson
Larissa Carlson
17:40 22 Nov 19
We love supporting local, small businesses as we are one as well. Omaha SEO did our new website. Nabil was very quick to respond during the process and completed our project in a timely fashion at a fare price.
Carl Jarl Locksmiths
Carl Jarl Locksmiths
20:59 18 Oct 19
We've had a great experience with Omaha SEO Company these past few months. Partnering with these guys was the right way to go. Thanks Omaha SEO Company for your expertise and hard work.
Tonya Boeckenhauer
Tonya Boeckenhauer
16:35 09 Oct 19
Omaha SEO is so professional and totally on top of everything. They are super knowledgeable and are definitely the best I’ve ever worked with!
Phil Labadie
Phil Labadie
22:10 26 Sep 19
Omaha SEO Company Gets FIVE STARS!We have been working with Nabil and Omaha SEO Company for the past five months. When we first started with Omaha SEO, our Company, Visiting Angels was down around the 20th position on Google Search. In just three months Omaha SEO Company has us in 3rd ranking and we are still climbing. This is remarkable considering how competitive the Non-Medical Homecare space is in Omaha. This has also had a direct positive impact on new business for us over these past several months. Nabil is great to work with and truly cares about our business and our success, making sure we are doing the right things to keep us at the top!
Bob Fritz
Bob Fritz
16:07 28 Aug 19
Most SEO companies over promise and under deliver. Nabil and his team have knocked it out of the park and have been so good to work with. Personable, knowledgeable, prompt, and accountable. We feel we have a partner in our business to drive growth. Leads have increased and we made some operational changes to ensure the phones were being answered for a winning combo.
Robert Kraft
Robert Kraft
20:00 27 Aug 19
I had worked with Omaha SEO and felt that they were doing a lot of work for me and we still were not getting results like I wanted in a very competitive market. We tried some different ways to look at what was happening and then he got an idea. We tried it for a couple of weeks, and the phone rang almost every day. After a couple of weeks, "crickets" again. We knew what was made the difference--his idea worked. He kept working until I got results that brought clients to my door. I am very grateful for his professionalism and tenacity. It paid off.
Susan Mortensen
Susan Mortensen
16:21 16 Aug 19
They did an AMAZING job redesigning our website and our FB pages get far more interactions than before! Love their work and they are ALWAYS on top of things when we request something!! Definitely recommend!
Ryan Ross
Ryan Ross
14:08 27 Apr 19
Just wanted to say thank you to you and your team for all you are doing for us. We definitely feel like we hit a home run by going with OMAHA SEO! Nothing but a positive experience! Almost immediate feedback and responsiveness! Keep doing what you’re doing!!!! Ryan R.
Julie Fowler
Julie Fowler
19:39 05 Feb 19
We recently partnered with Omaha SEO Company for marketing for our small business. He has delivered as promised and at affordable rates for a small company.
Charles Farley
Charles Farley
19:58 07 Dec 18
Omaha SEO company was the right choice for Advanced Dermatology of the Midlands. The team is the best and Nabil is a talented straight-shooter. It is a pleasure to work with them.
Legacy School
Legacy School
14:35 02 Nov 18
Omaha SEO company has helped our school tremendously! They are timely in their responses to any questions we have, give us quality feedback, and have increased our web presence through SEO. Thank you Omaha SEO company.
Kathleen Cavanaugh
Kathleen Cavanaugh
23:35 07 Sep 18
Nabil helped me update my 10 year old business website. He listened to my concerns, made suggestions and was very responsive in applying the updates. I wholeheartedly recommend Omaha SEO Company.
Next Reviews
js_loader
  • Contact Info
  • Get In Touch
  • Text Us
Email
contact@OmahaSEOCompany.com
Phone
402-616-5525
Text
(402) 616-5525
Facebook Marketing Partner
Google Partner
Best of Omaha 2018
© Omaha SEO Company