I want to change title, will I lose SERP position

15 years ago

You could link that page to a new one that is optimized more effectively - that way you'll probably rank great on both pages. This may not be the best solution but then you won't lose the positioning for the original page - I'm sure it will work. I've done it before.

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Preben Frenning

15 years ago

That sounds like a great plan!

Btw, you should try to have the keywords in the url, as well as in the title of the new page. Then ping the page you already have with a link to the new one, at pingler.com to get it reindexed.

I hope that helps,
Preben

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LadyL08

15 years ago

I thought about linking the two pages but I'm pretty sure this falls into the duplicate content issue.

I know everyone groans when someone says that but my interpretation is that Google doesn't want you to have two pages with the same stuff on it on your website. This gives you the chance to manipulate the search engines because you could have two pages ranking that are the same. (from Google)"content is deliberately duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or win more traffic"

Maybe a way around that is to create another website with the better optimized pages. Or I just chalk it up to lessons learned and move on.

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Joe118

15 years ago

Originally Posted by LadyL08

I thought about linking the two pages but I'm pretty sure this falls into the duplicate content issue.

I know everyone groans when someone says that but my interpretation is that Google doesn't want you to have two pages with the same stuff on it on your website. This gives you the chance to manipulate the search engines because you could have two pages ranking that are the same. (from Google)"content is deliberately duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or win more traffic"

Maybe a way around that is to create another website with the better optimized pages. Or I just chalk it up to lessons learned and move on.

LadyL08, the quote you presented talks about duplication across domains, and does not mean anything either way for pages on the same domain. In my readings of google's webmaster communications I'm always taking the narrowest possible interpretation, which in this case is explicitly addressing cross domain duplication and saying *NOTHING* about same-domain duplication.

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dsmpublishing

15 years ago

When i realised how wonderful it is i changed the titles on all of my websites minus download pages and the results have been amazing.

I would thoroughly recommend doing it - even if they drop slightly it is worth it in the long run.

I remember including one long tail phrase on mine and i now feature about six times on the first page where as before i didnt feature at all.

kind regards

sam
X

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Preben Frenning

15 years ago

You will have to create a new page with the a similar title, but with more optimization, and unique content.

I have had (And still do!) websites with similar titles rank 2 times on the first page of google. No worries. But DON'T have the same content on them.

Btw, I have even gotten ranked for keywords on an old domain, just by changing the title - Meaning the rest of the page is "Lorem ipsum...", and it still shows up. Now HOW duplicate is that?!?

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bigcat1967

15 years ago

That depends on your niche. If your niche was "57 Chevy" and in your old title you had "cars" and changed it to "57 Chevy" - you will gain in your niche. You shouldn't even drop in the short term.

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dburk

15 years ago

Originally Posted by LadyL08

When I first started I didn't know the importance of urls and filename. I have a site who pages have broke into top 10 with no major SEO help from me. To get into the top 3 I think I need the filename to more specifically mirror the keyword (long tail) and backlinks. Wont it be like starting over with new page if I change it? Should I just focus on backlinks?

Hi Lynne,

The page "title" and the page "file name" are two very different issues. If it's just the page title then definitely make the appropriate changes, you should see the results within a few weeks. If it doesn't improve your ranking then try again.

Now, if you are changing the file name (in effect the URL) you will need to leave the old URL in place with a 301 permanent redirect to your new URL. You will likely drop in ranking at first, but bounce back within a few weeks, perhaps in a slightly better position.

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aspirepub

15 years ago

Originally Posted by LadyL08

When I first started I didn't know the importance of urls and filename. I have a site who pages have broke into top 10 with no major SEO help from me. To get into the top 3 I think I need the filename to more specifically mirror the keyword (long tail) and backlinks. Wont it be like starting over with new page if I change it? Should I just focus on backlinks?

It really depends on how competitive your market is. In less competitive market, matching the file name with the keyword could help to improve your ranking a little bit but it really makes no difference in a more competitive market. In such situation, backlinks and anchor text of your incoming links would play a major role.

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Will P

15 years ago

I have never known it to help serps regarding Google however I have used this tactic for SE's like Yahoo and it seems to work well. Personally I would just recommend posting on niche related blogs covering topics that your web page does, it wont pull in much more traffic but if you do this every other day you will see a nice increase in your serps in 1-2 weeks. Or at least it works well for my sites..