Should we rename and update a page or create a new page entirely?
-
Hi Moz Peoples!
We have a small site with a simple site navigation, with only a few links on the nav bar. We have been doing some work to create a new page, which will eventually replace one of the links on the nav bar.
The question we are having is, is it better to rename the existing page and replace its content and then wait for the great indexer to do its thing, or perm delete the page and replace it with the new page and content? Or is this a case where it really makes no difference as long as the redirects are set up correctly?
-
Thanks for the information!
I think at this point, we are going to leave the page as is and just change the site nav to link to the new page. We'll leave the other page there to keep doing what its been doing, but without the new traffic from the main site.
-
How similar is the content/subject of the page? For example, if the page used to be about Cats and the URL was website.com/cats, then if you needed to replace it to be about Dogs then obviously you'll have to change the URL to website.com/dogs. Even a 301 redirect from /cats to /dogs doesn't really make much sense, as they're both completely different subjects. You'd be better off 301ing the old /cats to the homepage instead.
However, if the two subjects are similar or related at all, ideally you don't want to change the URL at all. You can change all the content on the page and replace everything if you need to, but the best solution would be to keep the existing URL. Especially if the page has value in terms of page authority/traffic/backlinks. For example, if the page isn't about Cats anymore but specifically Cats' Accessories. You have to ask yourself whether /cats still makes sense in context, and you can optimise everything else on the page for "cats accessories".
Otherwise, go ahead and 301 that bad boy.
Edit: I should note that the decision you make on this will heavily depend on the subjects of the two pages and your existing URL and site structure. Without seeing your site and having some idea on the replacement page, it's hard to give specific advice. Hopefully this response is helpful in that it will give you something to think about though.
-
Hello,
First off - does your old page have value? this could be via links to it, or via the content etc. you may find it its adding value to your site removing it can change how your site works but that is all down to perspective and if you are improving the content aka. value the point is null. realistically is you set up correct 301 any old links etc. will resolve the issue. The problem you may have with 301 if the old page is about e.g. cars and the new page is about bikes the old link profile wont make sense, so be aware of that.
TL:DR
It's preference the short one is as long as you correctly 301 and structure it correctly on the site you'll be fine.
Hope this helps.
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
-
Page Hierarchy Question
I understand the basic concept of page hierarchy, i.e. parent and child pages. My question is: Should the home page be the parent of all 2nd-level pages? Can/should there only be one top-level page, the home page? In other words, is this: site.com/homesite.com/home/products site.com/home/products/widgetsite.com/home/aboutsite.com/home/contactbetter than this:site.com/homesite.com/products site.com/products/widgetsite.com/aboutsite.com/contactThanks for your opinion!
On-Page Optimization | | BillWoods0 -
URL Structure on Category Pages
Hi, Currently, we having the following URL Structure o our product pages: All Products Pages: www.viatrading.com/wholesale/283/All_Products.html Category Page: www.viatrading.com/wholesale/4/Clothing.html Product Page: www.viatrading.com/wholesale/product/LOAD-HE-WOM/Assorted-High-End-Women-Clothing-Lots.html?cid=4 Since we are going to use another frontend system, we are thinking about re-working on this URL Structure, using something like this: All Products Pages: www.viatrading.com/wholesale-products/ Category Page: www.viatrading.com/wholesale-products/category/ Product Page: www.viatrading.com/wholesale-products/category/product-title/ I understand this is better for SEO and user experience. However, we already have good traffic on the current URL Structure. Should we use same left-side filters on Category Pages as in All Products Page? Since we are using Faceted Navigation, when users filter the Category (e.g. Clothing) they will see same page as Clothing Category Page. Is that an issue for Duplicate Content? Since we are a wholesale company - I understand is using "/wholesale/products/" in URL for all product pages a good idea? If so, should we avoid word "wholesale" in product-title to avoid repeated word in URL? For us, SKU in URL helps the company employees and maybe some clients identify the link. However, what do you think of using the SEO-friendly product-title, and 301 redirect it to www.viatrading.com/BRTA-LN-DISHRACKS/, so 1st link is only used by company members and Canonicalized 2nd is the only one seen by general public? Thank you,
On-Page Optimization | | viatrading10 -
Reducing multi-page website to one page & SEO ramifications?
Hello there! I just want to check in before I do this. I am reducing a multi-page website to one page (temporarily, but for at least 4-6 months). I will be 301 redirecting all old pages to the one, new home page. The new home page has a lot more content, long and short keyword phrases. Aside from losing the benefit of internal links, will reducing the number of website pages hurt a ranking? Does having associated keywords on other website pages provide benefit to another (in this case Home) page? Thanks so much for your invaluable advice!
On-Page Optimization | | lulu710 -
To create extra pages, or not to create extra pages?
I'm responsible for a site where we cater for all kinds of medical & legal problems. I recently conducted keyword research that shows a lot of questions being 'asked' in relation to the conditions we cater for. Naturally, I want to create content to answer these questions. We have a page for 'Cancer compensation' - the 'possible content' that answers questions won't necessarily help someone claiming compensation for cancer mistreatment, BUT someone who asks a question relating to cancer, answered in the 'possible content' may find the 'cancer compensation' page useful. SO! Do I: Add this content to the existing 'cancer compensation' page? Create individual pages of content answering each question, linking to the 'cancer compensation' page? or do I amalgamate all the answers into one heafty 'resource' page that sits elsewhere on the site? What do you think? Thanks in advance. John King
On-Page Optimization | | Muhammad-Isap0 -
Description tag not showing in the SERPs because page is blocked by Robots, but the page isn't blocked. Any help?
While checking some SERP results for a few pages of a site this morning I noticed that some pages were returning this message instead of a description tag, A description for this result is not avaliable because of this site's robot.s.txt The odd thing is the page isn't blocked in the Robots.txt. The page is using Yoast SEO Plugin to populate meta data though. Anyone else had this happen and have a fix?
On-Page Optimization | | mac22330 -
Your thoughts on page navigation
Hi again SEOmoz community. What are your thoughts on mainpage navigation. How it should be handled? Scenario 1. - links to the main sections with a mouse rollover feature where it shows subsections of the main sections Scenario 2. - links to the main sections, but the subsections are hidden and only visible on the click Scenario 3. links to the main sections and subsections allways visible I would like to hear you oppinions on this. What did you find as the best featrue, or did you try to find someting new entirely. What do you think would be the best scenario SEO wise and in the light of keeping links on page in decent numbers 🙂 Imo, Scenario 2 is the option to go with. Tnx in advance for all your replys. Sincerely, sinisa
On-Page Optimization | | TataSinke0 -
How to improve On-Page Grades for Top Ranking Pages
please help me - i dont know or understand how to improve on-Page Grades for Top Ranking Pages
On-Page Optimization | | pwwukpw0 -
Limiting On Page Links
Right now, we have about 160 or so links on the home page. It's been recommended that we keep it to under 100, though that's not as big of a deal as it once was. Is it helpful to make a bunch of those links "nofollow" in order to preserve link juice? Is it going to make a difference, or be at all helpful? I assume it won't be harmful, especially as a bunch of them are to the same page but on different sections of the page. Would live your advice and thoughts! Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | DeliaAssociates0