Launching a fresh, beautifully and strategically designed website is exciting. It’s a time for showcasing your brand, updating your style, and elevating your online presence. But nothing deflates that excitement faster than seeing your SEO ranking drop after launching your new website.
If you’re noticing that your Google ranking dropped dramatically after your new website went live, you’re not alone. We’ve heard this frustration from clients who have DIYed their site or worked with designers who didn’t prioritize SEO. But here’s the good news: a dip in your rankings after a site launch is usually preventable and always fixable.
Let’s dive into why an SEO ranking drop happens and, most importantly, how you can prevent it from happening in the first place.
Why Did My SEO Ranking Drop After Launch?
First things first—let’s clarify that experiencing a temporary fluctuation in traffic after a new website launch is completely normal. If your Google rank dropped dramatically, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve made a mistake at all. Google needs time to crawl and re-index your new content, and rankings can fluctuate in the short term. However, if your Google rankings majorly dropped and haven’t rebounded after several weeks, it’s time to look into it and see what’s behind the big drop.
Here are some of the most common reasons:
1. Ignoring Proper Redirects
One of the biggest SEO missteps during website redesigns is not setting up 301 redirects correctly (or at all.) If URLs change or pages are removed, Google (and your visitors!) need clear directions from old pages to their new counterparts. Without this, Google sees broken links and lost content, and your hard-earned authority from those pages evaporates overnight.
How to avoid it: Before launching your redesigned website, map out every URL from your old site. Create permanent 301 redirects to corresponding pages on your new site. Tools like SEMrush can help identify every existing page and URL.
2. Missing Metadata and SEO Tags
Another sneaky culprit behind an SEO ranking drop is forgetting to transfer your metadata—like title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags—to the new site. These are must-have signals and signposts that Google uses to understand your content. Even subtle changes or omissions can significantly impact rankings.
How to avoid it: Ensure your SEO metadata is carefully reviewed and replicated on your new site. Take the opportunity to optimize tags and descriptions, but keep your keyword targeting consistent to maintain SEO performance.
3. Content Changes and Keyword Loss
If your new website involved a significant overhaul of your existing content (especially high-ranking pages) Google may struggle to connect your previous authority with the updated content. Removing or heavily editing pages without considering the keywords that previously drove traffic can severely impact your SEO.
How to avoid it: Conduct an SEO audit before launching your new site. Identify top-performing pages and keywords. Preserve essential keywords and content structures or enhance them strategically. Tools like Ubersuggest can pinpoint what content is performing best.
4. Technical Issues and Broken Links
Technical glitches are another common reason behind a sudden SEO drop. Slow page loading times, mobile usability issues, broken internal links, or accidental blocks in your robots.txt file can quickly lower your ranking.
How to avoid it: Test your website thoroughly before launching. Run site audits with SEO tools to catch technical issues. Regularly check your site speed using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and confirm that no pages are accidentally blocked from search engines.
5. Lost Backlinks
Backlinks from reputable websites greatly influence your SEO ranking. If pages that had strong backlinks disappear or change URLs without redirects, you lose that valuable link juice, resulting in a ranking drop.
How to avoid it: Track your backlinks using tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush. Ensure redirects are set from old URLs to new URLs so backlink equity transfers smoothly. Consider reaching out directly to websites linking to your old URLs and asking them to update their links to the new pages.
6. Domain Name and URL Changes
Even subtle domain changes, like removing “www” or switching to HTTPS, can cause significant ranking drops if not handled correctly. Google treats these as entirely new pages, requiring re-indexing and re-evaluation.
How to avoid it: If a domain or URL structure change is unavoidable, carefully plan your redirects. Inform Google Search Console of your domain change and submit a new sitemap immediately after launching.
7. Neglecting Ongoing SEO Efforts
SEO is not a one-time task! So many business owners launch their new site and believe that’s all they ever need to do for SEO. However, neglecting regular content updates, technical checks, and keyword monitoring can gradually erode your ranking.
How to avoid it: Commit to regular SEO audits and keyword monitoring. Keep creating valuable, keyword-rich content consistently. Engage with an SEO expert or team who can keep your strategies sharp and current.
How Long Will the SEO Ranking Drop Last?
If everything was done correctly, any initial SEO dip post-launch should correct itself within a few weeks as Google crawls, indexes, and ranks your updated content. If problems persist beyond a few weeks, it’s time to dive deeper into the issues above.
Typically, the more significant the site change (like domain changes or substantial content restructuring), the longer it can take—anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months.
Practical Steps to take if Your Google Rankings Dropped Dramatically
So, your rankings have dropped—now what? Follow these immediate steps:
- Check for technical errors: Use tools like Google Search Console to detect crawl errors, broken links, and page speed issues.
- Review your redirects: Ensure 301 redirects are implemented and working correctly.
- Audit your content: Ensure content maintains or improves upon previous SEO optimization.
- Analyze your backlinks: See if you’ve lost critical backlinks and consider outreach to recover them.
How to Avoid SEO Ranking Drops from the Start
The best defense against an SEO ranking drop is a strategic offense. Here’s how you can prepare before your site even launches:
- Perform a thorough SEO audit: Identify all top-ranking content, important keywords, and essential backlinks.
- Create a comprehensive redirect plan: Map old URLs to new ones and implement redirects properly.
- Retain and improve content: Keep content optimization consistent or enhance it to improve rankings further.
- Double-check technical SEO: Test site speed, mobile responsiveness, and indexing permissions thoroughly before launch.
- Resubmit your sitemap to Google: Submit an updated sitemap immediately after your site goes live.
Ready to Relaunch with Confidence?
Navigating a website redesign without losing SEO rankings can be intimidating! But with the right preparation and ongoing care, your site relaunch can be a smooth process that ultimately boosts your rankings!
Planning a new website launch or you’re experiencing an SEO drop?
We can help. At Southern Creative, we specialize in SEO-friendly website design and ongoing SEO strategy, ensuring your online presence only gets better over time.
Book a call today and let’s ensure your website launch is an SEO success!
