How to handle a website redesign with Cludo
Redesigning your website is a big step, and ensuring your Cludo search implementation stays aligned during the transition is crucial. Whether you’re an existing client or just getting started, Cludo provides flexible options to support your redesign, especially if you need to crawl a staging site behind a login.
When redesigning your site, it’s important to test Cludo’s search functionality before the new version goes live. Setting up a staging environment ensures that everything works as intended without affecting your live search experience.
1. Add a New Crawler for the Staging URL
Within your MyCludo dashboard:
- Go to Configuration > Crawlers.
- Click Add New Crawler and enter the full staging site URL (e.g.,
https://staging.yourdomain.com).
If your staging site is behind a firewall, VPN, or requires login credentials, you’ll need to ensure Cludo’s crawler can access it. This can involve:
- Whitelisting Cludo’s crawler IP address on your web server or hosting provider. You can read more about whitelisting our crawlers in this article.
- If the staging environment requires authentication, configure crawler access by providing login credentials to a Cludo employee by contacting your customer success manager or Cludo Support.
This crawler will fetch content from your staging site to build a preview of your redesigned search experience.
2. Assign the Staging Crawler to a Temporary Engine
To avoid interfering with your live engine, create a temporary engine and assign the new staging crawler to it. This engine will index only your staging site content, allowing you to preview search results and test relevance tuning.
- Create a Temporary Engine
- Go to Configuration > Engines in MyCludo.
- Click Add Engine, name it (e.g., “Staging Engine”), select language, and save.
- Assign the Crawler to the Temporary Engine
- Edit your temporary engine under Configuration > Engines.
- Select your new staging crawler and save the engine.
If you don’t have any available engines, please contact your Customer Success Manager for assistance. Not sure who to reach out to? Just send us an email at customersuccess@cludo.com, and we’ll connect you with the right person.
3. Prepare for Launch
When you’re ready to launch the redesigned site:
- Update the crawler’s target URL from the staging domain to the live domain.
- Initiate a full crawl to index the new site content.
- Validate the search results and search performance on the live site.
Note: While it’s possible to assign the new crawler to your existing production engine, this approach is not recommended. Using the old engine may carry over page rankings, quicklinks, and banners that no longer align with your new site structure. Starting with a new engine allows for a clean slate, ensuring that your search configuration matches the redesigned site.