Best practice to change the URL of all my site pages
-
Hi,
I need to change all my site pages URL as a result of moving the site into another CMS platform that has its own URL structure:
- Currently the site is highly ranked for all relevant KWs I am targeting.
- All pages have backlinks
- Content and meta data should remain exactly the same.
- The domain should stay the same
The plan is as follow:
- Set up the new site using a temporary domain name
- Copy over all content and meta data
- Set up all redirects (301)
- Update the domain name and point the live domain to the new one
- Watch closely for 404 errors and add any missing redirects
Questions:
- Any comments on the plan?
- Is there a way (the above plan or any other) to make sure ranking will not be hurt
- What entries should I add to the sitemap.xml: new pages only or new pages and the pages from the old site?
Thanks,
Guy.
-
As Ben and RDK shared, your transition plan is solid.
Is there a way (the above plan or any other) to make sure ranking will not be hurt
If you have links, there will always be some loss of DA during the transition. Approximately 90% of the link value will transfer with the 301, but there is some degradation. This can be minimized by changing any links you control to the new site. This includes social media pages, signatures, etc.
Another recommendation I make to anyone moving sites is to create a link building campaign 30 days after the site move to generate links to the new site. These links will help offset any minor loss from the move. If the move is done properly, you can be back to your old rankings or better within 60 days after the move.
What entries should I add to the sitemap.xml: new pages only or new pages and the pages from the old site?
A sitemap should include all pages on the new site you wish to be included in the index.
One final note. Since you are changing URLs during this move, think out the new URLs carefully. Try to build URLs which will last 20 years. Try to account for any foreseeable changes. One example is to remove technology extensions from URLS. Instead of mysite.com/products.html use mysite.com/products.
-
Some quick thoughts:
1. Take advantage of seomoz site crawler for issues sometime before going live- this will help detect any possible URL (duplicate) problems that are common in transition. Don't forget about redirecting any PPC campaigns you may have.
2. Based on experience, ranking will suffer in transition, regardless of preparation. If you spent time tightening your SEO metadata and structured your website exactly the same, you should see overall improvement after a few weeks. How quickly you are reindexed varies from one site to another. If you're seeing 20,000+ visitors a month, indexing should be relatively quick (that's just based off of my small statistical sample of personal experience.)
3. XML sitemap should be the current site you want to have indexed... not sure what you mean when you say you'd include the old site pages, which might lead to indexing problems no matter how you might work that out. With luck, your 301's will feed the wounded patient until Googlebot comes to stitch everything up.
If you could document your experience, it would be really helpful. Test and measurement = smart SEO
-
We have just completed a similar update on our site using pretty much exactly the technique you describe above. As you say keep a real close eye on the 404 pages as they can catch you out. The other thing to watch out for is to make sure you maintain any historical 301 redirects as they are easy to miss when implementing such a big change. We suddenly found loads of old links that we didn't even realise existed!
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Best Practices to Design Site Mock Up Using Wordpress Rather than Wireframes?
We are in the process of redesigning our real estate website. Our designer/developer is very quick and confident on Wordpress. He suggests designing directly on Wordpress and bypassing wireframes and a mock ups. He is very confident in his Wordpress abilities. Is it a mistake to take this approach? He has also asked that we select a real estate theme at this point. I would think that the theme would be selected after the wireframes and mock ups get done. But there are certainly different approaches. Are there best practices for redesigning a webiste; any suggestions? Are there significant risks/disadvantages to bypassing wireframes/mock ups? Thanks,
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Kingalan1
Alan Rosinsky0 -
301 migration - Indexed Pages rising on old site
Hello, We did a 301 redirect from site a to site b back in March. I would check on a daily basis on the index count using query "site:sitename" The past couple of days, the old domain (that was 301 redirected) indexed pages has been rising which is really concerning. We did a 301 redirect back in march 2016, and the indexed count went from 400k pages down to 78k. However, the past 3 days it went from 78k to 89,500. And I'm worried that the number is going to continue to rise. My question - What would you do to investigate / how to investigate this issue? Would it be screaming frog and look at redirects? Or is this a unique scenario that I'd have to do other steps/procedures?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | ggpaul5620 -
Best practice with duplicate content. Cd
Our website has recently been updated, now it seems that all of our products pages look like this cdnorigin.companyname.com/catagory/product Google is showing these pages within the search. rather then companyname.com/catagory/product Each product page does have a canaonacal tag on that points to the cdnorigin page. Is this best practice? i dont think that cdnorigin.companyname etc looks very goon in the search. is there any reason why my designer would set the canonical tags up this way?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Alexogilvie0 -
URL Question and Advice on Site Architecture
Good morning one and all, i have a specific question pertaining to my Domain Migration Website URL structure. I have a computer repair business that I am re branding and my question at this point is centrally focused on how to best handle my URL naming structure that will best suite my needs for my the Search Engines and also my customers UX while not looking SPAMMY I am a web developer and SEO and I am building a SILO Site Architecture in WordPress using Pages (not Posts) so no discussion is need on the Permalink structure. I am attaching several Images below of Screen Shots of the new site that I have designed so that you may look at them and see the Silo Architecture Layout in action for the most part. OK, here we go. Looking at the Silo Mast Head, we can see that the following Main Menu items each represent a specific Silo Theme Silo Theme # 1 - COMPUTER REPAIR Silo Theme # 2 - VIRUS REMOVAL Silo Theme # 3 - PHONE REPAIR Silo Theme # 4 - NETWORKING Silo Theme # 5 - DATA RECOVERY My specific question is, if /computer-repair/ is a main silo theme (WP -Parent Page) and /laptop-repair/ is a (Child Page) of Computer Repair is the following example below (the actual URL string) going to 'trigger' a SPAM signal to either the user or GOOGLE or both?? URL String: http://www.pcmedicsoncall.com/computer-repair/laptop-repair/ Here's another example with the VIRUS REMOVAL SILO http://www.pcmedicsoncall.com/virus-removal/malware-removal/ Seeing how computer repair is the main silo theme that cannot be changed in the URL Structure (it can) but I wont change it seeing how COMPUTER REPAIR is the single largest keyword phrase used by individuals when they are looking for computer repair. Secondly, - LAPTOP REPAIR is also a Keyword Phrase that that has HIGH search queries that I am trying to rank for and that too (ideally) should also not changed! How do I deal with this situation? Or, am I seeing this in a overly paranoid way? I currently have the site allowing only my IP Address so I am afraid that the screen shots below is all that I can do on this in lieu of actually visiting the Site Currently, I have my URL Structure where Wilmington NC immediately follows the targeted keyword phrase for the Silo Theme like below http://www.pcmedicsoncall.com/virus-removal-wilmington-nc/malware-removal/ The example above, - including the location after the keyword phrase does look much more attractive and breaks it up so it does not read SPAMMY and it will help with SEO but yet another problem exists using the location after the keyword phrase which I explain in detail Below. On top of doing a complete re-branding Domain Change I am actually going to be relocating myself and my business to Charlotte, NC at the end of the summer so I have serious doubts if using Wilmington NC within the URL structure would be a wise idea considering that I will be relocating and an internal 301 Redirect on a Newly Migrated site 2-3 months after the initial site migration and site setup may have some negative impact and confuse Google and compound the situation thus much further despite the fact that it would immediately help me bounce back up with my rankings after the migration process. Thoughts a suggestions on both explained scenarios please? I have asked this specif question once already but obviously people do not read my very detailed and well thought out questions. This can also be viewed here>http://www.seomoz.org/q/need-very-urgent-advice-on-wedsite-migration-questions-please#reply_150847> Thank you Sincerely, Marshall Thompson SEOMOZ-PC-MEDICS-ON-CALL-1.jpg SEOMOZ-PC-MEDICS-ON-CALL1.jpg
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | MarshallThompson310 -
What's the best way to manage content that is shared on two sites and keep both sites in search results?
I manage two sites that share some content. Currently we do not use a cross-domain canonical URL and allow both sites to be fully indexed. For business reasons, we want both sites to appear in results and need both to accumulate PR and other SEO/Social metrics. How can I manage the threat of duplicate content and still make sure business needs are met?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | BostonWright0 -
Best Practice for Inter-Linking to CCTLD brand domains
Team, I am wondering what people recommend as best SEO practice to inter-link to language specific brand domains e.g. : amazon.com
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | tomypro
amazon.de
amazon.fr
amazon.it Currently I have 18 CCTLDs for one brand in different languages (no DC). I am linking from each content page to each other language domain, providing a link to the equivalent content in a separate language on a different CCTLD doamin. However, with Google's discouragement of site-wide links I am reviewing this practice. I am tending towards making the language redirects on each page javascript driven and to start linking only from my home page to the other pages with optimized link titles. Anyone having any thoughts/opinions on this topic they are open to sharing? /Thomas0 -
Best way to find all url parameters?
In reference to http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/07/improved-handling-of-urls-with.html, what is the best way to find all of the parameters that need to be addressed? Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | nicole.healthline0 -
How Fast Is Too Fast to Increase Page Volume of Your Site
I am working on a project that is basically a site to list apartment for rent (similar to apartments.com or rent.com). We want to add a bunch of amenity pages, price pages, etc. Basically increasing the page count on the site and helping users be able to have more pages relevant to their searches and long tail phrases. So an example page would be Denver apartments with a pool would be one page and Seattle apartments under 900 would be another page etc. By doing this we will take the site from about 14,000 pages or so to over 2 million by the time we add a list of amenities to every city in the US. My question is should I worry about time release on them? Meaning do you think we would get penalized for launching that many pages overnight or over the course of a week? How fast is too fast to increase the content on your site? The site about a year old and we are not trying to scam anything just looking to site functionality and page volume. Any advice?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | ioV0