Relaunch SEO

Relaunch SEO that takes your rankings with you.

Many websites lose their rankings in a relaunch: new URLs, new structure, new technology. I guide your relaunch technically and strategically, from the first draft until weeks after go-live. So Google and AI assistants still find your brand on the new website.

Book an intro callExample: domain upgrade
Michael RaussenChristoph BarthClaudius WeigmannPlacetel, Nextbike, Laudo & co. trust meFinalist · Search Engine Land Awards 2024
// beispiel: redirect-check
$ relaunch-check old.com new.com  URLs crawled          1,284  with traffic            212  with backlinks           87 /leistungen/seo  301 → /seo-beratung//blog/tipps-2019 301 → /ratgeber/tipps//team.html       404   fix: 301/kontakt.php     302   fix: 301 robots.txt   AI crawlers allowed  oknoindex      staging removed      oksitemap.xml  resubmitted          okcanonical    self-referencing     ok  2 errors. Go-live only after fix.

At a glance

Relaunch support is SEO consulting as a one-off project in the done-with-you model: your team or agency implements, I brief and check. All services compared

Relaunch or redesign?

The main difference is the scope of change: a redesign only renews the appearance, while a relaunch is a complete restart that also affects technology, structure and strategy.

// ebeneRedesignRelaunch
Design and layouterneuerterneuert
Contentbleibterneuert
Structure and URLsbleibterneuert
Technology and CMSbleibterneuert
Strategy and audiencebleibterneuert
Typical SEO riskmittelhoch

I guide both. A redesign also costs rankings when new templates change headings, internal links or copy. A relaunch adds redirects, technology and a new structure. We clarify the scope in the intro call.

Why relaunches fail

Rarely because of the design. Almost always because of things nobody owns in the project plan.

URLs without a target

Old addresses end up on the homepage or in a 404. That loses rankings and backlinks built up over years.

Deleted content

Pages that bring traffic fall victim to the new concept because nobody checked beforehand which ones they are.

Technology in the way

A noindex from staging, missing structured data or blocked AI crawlers make the new site invisible.

The relaunch SEO strategy in four phases

Four phases. I work directly with your team or your agency, not alongside them.

Inventory

Which pages bring rankings, traffic, backlinks and mentions in AI answers? This list is the basis for every further decision.

Structure and content

We plan navigation, site structure and keywords together with the design, not afterwards. Every important page gets a place.

Redirects and staging

Every old URL gets its exact target. Before go-live I check the new site for indexing, structured data and load time.

Go-live and monitoring

I watch rankings, crawl errors and AI visibility for weeks. Deviations get fixed right away.

SEO basics that must not get lost in a relaunch

The technology behind every relaunch. I check every point on staging and again after go-live.

301 redirects

Every old URL redirects directly to its new counterpart. No chains, no blanket redirect to the homepage.

301 /old/ → /new/

Internal links

Menu, footer and body copy link directly to the new URLs, not to redirects.

href="/new/"

Title and H1

Pages that rank today keep their keyword in title and H1. New templates must not overwrite them.

<title>Keyword | Brand</title>

Indexing

The staging noindex goes, canonicals point to themselves, hreflang connects the languages.

index, follow

robots.txt and AI crawlers

Search engines and AI crawlers like GPTBot or PerplexityBot get deliberate access instead of being blocked by accident.

User-agent: GPTBot

Sitemap and Search Console

Submit the new XML sitemap on go-live day. For a domain change, also report the change of address in Search Console.

/sitemap_index.xml

Structured data

Organization, breadcrumbs and article markup move into the new template so search engines and AI can attribute the brand.

"@type": "Organization"

Load time

I measure Core Web Vitals before go-live. A new design must not be slower than the old one.

LCP < 2,5 s

Monitoring

I watch 404 errors, crawl stats and rankings daily in the first weeks, then weekly.

404 · Crawl · Rankings

Example: the relaunch with a new domain

The most demanding form of relaunch is the domain change. I guided these moves. More on the page Domain upgrade.

steinecke.info↓steinecke.de
+45% top-3 rankingsfour months after the move, compared with the old domain’s level (Semrush, 2026)
bar-tek-tuning.de↓bar-tek.com
approx. 20x visibilityover eight years of SEO support from 2016 to 2024, including a domain upgrade for the international market
nutcracker-concepts.de↓nutcracker.de
Move without lossVisibility stable through relaunch and domain change in 2018

Packages and prices

Three packages, depending on whether you want to protect rankings or grow with the relaunch. All at a fixed price, no timesheets.

// sichern

Traffic Protection

ab 2.400 €

For websites with rankings that need to survive the relaunch unharmed.

  • Benchmarks from Search Console and analytics
  • Keyword-to-URL mapping of the top pages
  • Redirect map with all 301 redirects
  • Crawl of staging and live
  • Launch checklist for development
  • Health check after go-live

up to 2,000 URLs · 1 round of dev alignment

// sichern + wachsen

Relaunch SEO Strategy Light

ab 4.000 €

For smaller websites that want to use the relaunch for growth.

  • Technical relaunch audit with quick wins and risks
  • Keyword clusters with priorities (up to 10)
  • Keyword mapping across up to 15 page types
  • 3 content briefs for core pages
  • Roadmap with to-dos and owners
  • GEO basics in structure and briefs

up to 800 URLs · 3 competitors

// wachsen

Relaunch SEO Strategy

ab 7.000 €

For companies that want to become the market leader in search with the relaunch.

  • Market and competitor analysis (up to 5 domains)
  • Topic universe with up to 20 clusters
  • Target structure and mapping across up to 20 page types
  • 5 content briefs for money and support pages
  • Off-page and authority levers
  • GEO basics in structure and briefs

up to 2,000 URLs · 5 competitors

Available as add-ons: an alignment workshop for your team and the agency (see SEO workshop), monitoring after go-live from €800 per month, and programmatic SEO and GEO as separate modules. All prices net.

Bernard Zitzer speaking on stage

// who guides you

Bernard Zitzer

SEO and GEO consultant from Berlin, in SEO for over 12 years and independent since 2016. I guide relaunches and domain changes from the first structure until weeks after go-live, for Steinecke, Bar-Tek and Nutcracker among others. There is no account manager with me: strategy and guidance come from me.

More about me

Frequently asked questions about relaunches

What is the difference between a relaunch and a redesign?

The main difference is the scope of change: a redesign only renews the appearance, while a relaunch is a complete restart that also affects technology, structure and strategy. I guide both.

What goes into a relaunch SEO strategy?

An inventory of pages with rankings, traffic and backlinks, a redirect map for every old URL, a structure that keeps these pages in the new design, and a technical check before and after go-live. Plus a plan for who in the project owns which point.

When should SEO join the relaunch?

Before the first drafts exist. Structure and navigation decide visibility, and they are set early. If you bring in SEO just before go-live, you can usually only rescue redirects.

Do you work with our agency?

Yes. I work directly with design and development teams and give concrete guidance: which pages stay, what the navigation looks like, which redirects are needed.

Will I lose rankings in a relaunch?

A short fluctuation is normal because Google re-evaluates the new site. Permanent losses usually come from missing redirects, deleted content or technical errors, and exactly those can be avoided beforehand.

What does GEO have to do with a relaunch?

AI assistants read your website like a search engine. A relaunch is the best opportunity to structure content so it gets cited, and to avoid blocking AI crawlers by accident.

What does relaunch support cost?

Traffic Protection starts at €2,400, the Relaunch SEO Strategy at €4,000 (Light) and €7,000. Which package fits depends on the size, goal and phase of the project. We clarify the scope in the intro call, then you get a fixed quote.

Planning a relaunch?

Let’s clarify in 30 minutes where the risks are and when I should join.

Book an intro call