Changing my site (dramatically)

[JML1179]

I am about to do a complete site change. I am going to WordPress. I am ranked #2 on SERPS. Will I lose rank for changing everything on my site? I have 500 pages indexed but I am about to have 30k indexed. It is a real estate site that is switching from a "framed" solution, to a listing indexed solution.

If I make good use of my keywords etc (on site optimization) will I be at risk of losing risk just for changing my site?

[JML1179]

I have thousands of duplicate content warning.

I am using a hosted server/realtor package that doesn't let me see the source code. I basically have duplicates of every page on my site some how. I've used the company for 8 yrs though. I am in deep trouble. I fear I can't stay with them.

[nickjuliapr]

Joseph,

In scenarios like these, I put together a site map and review the overall value of the site and what it's providing to it's users.

Once I know what the value that I am currently providing, I put together an action plan (301 redirects, site optimization, site architecture etc...) with the proposed site changes and see if it will benefit the visitor by restructuring the site.

Once you are able to visualize the overall flow of the old site and the new site then you make decisions on whether or not it's worth while to move forward.  Keep in mind that whatever you are doing has to give users a reason to use your website and stay on it.

It's possible you should start with some conversion optimization of certain pages to find where your leaks are, try and plug them and keep forging forward.

If you find that it's impossible to plug the leaks in your current structure than you may need to do what you are describing in your post.

[wrttnwrd]

No, no - if you set up the 301s then the originals don't have to remain. A visiting browser knows right away that the old page is gone and has bene permanently replaced.

However, Egol's advice is spot-on. This is complicated, and you have a LOT of pages involved. Your best bet is to hire an expert to help you with this. It may cost you some $$, but it'll pay off in a hurry.

I'm not pitching myself here - in fact, keep me out of the running so that it's clear I have no axe to grind.

But this is very, very technically complex.

[JML1179]

This may be harder than I could have imagined. If 90% of the backlinks on my site are my root domain (PensacolaRealEstate.com) then I should not lose any link juice, right? The backlinks will lead to my root domain, period; however, if I change my site and cut off some of the URLs then I lose the backlinks to that page. This could cause my domain authority (a sum of ALL my backlinks to ALL my pages in the domain) but not my page strength (the root domain).  Right?

If I were to set up these 301 redirects, it means I have to leave the files for those pages on the server but not actually link my new site to them, right?

[EGOL]

Don't rush into this.  You gotta do it smart.

When you change your site the goal should be to improve it and make it more competitive.

That is done by carefully improving the structure and the optimization... and also preserving your link assets with 301 redirects.  Also avoiding problems like changing the URLs without redirecting.

If you don't know how to do these things it is essential to get a competent person to help you or to do it for you.  There are lots of good instructions for moving a site on the web.

Now... your 30K pages....  Those could suck a lot of strength from your site.  These could produce a duplicate content problem (Panda).

I would not be surprised if your rankings dropped after adding them.  To minimize ranking loss you want to have very few links into them from the rest of your site and all of those pages linking out generously to the rest of your site.

To minimize panda problems you might combine some of these listings, placing several on a page.  This page count reduction can reduce the rankings loss.

The problem with that is having enough links into those pages to get them indexed and hold them in the index.  So if you put all of them up at the same time you will need fifty to sixty really strong links that hit nodes deep in the site.  These links will channel spiders deep into the site and force them to chew their way out through those pages, indexing them as they go.

These links must be permanent or be held in place until other links are developed.  If you remove them then google spider action will fall on those pages and google will forget them.

If you don't have experience with big sites find someone who has that experience who can help you design  the structure of these new pages.

(not recommending myself... I only work on my own sites)

[wrttnwrd]

Chances are the listings are repeated on other web sites, so those probably won't have much positive impact on your rankings. They shouldn't do much harm, either, except that Google's going to waste a lot of time crawling all those duped pages.

The best way to preserve what you can is to ensure that you redirect all of the old page addresses to their new equivalents. So, if you have a page like:

www.yoursite.com/foo/bar.html

and it will now be:

www.yoursite.com/foo.html

Set up a 301 redirect from the first to the second URL. That will ensure that search engines can quickly update their indexes.

Also, be sure to set up a full XML site map and submit it to Google and Bing Webmaster Tools. That'll give you very rapid feedback regarding any problems.