Why Is My New Website Not Ranking Well?

It’s not uncommon that a business will redesign its website a few times over the years. There is always new technology to improve certain aspects of the business’s online presence. A business may rebrand or have new products or services that need to be showcased. A company may invest in a redesign to improve user experience or because the site is not ranking well. There are many very valid reasons for redesigning a website.

However, a website redesign does not automatically improve rankings, traffic, or tracking. A beautiful website can still have low traffic and rankings. When a new site is developed, it is exceedingly important to have a thorough checklist to ensure that the new site will not falter when it is rolled out.

The real question is: How do know that your website is in safe hands? Or – if you are doing it internally: Are you confident you do not need a third party’s eyes? While there are many factors at play in determining website traffic and rankings, here are some questions you should ask about your website to make sure your investment in your website will pay off in traffic, rankings, conversions, and sales.

Questions to Consider If Your New Website is Not Ranking Well

  1. Are all of your tracking and tools integrated into the new site? If they are not, you will have gaps in your data. Depending on your industry and the time of year, this could be a significant loss.
  2. Do all of your URLs match up to the new site? For any website redesign, it’s likely that there will be new pages, pages that have been removed, or pages that have been renamed. Therefore, redirects need to be put in place and tested.
  3. If your website was ranking before and is not ranking well now, the on-page SEO was not transferred correctly. There are more factors to consider than copy and pasting the old content into a new site. Have all metas, links, and alt tags been transferred as well?
  4. Lastly, a new design means your website will look different on a desktop, laptop, tablet, and phone. Not only that but each brand, screen size, and browser may act differently. Has the website been cross-browser tested?

Redesigning your website should be a fun and exciting time, yes, although sometimes it can be a bit stressful. Working with a professional web development team can take some of the stress and uncertainty out of the process. The right professional will make sure your website gets off on the right foot out of the gate so that traffic and rankings can soar and your site will be the asset it is meant to be for your company.