Keeping your website updated is one of the best ways to constantly keep it on Google’s radar. After all, it is widely known that the tech giant is very fond of websites that are always fresh and provide users with new and useful content. When updating your site, however, make sure that you pay careful attention to your SEO throughout the process. Otherwise, it could have a detrimental effect on your search engine ranking and online visibility.
According to Jason DeMers, founder and CEO of AudienceBloom, updating your site’s infrastructure leaves it “especially vulnerable to changes in domain authority and search engine indexing.” Therefore, it is very important that you don’t commit certain SEO mistakes that could make the site update do more harm than good to your online business. Here’s what you should avoid.
- Inconsistent URL structures. Jason explained that Google takes history and consistency into consideration when evaluating domain authority. It scours the web for the URL structures of various sites. If Google crawls your site and is unable to find your old URLs, it could lead to decreased inbound traffic and lower search rankings. To prevent this problem, you have to ensure that you properly 301-redirect all of your old URLs to their new locations.
- Design interference. While pictures may paint a thousand words and may sometimes convey powerful messages that words cannot, visually appealing design choices don’t always jive with SEO. After all, Google needs “crawlable” text in order to rank your site. If you have decided to change or update the overall look of your site, don’t make the mistake of relying too much on images and visual design. You should strike a balance between text and images to ensure that your site is still searchable.
- CMS changes. It is common for some site owners to change their CMS platform when updating their websites. If you’re considering changing your CMS platform, you should do a bit of research first before going through with it. According to Jason, not all CMS have appropriate or reliable SEO capabilities, which is why it’s best to determine your options before changing your CMS. It’s also better to stick to your old platform, especially if you’ve found success with it in the past.
- Failing to update your strategy. When you update your website, it also makes perfect sense to update your SEO strategy accordingly. Failure to do so may impede with your success and affect your growth potential. To prevent possible problems, Jason recommends conducting an onsite audit of your current SEO structure and efforts. You should take note of the areas that need to be improved and then incorporate the required changes into the structure of your new site.
