Best practise for updating software guide
-
Heya!
I write a guide for a specific piece of Internet-based software which is about to undergo a major patch release. No-one's going to be using the old version, so my old-version articles are essentially going to be useless, as are keywords related to the old version number.
Given that, I'm intending to update all my guides to be current with the new version. However, obviously I want to keep the Google juice for the old guides, as they rank pretty well.
The three options I'm considering:
-
Simply retitle the old guides to the latest version number - "How to use Blue Widget 2.0" becomes "How to use Blue Widget 3.0". Disadvantage - my URLs still include the old version number, 2.0.
-
Write updated guides as seperate articles and 301 redirect the old articles to them. I've done this before with some success. So, I'd 301 the URL for "How to use Blue Widget 2.0" to the url for "How to use Blue Widget 3.0", my new article. Disadvantages - possible loss of link juice? Also, I believe redirects can be kinda tricksy.
-
Just leave both the old and new versions up there, with a link from the old version saying "outdated, check the new version". My belief is that this would be the worst idea.
Should I do one of them, or something else? And why?
-
-
Thanks, that's very interesting.
One question - if most of the incoming searches use the version number in the search term ("blue widget guide 3.0") would you still advise just changing the title? Obviously the URL will still have the old version number in it.
-
Hi,
our experience with updating page-titles is the following: Minor changes like switching 2.0 to 3.0 will not have negative impact.
301 should keep link-juice but there is a potential risk to loose some rankings.
To avoid duplicate content problems I cannot recommend your last option.
Due to the last google-freshness update I believe updating the document, title and keep old URL without redirecting will be the best soultion.
Best regards
Steffen
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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
-
Anyone using Adobe Business Catalyst and Fixing SEO URL Blog Updates?
Does anyone else have experience with the current update Adobe Business Catalyst has announced for their blog features? Florin at BC offered the code below: http://www.graeagle.com/images/fb_blog_og_img.jpg" /> However nether myself nor another commentator can figure out how to make it work: I added the meta data to my template but it seems the tags are not correct. For example, the tag {tag_blogpostmetatitle} does not automatically include the SEO title that I've called out in my individual blog post. So, it appears the browser is ignoring the tag and just including it as is. When I view the source for my live blog article, this is what I get for the lines that I've added the code in the tag: Also, I cannot get schema metadata to work on the BC blog. For example, I have used it on this page: http://www.homedestination.com/_blog/Real_Estate_Blog/post/things_to_know_before_building_a_new_home/; which yields the following in Google's Rich Snippet Tool: Extracted structured data rdfa-node property: title: {tag_blogpostmetatitle} description:__{tag_blogpostmetadescription}
Technical SEO | | jessential0 -
Best Google Practice for Hacked SIte: Shift Servers/IP or Disavow?
Hi - Over the past few months, I've identified multiple sites which are linking into my site and creating fake pages (below is an example and there's over 500K+ of similar links from various sites}. I've attempted to contact the hosting companies, etc. with little success. Was wondering if my best course of action might be at this point: A) which servers (or IP address). B) Use the Google Disavow tool? C) both. example: { http://aryafar.com/crossings/200-krsn-team-part19.html } Thanks!!
Technical SEO | | hhdentist0 -
Best practice for Landing page in Wordpress
Hi Mozers, has anyone experience in setting up landing pages with Wordpress? The problem I want to solve is the following: I work with a membership area like SEOmoz in which I have some bigger plugins running. If i make a landing page in the same installation like a custom post type/template or via another plugin like "Premise" all plugins will automatically load as well. That will harm my page loading time. Do you think, I should work maybe with Wordpress Multisites? Landing pages as a separate blog and the membership area as another blog? Appreciate any good idea! Thanks
Technical SEO | | reisefm0 -
January 2013 Google update affected my projects ?
I am running 400+ projects. Mostly all projects keyword rank has been effected recently. IS there any new update from google between 10-19 January 2013 ?
Technical SEO | | deepakwadhwa0 -
Best Way to Handle - International Content - Different Language
Our site currently is focused in the USA and the entire site is in the English language. We have considered broadening our scope to include content from foreign countries - i.e. Brazil. What is the best way to approach this -- can we use our existing domain and just have a specific section of the site that is dedicated to a particular Country with content translated into that Country's predominant language? OR could this create SEO issues -- having a domain with both English and some other language? Would it be better to have this on a totally different domain with Country extension? This is totally foreign territory for me - bad pun intended. Any advice, help would be appreciated. Thanks. Matt
Technical SEO | | MWM37720 -
Best Strategy For Multiple Geographic Targets
I have a client who operates and gets business from several cities in the same geographic area. Does anyone have suggestions that will allow him to get leads for the same service from multiple cities. Any help appreciated.
Technical SEO | | waynekolenchuk0 -
What's the best way to switch over to a new site with a different CMS?
Is it better to 301 or to closely duplicate each page URL when switching over to a new website from an established site with good ranking and a different CMS ( Drupal switching to Wordpress)?
Technical SEO | | OhYeahSteve0
