What SEO in a rebuild covers
SEO in a website rebuild means keeping the search traffic the old site earned and building a site Google can read clearly. It covers redirects, page speed, structured data, the Google Business Profile and a plan of useful pages. We do it for small UK businesses as part of the rebuild itself.
What we do during the rebuild
The redirect map
Every old URL that gets traffic or links is listed from Search Console and matched to its new home. Nothing that ranks is left to return a 404.
Technical fixes
Page titles, headings, image sizes, load speed, a clean sitemap and a robots file that doesn't block the pages you want found.
Schema markup
Structured data tells Google what each page is: your business, its services, its FAQs, its address and opening hours.
Google Business Profile
The categories, services and description are checked and matched to the new site, since the map listing is often where local enquiries start.
Pages written from what you know
A topic plan lists the questions your customers search for, with one useful page for each. Mass-produced AI articles tend to say what every other site says, and Google has little reason to rank them.
So the material comes from you. We interview the owner or the person who does the work, then write it up in plain language. A page about what a job involves, written from someone who does it every week, says things a competitor's page can't.
Being found in AI answers
ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews now answer some searches directly. They tend to quote sites that make the answer easy to lift.
- A plain definition near the top of each service page, in a sentence or two.
- FAQ answers that give the answer in the first sentence.
- An llms.txt file that lists the pages that matter and what each one covers.
- The same business name, address and services everywhere the business appears online.
SEO takes months, and nobody can promise rankings
A redirect map protects what you have from day one. New pages usually take months to rank, if they rank at all, and anyone guaranteeing a position is guessing.
When SEO work in a rebuild is worth it
- The old site brings in enquiries from search, and losing them would hurt.
- Customers search for the problems you solve, and no page of yours answers them.
- The old site is slow, or built in a way Google struggles to read.
- Someone in the business can give an hour now and then to talk through a topic.
Keep it to the basics
If most work comes from referrals and repeat customers, a fast site with correct redirects, schema and a tidy Google Business Profile is enough. A content plan would cost more than it brings in.
Questions about SEO and content
Will we lose our Google rankings when the site is rebuilt?
Not if the redirects are done properly. Every old URL with traffic or links is mapped to its new page before launch, and Search Console is watched for errors afterwards. Some movement in the first weeks is normal.
How long does SEO take to work?
Months, usually. Technical fixes and redirects help straight away. New pages tend to take several months to settle, and how far they climb depends on how many other sites answer the same question.
Can you guarantee a first-page ranking?
No. Nobody controls Google's results. We can make the site easy to read and write pages worth ranking, and show you in Search Console what they bring in.
Do you write the content with AI?
AI helps with drafting. The substance comes from interviews with you or your team, because pages built only from AI repeat what is already online and rarely rank for long.
What is llms.txt?
It is a plain text file at the root of a website that lists its main pages and what each covers. AI tools can read it to understand the site quickly. It is cheap to add and harmless.
Tell us what the current site brings in
On a free call, share what the site ranks for now and where enquiries come from. If the basics would cover it, we'll say so and leave the content plan out.