Clear Signs Your Website Needs a Redesign
Your website has not been meaningfully updated in more than two years. Your mobile PageSpeed Insights score is below 70. You are not ranking on page one of Google for your primary local notary keywords. Your contact form submissions have declined significantly or have never been consistent. Your design looks noticeably dated compared to competitor notary websites. Your Google Analytics data shows bounce rates consistently above 70% — visitors arriving and leaving immediately without taking any action.
What to Prioritise and Change First
Address mobile experience and loading speed as your absolute first priority — these have the most direct, measurable impact on both Google rankings and visitor conversion rates. Then address SEO fundamentals: local keyword targeting, optimised page titles, well-written meta descriptions, and genuinely location-specific content throughout the site. Then fix conversion elements: call-to-action clarity, phone number visibility and clickability on mobile, and contact form accessibility. Address visual design improvements last — appearance matters significantly, but only after the functional foundations are working correctly.
Preserving Your Existing SEO During a Redesign
If your current website has any established Google rankings at all, protect that accumulated value during your redesign by maintaining the same URL structure wherever possible. When URLs must change, implement proper 301 permanent redirects from all old URLs to the corresponding new ones. Avoid rebuilding on a new domain — you lose all accumulated domain authority and must start your SEO effort entirely from scratch.