Does A Site Re-design Spell Trouble For Rankings? Options

[DannyAFC]

OK, our site has had the same look and feel now for nearly 3 years, its starting to feel quite old and tired and could do with a makeover. ive listed some points below in what i inerpret as a "redesign".

things we plan NOT to do in the redesign:
- change the URL
- change the site structure
- change page names
- change content
- change navigation links (anchors)

things we plan to change in the redesign:
- update images
- update CSS values
- change page structure ie, html page layouts

one other thing to note is that we use an e-commerce template system, so 1 small change on the product page template would see the change across 2500 pages etc.

after knowing these factors, would i be wise in leaving things alone?

and with the template system, you can appreciate that it is difficult to do a gradual site redesign. many thanks for all your help and i look forward to your replies.

Reason for edit: removed font changes as per forum rules

[Jill]

As long as you leave URLs intact, you can pretty much change anything else you want if you're making it better for your visitors. And even the URLs can be changed as well if you don't mind waiting a bit for reindexing.

This is the time to really look at your site architecture. Most likely (if your site is like most of them) you should be making it better for SEO purposes.

[vtownbarries]

Redesign can sometimes be of huge benefit!!

Be sure to use the h1 tag in your css styles, as this adds some weight to your keywords.

Also use the alt tags for images!

Good luck...

[DannyAFC]

ok, these are practices that we already use.

these changes are purely to improve the look and feel of the site and to make things easier for the user.

thanks for your comments.

[adybee]

You'll most likely see a drop in your rankings (especially if you add new pages or products) but this is generally short term and you should find that your site will rise again like a phoenix from the ashes! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

[Jill]

Be sure to use the h1 tag in your css styles, as this adds some weight to your keywords.

You sure about that?

[nnacho]

You sure about that?

They say H1 tags are important as Keywords.

Aren't they?

[chrishirst]

Also use the alt tags for images!

alt attribute

[Jill]

They say H1 tags are important as Keywords.

Who are they?

[EtnaInteractive]

We've done about a dozen major site redeployments in the last 8 months, and in every case but one, we saw drammatic improvements in rankings and targeted traffic after about 60 days.

You should expect significant fluctuations (declines and rebounds) in positioning during that first 60 days after the re-release, no matter how thoughtful you are in the design and construction.

Why, I ask, other than more careful attention to site construction and refining the optimization tactics on the site should we see such big improvements. My theory is this: the big SE's want to deliver their search customers to current, informative sites...rather than sites left to grow old and stale. Redesigning the site, while at the same time enhancing content and introducing subtle changes in architecture (grouping topical pages more cloely, etc.), demonstrates your commitment to your subject matter and your site. Just a theory, but it makes the most sense to me.

Ryan

[Copywriter39]

OK, our site has had the same look and feel now for nearly 3 years, its starting to feel quite old and tired

If its starting to feel old and tired to you it might be to your customers as well. A drop in rankings might follow, but if you get more business from your current customers it might pay off in the long run.

[Randy]

All true Ryan, but there are some other factors at play most likely. At least from my experience.

When I start a site I try to have a pretty good idea of who my ideal visitors-turned-customers are. But in my experience you never get it exactly right the first time around.

Thus after a site has been up and running for awhile you'll have an even better idea of who the target market encapsulates, what they're looking for in the way of benefits, overall design, etc, etc, as well as what it'll take to persuade them to take whatever action you're shooting for. Even if you don't specifically test for these things (the best possible approach IMO) you're still going to pick up on some of these things based solely upon the questions people ask and the feedback you receive.

Whether you realize you're doing it or not it's 100% natural that you're intuitively going to include some of the stuff people have mentioned in your redesign, which should at least help conversions. You'll likely be targeting your keywords better during the redesign too since you have a better understanding of what people are searching/looking for. So you end up getting more/better qualified traffic.

I try really hard to hit it as close to right from the beginning, but I can safely admit I've never gotten it 100% right from the get go. Which is why as a general rule I now build some Redesign time into the old schedule for every new site I release, even though I know I'm going to be making some improvements as things go along.

FWIW, my redesign schedule usually kicks in sometime in the 18-24 month range from when a site was first released. I've found this to work pretty well because by the time 18 months have passed I've gotten enough feedback to have a better idea what people are looking for, but can still make the best advantage of the time frame most sites seem to start coming into their own. That's just timing that works for me though. There's no magic in the numbers.

[vtownbarries]

I have used the h1 tags on a directory website, and i must say that i did see good climbs in rankings after that.

Was this coincidence? Or is the H1 tags important?

[chrishirst]

I have used the h1 tags on a directory website, and i must say that i did see good climbs in rankings after that.

Was this coincidence? Or is the H1 tags important?

Maybe, Maybe not.

Was it existing text you put into header elements?
Was it additional text in header elements?
Were the phrases that ranking improved for in the header elements?
Did they drop down again when you removed the headers?

and the crunch question;
Did the conversions improve significantly??

Changing existing text to headers can have;
No effect at all.
A positive effect.
A negative effect.
and these different effects can happen to pages within the same site (been there, done that (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) )

[Martin C]

I think the answer to the original question is a big 'Depends'. For example if you changed a primarily HTML website to Flash or a website with high content to low content then the answer would probably be 'yes'.

A website re-design from time to time is almost inevitable, but it needs to be done with the same considerations that should have been in place when the last re-design was done. Done properly a re-design should offer you the opportunity to improve your rankings and make it better for those people that visit your website no matter how they have arrived.

It's all about form and function.