What makes a website relaunch successful?

A website relaunch involves a fundamental overhaul of your online presence, focusing not only on design but also on site architecture and structure. The goal is to improve usability and boost performance by rethinking the website’s entire setup. Common reasons for a relaunch include changes in search engine ranking algorithms, shifts in user behavior, or a business realignment.

Website relaunch checklist

Here’s a quick overview of the key points you should consider for your website relaunch checklist:

✓ Navigation structure – Optimize user-friendliness with a clear and simple navigation setup

✓ Redirects (301 redirects) – Ensure old URLs correctly redirect to new ones

✓ Backlinks – Maintain valuable backlinks, even if URLs change

✓ Internal linking – Optimize internal links to ensure full indexing and link equity flow

✓ Metadata – Revise titles, descriptions, and alt text

✓ Duplicate content – Use canonical tags for duplicate content

✓ Sitemap – Update the sitemap so all new URLs are indexed promptly

✓ Tracking tools – Integrate tracking codes (e.g., Google Analytics) into the new website

✓ Page speed – Ensure the website remains optimized for fast loading times

✓ Post-relaunch monitoring – Track performance after the relaunch to spot and fix issues early

Navigation structure

The foundation of any successful online presence is a logical structure. Visitors should be able to find what they need quickly and easily.

• Goal: Improve usability and user flow
• Action: Check click paths to key pages; ensure users can reach important pages in five clicks or fewer
• Mobile optimization: Make sure the navigation is user-friendly on mobile devices

Redirects (301)

A website relaunch often involves moving existing pages to new URLs or even migrating to a new domain. Visitors should be permanently redirected to the correct pages using 301 redirects.

• Goal: Prevent traffic loss from broken links
• Action: Set up 301 redirects for all changed or removed URLs
• Key tools: Use SEO tools like Screaming Frog to test and validate redirects

Backlinks

Most websites have a backlink profile, meaning links from external websites pointing to them. Backlinks are essential for search engine rankings and must be preserved during a relaunch.

• Goal: Retain link equity
• Action: Audit your backlink profile; contact external sites to update links if URLs change
• Tools: Ahrefs, SEMrush for backlink analysis and management

Internal linking

If the website relaunch includes structural changes, ensure all important pages remain internally linked. Internal linking is a key SEO tool for complete indexing of your site.

• Goal: Guarantee that all key pages are linked internally for full indexing
• Action: Review and optimize internal linking for search engine crawlers
• SEO advantage: Internal links pass link equity and improve visibility

Indexing management

A relaunch is usually prepared in a staging environment. Indexing before the website goes live is generally undesirable.

• Goal: Prevent unfinished pages from being indexed
• Action: Use robots.txt and meta robots tags to block crawlers before launch; remove these blocks after going live
• Tools: Google Search Console to verify indexing status

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Metadata

A website relaunch is the perfect opportunity to optimize your on-page SEO fundamentals.

• Goal: Improve on-page SEO and visibility
• Action: Revise titles, meta descriptions, and alt text. Every page should have unique, relevant metadata
• Tools: Yoast SEO or Rank Math for easy metadata management

Duplicate content

Duplicate content discovered during restructuring should be flagged for search engines.

• Goal: Prevent duplicate content that could negatively impact search rankings
• Action: Implement the canonical tag on all pages with similar content to indicate the preferred source to Google
• Tools: Screaming Frog for identifying duplicate content

Sitemap

Sitemaps act as roadmaps for search engines. All new URLs added during the relaunch should be included.

• Goal: Ensure search engines find and index all new URLs quickly
• Action: Update your XML sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console
• Pro tip: Include a link to the sitemap on your site (HTML sitemap)

Tracking

If you use tracking codes like Google Analytics, integrate them into the new pages.

• Goal: Prevent data loss during the website relaunch
• Action: Integrate tracking codes, such as Google Analytics, into the source code of the new pages
• Tools: Google Tag Manager for managing tracking tags, Google Tag Assistant as a free validation tool for your browser

Page speed

A key factor for a website’s user experience is page speed. Search engines like Google also use it as a ranking factor when evaluating a site’s relevance.

• Goal: Ensure the website loads quickly to maintain a positive user experience and avoid negative impacts on SEO rankings
• Action: Optimize images, scripts, and server configurations to improve page speed
• Tools: Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, WebPageTest for measuring and optimizing page speed

Post-relaunch monitoring is vital

After a website relaunch, continuous performance monitoring is essential to ensure everything runs smoothly. During the first few days after the relaunch, it’s especially important to identify and fix any errors or issues promptly.

Key actions:

• Monitor site performance to detect issues early
• Use tools like Google Analytics and Screaming Frog for detailed error analysis
• Maintain ongoing SEO optimization for long-term success

A successful website relaunch

A website relaunch is a great opportunity to improve your site’s visibility and performance. Careful planning and following the right steps in your website relaunch checklist are crucial to avoid ranking losses and achieve long-term success.

Key takeaways for a successful relaunch:

• Comprehensive analysis and optimization of site structure
• Adherence to SEO standards and best practices
• Continuous monitoring and adjustments post-launch

Long-term success can be achieved through regular optimizations and continuous website monitoring. A well-executed website relaunch can provide a lasting competitive advantage.