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- Back to zero, hello SEO!
Back to zero, hello SEO!
Proma Nautiyal
December 20, 2023
Hi there 👋🏼
It’s been a while. The year is almost about to wrap up with only 10 more days to go. With the new year, comes a lot of fresh starts. I have been working with quite a few clients who are rebranding their products and are all set to launch their new brands.
Whether they change their product name or not, a fresh brand look needs a brand-new website. And that’s what we are going to talk about today.
To Change or Not to Change 🤷🏻♀️
Now the thing is, if you are not changing your brand name and it is just the logo and the narrative of the brand that you have changed, you do not need to touch the domain of the website. Unless, of course, you want to change your top-level domain (.com, .io, .net etc.).
Rebranding often creates confusion for your clients and customers who are already aware of you. Truth is, it doesn’t matter how you are easing them into the change, it is going to take a while for it to stick to their head and for the change to take effect.
What you do not want in this process is to create frustration for your customers AND lose the SEO rankings that you had garnered for your earlier website.
This is one advice I give to all my clients. If you have built a good enough domain authority over the years, if you have a ton of valuable content on your website, try to stick to the domain and not touch it at all.
If not, then there are ways to make the shift in a manner that does not hurt either your brand recall, awareness, or SEO rankings.
Avoid 404s with 301s ❌
This is a lengthy process if you have a site with many pages but this step is the only way you can save your site traffic from getting hit. Make a list of all your site pages and then use a plug-in or take the help of your developer to apply 301 redirects to all your pages.
The 301 redirects let all browsers and search engines know that your site has now permanently shifted to this new domain.
In essence, whenever someone types the old address, they get redirected to the new website without any fuss.
However, if you fail to apply the 301 redirects to a certain page, say a product page featuring Air Jordans, the page visitor will see the dreaded 404 error, and you’ll lose a customer.
Check, Check, and Check ✅
You cannot miss this step. Verify your new domain with the Google Search Console. Go to your old domain on GSC (if it is added there) and update it to the new website address. This validates the change you have made to the website address.
The reason I chose to write a newsletter on this, is because, in the past few days, 30% of my new client consultations talked about rebranding and a new launch for their brands without a clue as to the havoc it will wreak on their SEO.
Sure, marketing is about ideas and creative execution, but there are also a ton of technicalities to it that we as marketers or entrepreneurs just cannot miss.
The idea behind this newsletter and my social handles is to educate and empower entrepreneurs as to the how of marketing. If you are managing marketing for your brand yourself or have hired someone for it, you should know what’s going on to make sure your brand is actually growing and your revenues don’t hit a plateau.
Change is good, but choose what you change wisely.
Until next time,
Stay cozy, stay creative!
Best,
Proma
SNACKS FOR YOUR SOUL
💖 Weekly Whisper: I welcome change as a catalyst for growth, adapting with agility and foresight in my business journey.
💼 Business Booster: View change as an opportunity, not a hurdle. Adapt your strategies to emerging trends and customer needs to stay relevant and competitive.
⏳ Productivity Pulse: Embrace tools like Asana or Trello to manage transitional phases effectively. These project management platforms help organize, prioritize, and adapt your workflows amidst change, ensuring smooth and efficient operations.
