How Change Affects Your SEO
“I’m changing web hosts / my website design / business location – will this affect my SEO?!”
At this time of year in particular, businesses across the country are taking stock – and often, improvements to their virtual or physical locations are high on the priority list.
Here at Front Page SEO we understand – after all, we’re in the process of changing our business name to one that more accurately reflects our services:
Front Page SEO!
Businesses change, as our own example proves.
They move or add a new location, or have their website redesigned, or redefine their target market.
Some of the most common questions we get asked here at Front Page SEO revolve around changes to the business – for example, a new website design, website hosting, or even their physical address – and whether they will have a negative impact on their visibility in search engine results. Will they lose those precious clicks and clients?!
How Is Change Likely to Affect your SEO?
So let’s look at each of these common scenarios in turn.
I’m changing website hosts – will this affect my SEO?
As a general rule, no, it won’t.
However having said that, some website hosts do make your site load speed a lot faster – and it’s not just people that vastly prefer a speedy website, Google does too. So if you’re changing to a faster provider, it could actually even help to improve your site’s ranking in the search engines!
I’m getting a new website / changing the design of my website – will this have a negative impact on my SEO?
It could – so approach these changes with caution and get specific advice from an SEO specialist for your particular situation.
The main thing to be careful of is to try and keep the same URLs (link addresses) for each page, or at the very least forward redundant ones to your home page. Otherwise you will lose all the history and hard work associated with that URL, which can be quite valuable – including the backlinks that particular webpage has received in the past.
If you do choose to use new URLs, make sure each old one is redirected to the new one so that visitors to your website don’t arrive on that dreaded 404 error message – a dead end. However, it’s much better if you don’t change the URLs in the first place, as redirects can slow down website speed and get confusing, neither of which is great for your SEO.
My business has moved – or we’ve added a new location – how’s that going to affect my SEO?
There will be some impact, but there are things you can do to minimise the disruption to your rankings that can occur with a new location/physical address.
While you will likely remember to update your website, email signature and printed stationery with your new address, it’s absolutely critical that you also update your Google My Business listing and any other online listings for your business.
Apart from anything else, it just makes sense!
If you are relocating from Sydney to Brisbane, and only provide products and services to your local area, you won’t WANT to get found by Sydney internet searchers anymore. You’ll want to come up for Brisbane browsers instead, and your SEO strategy needs to be updated (with appropriate keyword research), to reflect that.
Top Tip: Search online for every mention of your business NAP (name, address, phone number) and politely ask if they can be changed to your new contact details.
The copy on our website is terrible and we are getting it redone – will that affect our SEO?
While quality copy is definitely perceived more favourably by Google (and your website visitors), again, approach a project like this with caution or you could lose the website traffic that’s been coming your way via the search engines.
By working with an SEO copywriter or an SEO specialist, you can ensure that important keywords are still an integral part of your new website copy.
In summary – if you are considering changes to your business address, website hosting, or website design, it’s worth taking into account the potential impacts on your SEO, so you can minimise any disruption to your visibility in the search engines.
Worried about how a change to your business might affect the flow of clicks and clients to your website? Book your free SEO chat online now!