The affects of changing an existing URL

EvanHinrichsen · 12-14-2011, 04:54 PM

Hi All,

My question is, what are the affects of changing an existing URL?

I've read articles dating back to 2007 that say keywords in a URL will have no affect on the rankings in Google. Is this still true 4 years on?

Also, if I do change the URL to have keywords listed, will the page ranking be affected in Google? Is it temporary? If so, for how long? Or is it (God forbid) permanent?

The page I'm currently trying to optimize for the keyword Melbourne Function Rooms is Melbourne Function Rooms - The Langham Melbourne.

DeskCoder · 12-14-2011, 07:39 PM

Create your new page with the new URL.
Copy all the content from the old page to the new page.
Add a 301 redirect from the old page to the new page.

Google will pass all the rankings to the new page, and you should not lose anything.

If you are asking what is better, keywords in the URL or not, I would definetly have the keywords in the URL.

EvanHinrichsen · 12-14-2011, 08:29 PM

Awesome.. Thanks mate. I'll start on it now. Cheers!

mdsurf · 12-14-2011, 08:34 PM

do what deskcoder said, just make sure to double check the url's when ur changing them and doing the 301, ive made mistakes before in the past!

EvanHinrichsen · 12-21-2011, 10:47 PM

Hi again,

What are the affects of the old URL?

Will it not be searchable in Google anymore?

For example, if i had a page with the URL xxxxx.com/conference_venues.html and wanted that to rank for Conference Venue type keywords but had a 301 redirect to xxxx.com/function_rooms.html, will the conference venue page lose all its ranking in Google?

12-14-2011, 04:54 PM	#1
EvanHinrichsen Warrior Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 23 Thanks: 4 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	The affects of changing an existing URL Hi All, My question is, what are the affects of changing an existing URL? I've read articles dating back to 2007 that say keywords in a URL will have no affect on the rankings in Google. Is this still true 4 years on? Also, if I do change the URL to have keywords listed, will the page ranking be affected in Google? Is it temporary? If so, for how long? Or is it (God forbid) permanent? The page I'm currently trying to optimize for the keyword Melbourne Function Rooms is Melbourne Function Rooms - The Langham Melbourne.

12-14-2011, 07:39 PM	#2
DeskCoder HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Southern Indiana Posts: 159 Thanks: 27 Thanked 14 Times in 13 Posts	Re: The affects of changing an existing URL Create your new page with the new URL. Copy all the content from the old page to the new page. Add a 301 redirect from the old page to the new page. Google will pass all the rankings to the new page, and you should not lose anything. If you are asking what is better, keywords in the URL or not, I would definetly have the keywords in the URL.

12-14-2011, 08:29 PM	#3
EvanHinrichsen Warrior Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 23 Thanks: 4 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: The affects of changing an existing URL Awesome.. Thanks mate. I'll start on it now. Cheers!

12-14-2011, 08:34 PM	#4
mdsurf Active Warrior Join Date: May 2011 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 69 Thanks: 6 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: The affects of changing an existing URL do what deskcoder said, just make sure to double check the url's when ur changing them and doing the 301, ive made mistakes before in the past!

12-21-2011, 10:47 PM	#5
EvanHinrichsen Warrior Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 23 Thanks: 4 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: The affects of changing an existing URL Hi again, What are the affects of the old URL? Will it not be searchable in Google anymore? For example, if i had a page with the URL xxxxx.com/conference_venues.html and wanted that to rank for Conference Venue type keywords but had a 301 redirect to xxxx.com/function_rooms.html, will the conference venue page lose all its ranking in Google?