SEO – What is that you ask? That my friend is what makes your website display on the first page of google instead of 2,012 pages deep. It stands for Search Engine Optimisation to be exact. If you are pondering the thought of a fresh new look or are 6 feet under in a rebuild make sure you’re using these 5 tips to ensure all those blood, sweat and tears don’t go to waste!

Holla at Google

Google Webmaster Tool is a good place to start. These dudes (and dudesses) have some serious trust issues with new domains. Using Google Webmaster when changing your domain name can make the process a whole lot easier. “Google Webmaster Tools alerts a website owner when a sharp increase in the number of 404 errors occurs. Regular weekly or monthly monitoring allows redirects as the 404 errors occur.” – James Parsons

0800 – 301 Redirect

Anyone and everyone who has found your digital business hub i.e your website through another site or bookmarked that bad boy will have a little trouble finding you once you revamp. 301 redirect helps link the user to the correct web address. Making sure your customers and clientele can find you is super important and not putting a 301 in to play can cause you to lose business.

Use a Guru

i.e Someone who knows their sh*t

I highly recommend having a couple SEO experts on board from day uno of your rebuild. Don’t even think about doing it without a solid game plan and a strong crew. Frequent upgrades and content updates keep your site looking fresh and offer your clients the best user experience. You can’t stay stuck in the stone age – When your website needs a spruce, IT NEEDS A SPRUCE! This allows businesses to maintain relevance, update branding and grow. With the right team, the process can be painless and stress-free.

Keeping Content

Blog, blog, blog and blog some more!

The more content, the better the SEO. Along with adding a hot new blog to your website, page titles and meta descriptions are key. Make sure that all pages on the new website have titles and meta descriptions. You can transfer these from the old website – if (and only if!) they are unique and descriptive of the page content. If you haven’t focused on creating SEO friendly page titles and meta descriptions yet, now is a great time to get started.

Create a 404 Error Page

#ThrowBackThursday. Who remembers those old school 404 error pages from the 90’s. They said something like “This page can not be found, but don’t worry, our web provider has been informed.” but were they really ever informed? Despite this, designing a custom 404 error page redirecting the user to your new site can be extremely useful. It should match your brand CI and is a chance for you to get creative. “Make sure you provide the 404 header status on the error page. If not, search engine problems can occur. Pages with 404 server header status are the only ones trusted by search engines. If not those pages are unable to be removed from the search engine index of Google.” – James Parsons

These 5 steps can make your worst rebuilding nightmares a dream! If you are ever in doubt, simply drop us a line. There is nothing we love more than mulling it over with a vino in hand! – steph@kennardkoncept.com

Kennard Koncept over and out.