Common Overlooked Elements of a Website Redesign Launch

Common Overlooked Elements of a Website Redesign Launch
November 2, 2009, 2:33 pm - By: Chad Halvorson

A lot goes into the launch of a website redesign. Everything from the initial planning and web design to template creation and programming are core to the launch. However, there are a number of things that get overlooked and cause the new website to suffer following the initial launch.

Most of the forgotten tasks are related to the previous website that's being replaced. It's easy to forget about the old site and simply delete or archive it; —as if the redesign is going to make everything better and replace all negative energy surrounding the previous version of the website. While some of that is true, there are always elements of your old website that are left behind and need to be considered.

1. First, think about the visitors that may have regularly visited the old site or bookmarked pages from it. What about links to your old website that may have been emailed and saved for future reference. It's important to consider the legacy of links that your previous website has left behind. All pages or links from your previous website need to remain in tact and be redirected to "content equivalent" pages on your newly redesigned website.
   


2. Second, regardless of how optimized your old site was for search engine indexing, odds are some of the pages from your old site have been indexed by search engines. You don't want to cut off access to the old pages. Search engines may return results to your old website's pages for up to 3 months before eliminating them from their cache. This means you want to make sure quality redirects have been set up so all visitors that find links to your old website in a search engine are transparently directed to the new version of the old page.
   


3. Finally, just remember that your old website doesn't go away the minute you launch your new website. Elements of your old website can linger for months, even years. Make sure that you take all necessary steps to clean up any mess your old website has left behind. It's important to ensure your redesigned website is well connected to your old site's link legacy.