Thinking of Rebuilding Your Website? Don’t Forget SEO

29 Jul 2025

Rebuilding your website can be one of the most exciting decisions for your business. It’s a chance to modernise your design, improve your content, and better serve your customers. But while you're planning fresh visuals and sleek layouts, it’s crucial not to overlook one key factor — your SEO.

If done right, a rebuild can give your organic rankings a significant boost. But done wrong, it can wipe out years of SEO progress overnight.

Rebuilding Isn’t Just About Looks

Most people rebuild their websites because they feel the old one “looks dated.” While design matters, a rebuild is the perfect opportunity to address performance, structure, and searchability.

The truth is, Google doesn't care how beautiful your website looks — it cares about how it performs. A fast, accessible, and well-structured site will always beat a slow but visually impressive one in search results.

What Happens to Your Existing SEO?

If your current website is already ranking for important keywords, you have SEO equity — links pointing to your content, pages showing up in search results, and authority you've built over time.

But without a careful SEO migration strategy during a rebuild, all of that can vanish.

Here’s how:

Old URLs disappear or change without redirects
Meta tags are lost or rewritten poorly
Page content is reduced or made less relevant
Internal links are broken

These are common missteps that can lead to a drop in traffic and sales immediately after launch.

The SEO Essentials to Plan During a Rebuild

Whether you're working with a developer or a full-service agency, SEO should be built into your rebuild from the ground up.

Here’s what to prioritise:

URL Structure: Maintain URLs where possible or set up 301 redirects from old pages to new ones.
Redirect Strategy: Use tools to map old URLs to new ones so that users and search engines are guided properly.
Meta Titles & Descriptions: Review and rewrite your metadata based on new content and keyword goals.
Header Tags: Ensure H1, H2, and H3 tags follow a clean hierarchy — both for users and crawlers.
Image Optimisation: Compress images, use descriptive filenames, and add alt text for accessibility and SEO.

Don’t Ignore Site Speed and Mobile-Friendliness
Search engines like Google consider page speed and mobile responsiveness as ranking factors.

During the rebuild, make sure:

Pages load in under 3 seconds
The site is mobile-first in design and usability
You use modern frameworks or CMS platforms that support performance out of the box
Tools like PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix can help test this.

How to Audit Your Current SEO Before Rebuilding

Before you start any redesign or redevelopment, run a complete SEO audit to understand what’s working.

Check:

Top-performing pages: Which URLs bring in the most organic traffic?
Backlink data: Which pages are linked to externally?
Keyword rankings: What keywords do you currently rank for?
Technical issues: Are there broken links or crawl errors?
Tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, or Screaming Frog can help gather this information.

Final Tips for a Rebuild That Boosts SEO

Involve SEO early: Don’t leave it as an afterthought — collaborate with SEO professionals during planning.
Test before launch: Use staging environments to test redirects, metadata, and performance before going live.
Resubmit your sitemap: Once launched, submit your new sitemap to Google Search Console to trigger indexing.
Monitor results: Track rankings, traffic, and any crawl errors in the weeks following launch.

Need Help with an SEO-Ready Rebuild?

At Gienie, we help small businesses rebuild their websites the right way — blending modern design with technical SEO best practices. If you’re planning a rebuild and want to maintain or improve your search visibility, we’d love to chat.