Rank a site that was 301'd

[TimColeman]

We had a customer that had 2 sites. They left us, and 301'd site A to site B. Things didn't go well.

Now, a year later they want to use us again.

Ideally, I would undo the 301.   Has anyone done this? Would I be better off starting with a new domain?

If you've done it, how long before it started to rank like you expected/hoped?

[Carson-Ward]

Hi there,

Really interesting question that I just noticed here. I've never done this before, but my best guess comes from the Google Guidelines on moving the site:

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/83105?hl=en

If Google recommends keeping the redirect in place for at least a month or so, the implication is that you can remove a redirect from site A to site B after a few months without significant ranking drops to site B. That also implies that removing a redirect from site A to site B will not return site A to its former rankings, because the link equity will continue to count for site B. That said, maybe it's different if Google sees the same content that people originally linked to. I wouldn't think so, though - 301 generally means permanent, no take-backs.

You'll have to make the decision on whether it's worth it to remove the redirect based on how much it helped site B. Without knowing the details (was site A properly redirected to the same or similar content on site B? which site is more valuable?) it's hard to give you advice, but hopefully this gives you enough to reason it out!

[crackingmedia]

Hi Tim

I have never had to move back a site that was moved away, but assuming you or your customer has access to the domain account for Site B, then there shouldn't be a problem doing a fresh set of redirections if it's been a year since the last.

Set up the Site A again on your hosting and make sure the 301 URL redirections from B to A are active on Site A before you set the nameservers to point to your hosting.

In terms of how long it will be before the pages rank correctly, my experience is that there may be some bumps in the road, but providing you don't change the page content dramatically on the new site, it should be OK. If the pages on the new site do need improving and optimising then do that after the move and the site has had time to settle.

I'm not sure it fully answers your concerns but I hope that helps.

Peter