Do you plan to do a digital rebranding?
Yes, you do; so, keep reading! 😉
A digital rebranding doesn’t have to be a breakup to start over, especially when it comes to SEO.
We mean, you’ve spent a lot of time and effort building your SEO, haven’t you?
We can help you rebrand your website and maintain ranking and SEO as your business splits from its old self.
But let’s start with the basics!
Redesign vs. Rebrand: What’s the Difference?
You keep the same name when redesigning a website, but you want a more modern look. It’s like building a new house on the same lot. So simple!
When it comes to redesigns, tasks may include: competitor research, SEO and content audit, strategic information architecture, UX and UI design, content support, and a custom WordPress site with rigorous quality assurance testing.
Contrary to popular perception, not all rebrands remove the old creative; keep this in mind at all times.
If you simply change the colors, or swap out the logo without altering any other elements, or change the domain name, then that’s a small rebrand.
A full rebrand, on the other hand, is like an amicable divorce; it’s not about you; it’s about everything in your website. Begin by transferring properties, shifting domains as the initial step. Subsequently, apply a fresh coat – introducing a new logo, a new name, and a new slogan. Finally, initiate a rejuvenation process by refreshing content.
But, who’s the real MVP of your website glow-up? SEO, of course!
We mean, you want your audience to still be able to locate your website, isn’t that right?
SEO’s Impact on Digital Rebranding
Digital rebranding ALWAYS has an impact on SEO — don’t let anyone tells you otherwise.
The impact can be positive or negative; it all depends on how you do things.
SEO factors that will be affected by your digital rebranding include the following:
- Adjusting products and services — influences on keyword rankings, impressions, and clicks.
- Modifying images — affects the ranking of titles, alt text, and page relevance.
- Changing locations — impacts local ranking and visibility in search results.
- Switching domain names — restarts your domain age and authority trust factors.
- Altering site URLs — potential for a change or loss of ranking keywords in URLs.
- Implementing 301 redirects — new pages might not align with the ranking or SEO value of previous site versions.
SEO Impact of Changing Your Company Name
When it comes to digital rebranding, it’s important to pick a name that is pronounceable, sellable, memorable, and most importantly, searchable. By searchable, we mean that you aren’t already fighting a ‘name twin’, or too-simplistic name, in the rankings; you don’t want to be a Sophie A among Sophie Bs, Sophie Cs, and Sophie Ds.
Use Incognito Mode in your browser to search for the business name(s) you’ve been considering, and pay attention to localized results. You can probably have a similar name to a company in another country (there are only so many unique names), but not with one competing for searches involving your city.
What Happens to SEO When You Tweak Content?
The updating of your content during a digital rebranding effort can lead to improved rankings or new rankings for new keywords. As a result, the content becomes more valuable, current, relevant, and optimized; Conversely, neglecting to update the content may result in it becoming obsolete, outdated, underperforming, and stagnant to the Google crawler.
The performance of older content should be monitored, and strategic updates should be made as needed. Not all older content is automatically “bad”; some may still maintain high rankings. Don’t tweak them!
Digitally Rebranding Your Website Without Compromising SEO in 6 Steps
We suggest not tackling all these significant changes simultaneously unless absolutely necessary!
That being said, here’s your rebranding SEO checklist to follow. 📝
1. Update Old Content
Freshness, an often overlooked factor in Google rankings, and relevance of your content are crucial — Rebranding offers you a great chance to improve search rankings, industry insights, and content strategies into existing content during migration.
In addition to aligning your content with the upcoming changes in your business due to the digital rebranding, you should capitalize on any SEO opportunities identified.
Your rankings and traffic may be adversely affected by overly drastic or unnecessary changes; don’t overlook that!
Whenever you update older content, Google will recognize the updates during its subsequent crawl. Additionally, if you want to expedite the process, you can submit the updated content’s URL(s) through Google Search Console, eliminating the need to wait for Google to automatically crawl the updated content. Ain’t anyone has time for that!
2. Take Care of Broken Links
Don’t overlook the treasure hunt for outdated, mischievous, or “broken” links in your old content and pages! Always be on the safe side when it comes to SEO.
3. Never (NEVER) Forget About the Redirects
Redirects are absolutely essential if you’re changing your URLs during your digital rebranding. A 301 redirect will send traffic to your new page rather than sending them to a dead end.
While it won’t be as strong as the old ranking, redirects help keep traffic flowing to your new site and enjoy your new branding without interruption.
4. Change Information & Swap Details on Other Websites
Make sure your social media profiles and internet business profiles (ex. Google Business, Yelp, Trip Advisor) are updated.
You can see where your business is listed using referral traffic reports in Google Analytics on your existing site. When you’re in this process, don’t forget about your links on other websites, alongside your mentions.
After all, you want everyone to be informed of this big, fancy change you’re working on 😉
5. Google Analytics Update
Google Analytics is your friend. 🙌
The GrowthGirls motto, “The truth is in the numbers”, is true — so make sure you update Google Analytics with your new name and URL during the digital rebranding process.
This is a top priority!
6. Introduce Your Digital Rebranding with a Blog Post
In the title, both your old and new names should appear. You will be able to prove ownership as you rebrand your other online profiles if you do so, as well as inform audiences and search engines of the name change.
Sharing, pinning, and linking this rebrand announcement across your profile and posts will help users confirm that your rebranded account is still the same.
Avoiding Missteps During and After Your Digital Rebranding!
To ensure the seamless and error-free experience of your new site, take note of these rebrand do-nots.
During your digital rebranding journey, take your time and don’t rush through all the changes and updates at the same time. If you rush rebranding, you may come across errors, missed steps, and the risk of search engines misinterpreting your content as copied from another domain.
Crawl, don’t run. Relax and take your time with it.
You never know when someone might stumble upon or revisit the old URL, so maintain that redirect path for as long as possible to make the transition seamless by automatically guiding visitors to your new domain name. Additionally, don’t overlook the importance of keeping your categories and tags intact. In spite of rebranding, your industry, niche, and areas of expertise remain unchanged, but regular updates indicate relevance and context to Google, resulting in potential re-ranking during crawls.
Last but not least, conduct a keyword optimization review and tweak session — identify the keywords that previously attracted the most traffic and connect them with relevant posts and pages. Compare this list with topics and keywords aligning with your updated content, rebrand, and any new offerings, adjusting and prioritizing as needed.
Good advice is never enough for you, huh? 🤩
We’ve got you covered; contact GrowthGirls CEO, Effie, and seek more expert guidance!
