Will I lose my Google rankings if I rebuild my website?

You don't have to lose your Google rankings when you rebuild your website. Rankings are lost when page addresses change and nobody tells Google where the pages went. Keep every page at the same address, redirect any page that has to move, and your rankings carry over.

Why rebuilds lose rankings

Google ranks pages, and it finds each page by its address, such as yourbusiness.co.uk/kitchen-fitting/. A rebuild often changes those addresses without anyone noticing. The new site has a page called /services/kitchens/ instead. To Google, the old page has vanished, so the place it earned goes with it.

The fix is simple, and it has to happen before the new site goes live.

Step 1: list every page Google knows

Before anything changes, make a list of every address on the old site. Google's site move guidance says: "It's important to map your old site's URLs to the URLs for the new site." It suggests building the list from your sitemap, your server logs, your analytics and your content system.

Include the pages that bring visitors in, not just the ones in the menu. Old blog posts and service pages often rank for searches you have forgotten about.

Step 2: keep the same addresses

The safest rebuild keeps every address exactly as it was. Your kitchen page stays at /kitchen-fitting/. Google sees the same page at the same address, faster and easier to read.

This is how we rebuild websites. We check your site first, and every page Google knows keeps its address.

Step 3: redirect any page that moves

Sometimes a page has to move or merge with another. When it does, the old address should send visitors and Google straight to the new one, with a permanent redirect.

Google's guidance on redirects explains why this matters: for permanent redirects, "the indexing pipeline uses the redirect as a signal that the redirect target should be canonical." In plain terms, Google moves the old page's standing to the new address.

Three rules from Google's guidance:

1. Point each old page at its closest new page. Sending many old pages to your homepage can be treated as a missing page.
2. Go straight to the final address. Chains of redirects slow people down.
3. Keep redirects for a long time. Google says "for as long as possible, generally at least 1 year".

Step 4: tell the search engines

Once the new site is live, submit your sitemap in Google Search Console. For Bing, which also feeds Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT search, IndexNow tells it straight away which pages changed.

What to expect after launch

Even a careful rebuild can move rankings a little at first. Google says to "expect temporary fluctuation in site ranking during the move", and that settling can take weeks. If every page keeps its address, there is far less for Google to work out, and a faster site gives it a better page to rank.

A rebuild that keeps your Google pages

Our website rebuild keeps your brand, can make it look better, and keeps every page Google knows at the same address. It is £1k all inclusive for up to 20 pages, with free hosting for life on Cloudflare's free plan, within its usage limits.

[See the website rebuild](/website-rebuild/), or [request a call back](/website-rebuild/#callback) and we will look at your site and tell you what we would rebuild first.

Frequently asked questions

Will a new website hurt my Google ranking?

Not if every page keeps its address, or redirects permanently to its new one. Rankings drop when pages disappear without a redirect.

What is a 301 redirect?

A permanent redirect. When someone, or Google, asks for an old address, the server sends them to the new one. Google treats the new address as the page to rank.

How long should redirects stay in place?

Google advises keeping them "for as long as possible, generally at least 1 year".

How long does it take Google to settle after a rebuild?

Google says rankings can move temporarily during a move, and that new addresses can take weeks to replace old ones. Keeping the same addresses avoids most of that.

Sources

1. Site moves with URL changes (Google Search Central)
2. Redirects and Google Search (Google Search Central)
3. IndexNow (Microsoft Bing)