Changing Un-optimized Urls to Optimized Urls on Established Domain

JeraldineMcCoy · 01-30-2012, 05:23 PM

Hi there,

So obviously this is a SEO question. I'm wanting to change unoptmized urls (that were set up 4 or 5 years ago on a domain) and optimize them on a very established site.

So two questions:
1) How do I do this most effectively without the losing SEO benefit?
2) How do I do it exactly! I don't have wordpress rather a yahoo store site so how do I do it?

I've heard about 301 redirects but I just want to confirm this.

When I say established it's got 5 years domain authority and is ranking for the 20 keywords (relating to the urls) anywhere from:
- First Page (maybe 25%)
- Second to third Page (maybe 50%)
- Not in top 100 (remaining 25%)

Look forward to hearing your thoughts!

paulgl · 01-30-2012, 06:12 PM

How many are there?

If it's several, just leave them, but build new ones with
optimized urls.

Remember, google is one smart cookie and indexes almost
anything anyway. Good urls are more for visitors, but
people panic.

If it's a few that you can do yourself, leave the old urls alone,
and semi-rewrite the article under a new url. Then use internal
linking to the new one. Put a link at the top of the old
page with a link to the new one, like this page updated at
so and so under whatever keyword anchor you'd like.

I never like to 301 anything that's indexed if I can just recreate
a new one. People will stumble onto the old one for years to come.

Old, indexed content can be a gold mine sometime.

If the pages really suck, have no real visitor value, and
there is a small number, no reason to just start over
and do a custom 404 error page.

I've been there, done that. Ditched a whole bunch of junk.
In no time, the site was rocking.

Paul

JeraldineMcCoy · 01-30-2012, 08:14 PM

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your reply it's 20 urls in total (if i was to change them).

Yes some of the content sucks but at the end of the day it's an e-commerce site that sells products ppl need in an unsaturated market. So with that in mind and domain authority it ranks ok for a lot of the keywords and not so well for others.

So you would say not to 301 redirect then? It's confusing cause a lot of ppl seem to recommend it!

Pls give me your final thoughts.

Thx!

01-30-2012, 05:23 PM	#1
JeraldineMcCoy Warrior Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 9 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Changing Un-optimized Urls to Optimized Urls on Established Domain - PLEASE HELP!! Hi there, So obviously this is a SEO question. I'm wanting to change unoptmized urls (that were set up 4 or 5 years ago on a domain) and optimize them on a very established site. So two questions: 1) How do I do this most effectively without the losing SEO benefit? 2) How do I do it exactly! I don't have wordpress rather a yahoo store site so how do I do it? I've heard about 301 redirects but I just want to confirm this. When I say established it's got 5 years domain authority and is ranking for the 20 keywords (relating to the urls) anywhere from: - First Page (maybe 25%) - Second to third Page (maybe 50%) - Not in top 100 (remaining 25%) Look forward to hearing your thoughts!

01-30-2012, 06:12 PM	#2
paulgl Plundering the Web War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: , , . Posts: 4,851 Thanks: 804 Thanked 1,200 Times in 887 Posts	Re: Changing Un-optimized Urls to Optimized Urls on Established Domain - PLEASE HELP!! How many are there? If it's several, just leave them, but build new ones with optimized urls. Remember, google is one smart cookie and indexes almost anything anyway. Good urls are more for visitors, but people panic. If it's a few that you can do yourself, leave the old urls alone, and semi-rewrite the article under a new url. Then use internal linking to the new one. Put a link at the top of the old page with a link to the new one, like this page updated at so and so under whatever keyword anchor you'd like. I never like to 301 anything that's indexed if I can just recreate a new one. People will stumble onto the old one for years to come. Old, indexed content can be a gold mine sometime. If the pages really suck, have no real visitor value, and there is a small number, no reason to just start over and do a custom 404 error page. I've been there, done that. Ditched a whole bunch of junk. In no time, the site was rocking. Paul
	How to Make Money off Facebook: Login to your account. Deactivate your account. Get your butt to work.

01-30-2012, 08:14 PM	#3
JeraldineMcCoy Warrior Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 9 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Changing Un-optimized Urls to Optimized Urls on Established Domain - PLEASE HELP!! Hi Paul, Thanks for your reply it's 20 urls in total (if i was to change them). Yes some of the content sucks but at the end of the day it's an e-commerce site that sells products ppl need in an unsaturated market. So with that in mind and domain authority it ranks ok for a lot of the keywords and not so well for others. So you would say not to 301 redirect then? It's confusing cause a lot of ppl seem to recommend it! Pls give me your final thoughts. Thx!