Why Determining Structure During Redesign Is Prone to Problems
Website redesign is not just about visual refresh; structural optimization is more critical. Many businesses rush to launch a new version, making hasty decisions during the structure determination phase, leading to issues like navigation confusion, content loss, and search engine ranking fluctuations. Understanding common problems in this phase is essential for a smooth redesign.
Problem 1: Column Planning Detached from User Needs
A common mistake during redesign is copying old site columns or reorganizing based solely on internal ideas, without considering user search habits and browsing paths. For example, naming service pages after internal departments that users don't understand, or burying high-value content too deep.
Recommendation: Use website analytics tools to review current page visit data and popular search terms, combined with user feedback, to re-prioritize columns. Typically, a website should have 5-8 main columns to avoid excessive layers.
Problem 2: Lack of Systematic Content Migration
Structural changes often involve URL changes. Without 301 redirects, old links become invalid, leading to 404 errors for users and loss of accumulated search engine authority. Common issues include:
- Migrating only main pages, ignoring long-tail content, images, attachments, etc.
- Unclear mapping between old and new URLs, causing redirect configuration chaos.
- Failure to update internal links, increasing broken links.
Solution: Create a content migration checklist and confirm page by page; use tools to check redirect chains; monitor 404 errors after launch.
Problem 3: Ignoring Mobile Structure Differences
Many businesses still design structures primarily for desktop during redesign, with mobile only receiving responsive adaptation. However, mobile screens are smaller and interaction methods differ, requiring independent optimization of navigation and content layout. For instance, multiple columns displayed on desktop may need to be collapsed or simplified on mobile.
Recommendation: Produce both desktop and mobile framework diagrams during the structure design phase, ensuring core user actions on mobile require no more than three clicks.
Problem 4: Overlooking SEO Basics
Neglecting SEO baselines during structural redesign can lead to ranking drops after launch. Common oversights include:
- New page titles and descriptions not written according to guidelines.
- Deep URL hierarchies (e.g., domain.com/a/b/c/d), hindering crawling.
- Failure to generate and submit a new sitemap to search platforms.
Recommendation: After determining the structure, plan SEO metadata templates for each column; keep URLs flat, generally no more than three levels; prepare a sitemap before launch.
Problem 5: Insufficient Internal Communication and Testing
Structural redesign involves multiple departments: design, development, content, and operations. Poor communication can lead to misunderstandings. For example, operations may want to highlight a column, but design places it in a secondary position; development builds based on the old structure, only to find discrepancies at launch.
Solution: Output structural documents (e.g., site maps, wireframes, page relationship diagrams) and organize cross-department reviews; conduct full-process walkthroughs in a test environment before launch, including navigation clicks, form submissions, and search functions.
Structure determination is the foundation of redesign. Taking time to clarify it can reduce significant rework later. We recommend businesses allocate 1-2 weeks specifically for structural planning and internal validation, depending on their scale and redesign complexity.
