Involve an SEO manager in a site redesign

Would you consult an architect after you build your house?

An SEO manager should be involved in a site redesign from the very beginning. The site should be built to maximize traffic and conversion, and an SEO is integral to selecting the best keywords and content around which to build the site to achieve those goals. Involving an SEO early will help educate and instill the designers and developers with an understanding of SEO that will help get SEO into the DNA of the development process instead of inefficiently doing it after the development is partially or completely finished.

Specifically the SEO will:

1. Perform a site audit to document opportunities and create a benchmark
2. Define the fundamental sections around which the site will be organized, essentially what goes on the menus
3. Understand the competitive market context and do keyword research to what keywords to go after
4. Ensure the site is created with crawlability and page load speed in mind
5. Define an appropriate internal linking structure and anchor text for crawlability and page rank distribution
6. Help develop a content strategy that matches the traffic and conversion goals
7. Develop a page organization and tracking structure that addresses the limitations of secure search
8. Correctly plan the redirect strategy to insure that no domain or page equity is lost
9. Make decisions about known SEO criteria like HTTPS vs HTTP and whether to use schema
10. Perform a final site audit to make sure key metrics and milestones have been achieved