Redesigning a website is a rigorous process – there are many aspects to be taken care of. Involving a SEO company in your redesigning efforts has many benefits.
Web development companies can develop search engine friendly sites but they are usually ill equipped to ensure search engine optimization of the site content, metatags and urls. A SEO company, on the other hand, will have the right expertise to conduct keyword research, to find long tail targets through site analytics review and to generate a comprehensive content and SEO plan, which will effectively increase traffic to your site.
Based on your budget, you can decide the level of involvement of the SEO company in your redesigning effort. SEO can prove to be of vital importance in following aspects of website redesigning:
CMS review and redirect strategy: In case you are not using Drupal, Joomla or WordPress; getting a CMS reviewed by your SEO company is recommended. Review takes only few hours but will prove to be very helpful in the long run.
Information architecture: SEO company can help you in collaboration on SEO with stakeholders leading to creation of a robust Information Architecture, which will help boost your website traffic and provide first-rate user experience.
Optimization of content and final review: SEO company can help you optimize all the web pages to target top ranking in search engine results. A final review by an SEO company before launching the site ensures there are no soft spots like broken links etc.
Redesigning requires a team effort. As views on each aspect of the website will differ from one person to other, redesigning may create a negative environment in the organization. Your SEO company can come up with a sound strategy and help employees work together in all aspects of redesigning efforts like content, layout, platform etc and avoid unnecessary conflicts.
Involvement of a SEO company from initial stages of redesigning helps avoid after launch optimization effort, which can even mean rework. You can get additional information on this at Search Engine Watch.