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
-
How should I treat these Destination Wedding Pages?
Happy Friday and St. Patrick's Day Eve, Moz Community! As I got on here to ask this question, I saw my previous questions and remembered how awesome this community is. I also can't wait until Mozcon, but I digress. Anyway. We are a travel agency. One of my websites is to support the Destination Wedding part of our business. Each of the weddings gets their own page where we list information about the event as well as a guest list of who all has booked to attend the wedding. After the wedding, the page is automatically unpublished. This leads to a TON of 404s on all of the past wedding pages. Also, even the current pages I don't feel add a lot of SEO value to the site. So. What is the wisdom on how I should handle these pages. I'm assuming I should no index them? Also, does anyone have a compelling reason I should keep the pages active for some reason? Just move them to a different section or something? (I'm really thinking not on this...but I'm open to discussion.) Thank you times one million in advance.
On-Page Optimization | | cathibanks0 -
Google index new data from my website page
Hi All, We have pages which are created few weeks before hand for Movie reviews in those pages we add value with adding the Movie cast and crew info and what ever info possible before the movie releases. The the movie releases we watch the movies and write reviews which is 500+ words. Now the issue is the pages are indexed a week before... How can i have these review pages scanned immediately when i have the complete review as the review content is not indexed for 3 to 5 days and the first day or 2 is when its important for the reviews to be seen in Google. Regards
On-Page Optimization | | AlexisWithers0 -
Finacial pages markup
I was wondering if there is away to use Schema for stock market pages?
On-Page Optimization | | ciznerguy0 -
Any issue with my On page SEO
Kindly review my website and let me know if there is any issue with On page or I am missing anything? Home page - http://www.ayurjeewan.com Deep Page - http://www.ayurjeewan.com/natural/divya-triphala-churna/
On-Page Optimization | | MasonBaker0 -
Does Too Many On-Page Links on a Page Really Matters?
Does Too Many On-Page Links on a Page Really Matters? Especially if they are pointing to internal page?
On-Page Optimization | | AppleCapitalGroup1 -
Better to update or add articles?
Hi, We have an online gift store and we write new blogs every year. Question is, if we already had a blog that's called 'Top Valentine Gifts' from last year,should we update the blog content with the most updated data, or should we add a new blog called 'Top Valentine Gifts 2012' and rename the old one to 'Top Valentine Gifts 2011' (and 301 redirect the old URL)? Which one is more beneficial in terms of SEO?
On-Page Optimization | | Essentia0 -
Https and secure pages
Hello, I have a facebook badge in my footer. Is it okay if I make the code call on https. It makes the page secure for IE. I have also have done this for images. These secure urls are also being called on non secure pages. But I don't think that matters does it? Code below. Thanks Tyler
On-Page Optimization | | tylerfraser0 -
E-Commerce product pages that have multiple skus with unique pages.
Hey Guys, With the recent farm/panda update from google i'm at a cross roads as to how I should optimize product pages for a project i'm working on for a client. My client sells tires and one particular tire brand can have up to 15 models and each model can have up to 30 sizes. IE: 'Michelin Pilot Sport Cup' comes in 15 different sizes. Each size will have it's unique product page and description bringing me to my question. Should I use the same description on every size? I do plan on writting unique content for each tire model however i'm not sure if I should do it for every size. After all the tire model description is the same for every size, each size doesn't carry any unique characteristics that I can describe. Thanks in advance!
On-Page Optimization | | MikeDelaCruz770