New Theme & Web Redesign

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  mariajen9 · Member · Aug 16, 2016 at 3:01 pm

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  I am in charge of redesigning the company website and I need to know what is the best way to redesign it before going live.

  I am planning to customize the theme (I have zero coding experience) and work with the theme I choose; and as well as change the website content and layout.

  I have considered creating a new WP account and then copy pasting the new website URL to our live one, but my boss is concerned that Google will see the website as having broken links. (When they attempted to redesign prior to this, that is what happened after they switched from Joomla to WP.)

  What is the best way to get around this?

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  siobhyb · Member · Aug 16, 2016 at 5:27 pm

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  Hi there,

  Are you going to be creating your new site here at WordPress.com or are you setting it up with a different host?

  If you’re not aware of the differences between the two types of WordPress (WordPress.com and WordPress.org) then this guide gives a good overview.

  It sounds like your current site may be with a different host to WordPress.com and running on the free software that’s available at WordPress.org. If that’s the case, navigate to Settings > Permalinks in your admin area.

  If the option next to “Day and name” is checked then your site shares the same default structure as WordPress.com. You can navigate to Tools > Export to create an export file of your content, follow these steps to import it to WordPress.com, and then eventually map your domain.

  If your hosting your site elsewhere (but still using the software available at WordPress.org) then the steps you need to take are similar. I recommend contacting your host’s support team directly with questions.

  Let me know if you plan on using WordPress.org or WordPress.com for your new site, and I’ll be happy to offer some further advice. It’ll also be helpful for me to know if you plan on using the same domain as before or if you’re moving to a new one.

  Thanks!

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  mariajen9 · Member · Aug 16, 2016 at 5:41 pm

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  Thank you so much for responding!
  I am using wordpress.org and will use wordpress.org for the new website. (We are using HostGator). I am also planning on using the same domain.

  If I switch over the new website, will it adversely affect the site’s SEO?

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  siobhyb · Member · Aug 17, 2016 at 7:45 am

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  Hi there,

  If your permalink structure remains the same (therefore creating no broken links) then I believe SEO impact with be minimal.

  I did find the following guides which may give you some in depth information to think about:

  • https://moz.com/blog/how-to-avoid-an-seo-disaster-when-changing-your-website
  • https://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-to-avoid-seo-disaster-during-a-website-redesign/42824/
  • https://blog.crazyegg.com/2014/05/02/seo-website-redesign/

  WordPress.org is a different entity to WordPress.com and, if you have extra questions, I recommend the WordPress.org support forums. There is a wonderful community of helpers there:

  https://wordpress.org/support

  If your questions surround setting up a staging environment for your new site and switching the domain over, then I recommend contacting HostGator’s support team directly:

  http://www.hostgator.com/contact

  Hope that information helps you on the right road! :)