Changing the Website Architecture

Website redesigning generally involves a complete change of the backend platform and the content management system. This means all the pages of the website would have new URLs and new locations. For example, if you change from an .php platform to a .asp platform, all your URLs will end with .asp instead of .php. In addition, when you incorporate a new navigation system in your website, it changes the URLs as well. The search engines will treat these revamped URLs as completely new and index them all over again. The previously indexed old URLs will no longer be valid.

When the old URLs are rendered completely invalid, it can result into loss of search engine traffic. However, there are certain things you can do to manage the situation and minimize the damage.

If there is a change in only the URL extensions like .asp, .php etc. you can use the same basic file name of your old system within the new system and set up a permanent 301 redirect on your server to direct corresponding pages.

If the new URL is completely different from the old one, you need to redirect each URL manually to its new counterpart. If there are plenty of URLs, the process is better automated.

Addition of Flash

Since search engine crawlers have began indexing Flash pages, it has become a range in the Web 2.0 world. More and more website redesign projects are making use of Flash elements to enhance the visual appeal of the websites. However, you still need to be careful while using Flash.

Avoid building your entire website in Flash. Even though search engine crawlers are able to parse through Flash elements and index the contents, it is not something that would help you achieve high search rankings. Moreover, you could be losing out on visitors who don't have Flash installed or access you website through mobile devices. Restrict the use of Flash on top of your web page as a visual enhancer. However, don't make your navigation and other important keyword rich content within Flash.

Change of Web Content and Tags

If your current website has already been optimized for search engines, you need to be extremely careful through the redesign process. This is because your present content and tags would already have some SEO potential and rewriting them could lead to loss of existing ranking.

Don't dispose off all your old content, especially if it has been successful in getting the website decent search engine rankings

and convert your visitors into customers. Same is the case for the title tags. Make sure you have customized title tags in place of system generated ones.