With a new web design, you can improve your search engine rankings drastically or you can lose all of it. The biggest risk is losing the value of your inbound links which usually point to specific pages. To make sure this doesn’t happen, be sure to include an effective SEO (Search Engine Optimization) design plan as part of your overall redesign process.

SEO shouldn’t start after the website is finished. It should begin with the initial development/design of a website.  Don’t treat SEO as an after thought.

Listed below are the basic components of a SEO design plan.

Goals

Start with the business goals of the new website. Every website should have goals, otherwise it is pointless to have one. The goals for your website could be any of the following: generate sales or leads, build your online brand and visibility, showcase products or services, or provide useful information to users and clients.

Analysis

Always analyze your website traffic statistics to determine what results are currently being generated. If you’re already ranking well for certain keyword phrases or if you have pages that are performing well, then you certainly need to know that and develop a plan to ensure you maintain those results.

Keywords

Select keyword phrases that have good traffic volume and that accurately describe what you offer. More specific keywords, i.e. long-tail phrases, will bring more visitors that are closer to making a buying decision.

Website Architecture

Design your navigation to be both user and search engine friendly. Think about what you want the user to do and make sure the path is clear. Make use of clear Calls To Action throughout the site. Imagine your website is a storefront (which it really is).  When a customer comes into your store what do they see and what do you tell them?  Very few retailers let a shopper browse the store without offering some assistance, such as ‘we just got our summer line in this week’, and ‘we’re running a buy one / get one free offer this weekend’.  Think of your website the same way to optimize the experience for the visitor.

Content

Content isn’t king – conversation is king, but to start conversation, you need relevant unique content. Search engines and visitors love content. Optimize your content to be seen by as many people as possible.

Links

Use an internal linking structure with keywords to enable website visitors to find exactly what they are looking for on your website.

Inbound links

Maintain the content that is attracting inbound links on your current site. If you can’t keep the content on the redesign, then develop a plan to replace those links.

Identify your inbound links providing the greatest value and develop a plan to contact those sites and get the links changed to your new pages.

SEO planning is very important before and during the design process of any successful web design project. It can make a huge difference in maintaining and building upon existing traffic and conversion rates.