Redesigning a website after rebranding

When you rebrand, your website should change in the same week your signs, vans and cards do, and it should help people who know the old name find the new one. That means the new name, logo and colors on every page, a short line that connects old and new ("formerly Miller & Sons Plumbing"), and, if the domain changes, the old address forwarding every page to its new home for years. Done carefully, existing customers barely notice anything but the new look, and the work your old name earned on Google is carried over rather than thrown away.

First, decide what kind of rebrand it is

Rebrands come in different sizes, and each one touches the website differently:

New logo and colors, same name. The simplest case. The website gets a new look; the domain, page addresses and Google listing stay the same.
Slightly changed name. "Miller & Sons Plumbing" becomes "Miller Plumbing". Usually the old domain can stay, or the new one can be added alongside.
Completely new name. "Miller & Sons" becomes "Clearwater Plumbing". This is the case that needs real planning, because the domain usually changes too.
Merger or new owner. Two businesses become one, or a buyer renames the business. Redesigning a website after a business changes hands covers the ownership side.

Work out which one you are doing before you brief a designer. It changes what has to be protected.

Bring the brand onto the site properly

A rebrand on the website is more than swapping the logo file. Go through every place the old identity appears:

Logo in the header, footer and on the browser tab (the small icon, called a favicon).
Colors in buttons, headings and backgrounds. Use the exact color codes from your brand guide.
Fonts, if the brand specifies them, as long as they stay easy to read on a phone.
The business name in every page title, heading, paragraph, footer and form.
Photos of vans, shirts, signs and storefronts showing the old name.
Email signatures, PDFs and price lists linked from the site.
Social media links and embedded profiles that still show the old name.

Search the old site for the old name page by page, including the small print. Customers notice the one page that still says the old name. Using your logo well on a new website covers sizing and placement.

Tell customers the old and new names belong together

People who know you by the old name need a bridge, at least for the first year or two:

A short line near the top of the home page: "Clearwater Plumbing, formerly Miller & Sons. Same family, same team, same phone number."
A sentence on the about page explaining why you changed, in plain words.
The old name mentioned once in the footer, such as "formerly Miller & Sons Plumbing".
Reviews that mention the old name kept as they are. They are still about you.

That one connecting line does a lot. Returning customers know they are in the right place, and people searching for the old name see it on the page. What to tell customers when your website changes has more on announcing the change.

If the domain changes: forward everything

A new name often means a new domain. That is fine, but the old domain must keep working.

Keep the old domain registered. Renew it every year, ideally for years. Never let it lapse; someone else could buy it and receive your old customers.
Forward every old page to its new equivalent. Not just the home page. The old drain-cleaning page should forward to the new drain-cleaning page, and so on. Designers call this a page-by-page 301 redirect.
Keep the same page structure where possible, so the forwarding is simple and nothing gets lost.
Tell Google about the move. In Google Search Console, the Change of Address tool tells Google the old domain has moved to the new one. Changing your domain name without losing Google explains the steps.

Nobody can promise how search results will settle after a name and domain change. Forwarding every page and telling Google about the move is what protects the place the old site had earned.

Email during a rebrand

If your email address changes to the new domain, do not switch it off on the old one. Keep the old addresses receiving mail, either as aliases on the same mailbox or forwarding to the new addresses, for at least a year. Customers, suppliers and your bank have the old address saved. Change your outgoing address to the new domain and put a note in your signature. Make sure the new domain has its email settings set up properly, so your messages from it do not land in spam.

Update everything else on the same day

The website is the center, but the rebrand needs to reach every listing that links to it. On launch day or within the week:

Google Business Profile: new name, logo, photos and website address. Google may ask you to verify the change. Changing your business name on Google and your website walks through it.
Bing Places and Apple Maps listings.
Yelp, BBB, Angi, Houzz and trade directories.
Social media names, profile pictures and website links.
Your state license board or registration, if the trade name appears there.
Invoices, quotes and email templates that link to the website.

Matching the name, address and phone number everywhere helps Google and customers connect the new name with your existing reputation.

What to keep from the old site

A rebrand changes how you present yourself, not what you know. Keep:

The service pages that bring calls, with the new name and look.
Reviews and testimonials, word for word.
Photos of your work, retaking only those showing the old branding.
Every old page address, either unchanged or forwarded.

Your rebrand website checklist

New logo, colors and name on every page, title and form.
A "formerly" line on the home page and in the footer.
Same phone number, if at all possible.
Old domain kept and renewing, every page forwarded.
Change of Address submitted in Search Console, if the domain changed.
Old email addresses still receiving.
Google Business Profile and directories updated within the week.
Old-name photos and documents replaced.

If the rebrand is the push to replace a dated site, it helps to see the new identity on a working site before launch day. You can see your site rebuilt first with your current pages, then ask for the new name, logo and colors to go on it.