A redesign is a normal event for a search engine
If your website has been around for a while, a redesign brings up a fair question: what will Google make of it? You have had the same pages and the same web addresses for years, and some searches probably bring people to you reliably. It makes sense to want the new site to keep all of that.
The good news is that search engines are built to handle change. Websites get redesigned all the time, and search engines expect it. This post explains, in plain language, what a search engine actually looks at when your site changes, and the few simple things that help it understand your new site quickly and clearly.
What a search engine actually "sees" on your website
A search engine reads words and structure, not looks. It sends out a program (Google's is called Googlebot) that visits a page, reads it, and follows the links on it to find more pages. For each page, it notes:
- The page's address, such as yourbusiness.com/services
- The page title and the headings
- The main text on the page
- The links from that page to other pages
All of this goes into a huge index, a bit like a library catalogue. When someone searches, the search engine checks its catalogue for the pages that best answer the question.
Colours, fonts and layout matter far more to your visitors than to the search engine. It does notice some practical things, like whether a page works well on a phone and loads in a reasonable time. But a new colour scheme on its own is a small event from its point of view.
The three parts of a redesign that search engines notice most
Search engines pay the most attention to three things: page addresses, the words on each page, and how pages link together. If a redesign keeps these clear, the search engine has an easy job.
1. Page addresses
Each page's address is how the search engine files it. If /services becomes /what-we-do, the search engine sees a brand-new page and an old page that has disappeared. It doesn't know they are the same page unless you tell it (more on that below).
2. The words on each page
Search engines match pages to searches by reading the text. Say a bakery's old page clearly explained "custom birthday cakes, ordered two days ahead, delivered across the city." If the new design swaps that for one short slogan and a photo, the search engine has much less to work with. The page may look better, but it now says less.
Keeping clear, useful text, and making it easier to read, is one of the best things a redesign can do for search.
3. How pages link to each other
Your menu and the links inside your pages show the search engine which pages matter most and how they fit together. A simple, clear menu helps visitors and search engines in exactly the same way.
Redirects: how you tell a search engine "this page moved"
A redirect is a small instruction on an old address that sends visitors, and search engines, to the new one. The permanent kind is called a 301 redirect. Google's own Search Central guidance on moving a site recommends permanent redirects from each old address to its new equivalent.
The key word is equivalent. The old services page should point to the new services page, and the old contact page to the new contact page. Sending every old address to the homepage is less helpful, because the search engine (and the visitor) lands somewhere that doesn't match what they were looking for.
A simple way to plan this:
- List the pages your current site has today.
- For each one, write down where that content will live on the new site.
- Where the address stays the same, nothing more is needed. This is the simplest option of all.
- Where the address changes, set up a permanent redirect from the old address to the new one.
There is a nice side benefit, too. Links to your site from other places, like your Google Business Profile, online directories, or a link a customer saved years ago, keep working and take people to the right page.
It's worth talking about page addresses and redirects early in any redesign, as part of planning the new structure. You can read more about the full sequence in what a website redesign actually involves, start to finish.
What happens after the new site goes live
After launch, the search engine revisits your pages over time, not all at once. It finds the redirects, updates its catalogue, and gets to know the new pages. Google's site-move documentation notes that some ups and downs in how pages appear are normal while this happens.
A few simple steps help it along:
- Share a sitemap. A sitemap is a plain list of your pages. You can submit it through Google Search Console, a free tool from Google, so the search engine knows exactly what your new site contains.
- Check your most important pages. Search for your business name and your main services, and make sure the right pages come up over the following weeks.
- Tidy up any leftover old links. Menus, footers and buttons should point straight to the new addresses. Our post on broken links, old prices and other small fixes covers the common spots to check.
Keep what already works, improve what doesn't
The best redesigns for search keep the good parts of the old site and make everything around them clearer. Useful text stays. Addresses stay where they still make sense. And the redesign improves the things both people and search engines appreciate:
- Pages that load quickly
- A layout that works well on a phone
- Clear headings that say what each section is about
- One clear topic per page, so each page has an obvious job
Seen this way, a redesign is a real opportunity for search. It's a chance to make every page say more clearly who you are, what you offer and who it's for. That clarity helps a search engine match you with the right searches, and it helps the visitor who arrives decide to get in touch.
If you'd like to see how we approach this, our redesign process walks through each step, and our old website transformation page shows what a refreshed site can look like.
In short: search engines read words, addresses and links. Keep your useful content, keep or redirect your page addresses, and use the redesign to make every page clearer.