Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Thanks a bunch.  Its really a little daunting when it comes to changing the URL structure.

So changing these is ok as long as i have all the 301 redirects in place. CHECK!
Look at hosting two sitemaps for a week or two before removing the old one. CHECK!

One thing I spotted in your responses was that you said:

• retain the ending /
• also the first URL structure i used was adequate.

Just wanted to know why?

Also in regards to this URL change, my on page SEO tools mentions that i should try to use the focus keyword in the URL.  Is this a big help now?  I know it always was before, so just checking nothing has changed.

Obviously if i go back to using - /Locations/uxbridge/ - that doesnt say a lot about the keyword i want to be recognised for, whereas using - /CBT-course-locations/uxbridge/ - on the other hand does.

The latter however this does keep me pretty much locked to this keyword forever, whereas using the original /locations/uxbridge/ comes down to content right?

Have you any final feedback or guidance on this last point? 
I cannot tell you how much it helps to have you guys to bounce off - It gets all a little overwhelming on your own sometimes.

Thanks again
C

Hi Andrew

Ok so here's an example of the URL's i wish to change.

A more major change would be to the way we showcase locations:
Current URL: motorcycle-training-centre-locations/uxbridge/
Planned revision: CBT-course-locations/uxbridge
The reason for this is CBT course offers higher benefits in regards keyword popularity for our industry.  I can then amend all the related focus keywords and descriptive text.  Plus motorcycle training centre locations seems too long and the choice of keywords i placed within the URL is probably not the best i could have selected.

This URL was changed previously from just: Locations/uxbridge as i wanted to focus more on keywords within the URL structure. Now i am at the point of changing it again...i am just cautious of doing so if it doesn't serve us any favours.  Personally i am confident it is a better structure but do not want to do irreparable damage to our rep.

What are your thoughts to this?

All in all there are currently around 40 URL's so its relatively small and manageable.
Also i am using wordpress but the URLs did not automatically redirect...i have however set up manual 301 redirects for previous changes.

Also, once changed it begs the question should i submit to Google via webmaster tools or just let Google find us?

Soooo many things to consider

I am learning my way around SEO, having always used professionals for it in the past on previous businesses i have decided to do it myself and learn more about it.

Now the dilemma i am up against is i recently changed some of my permalinks on quite a few main pages throughout the site.

The site launched in April this year so we're quite new.  The problem is since my last change i have not seen any increase...a decrease which in fact hasn't recovered at all.

Having now analysed them in more depth and read up more on the whole subject of SEO, (which is endless) i have put together a complete new strategy; with this increased understanding of what i am doing (but by no means conclusive) i want to complete a full overhaul on all SEO (via Wordpress which i use along with YOAST SEO tools), ensuring i have all my keywords, permalinks and descriptions spot on throughout every page, post and picture.

I spent a lot of time mapping these out, ensuring there is no Focus keyword duplication, and that the site is relatively flat in terms of its layout.

What i am unsure about now is whether changing my permalinks again is a bad thing to do? 
Could it permanently damage my rep going forward?
Should i just focus on my content and keywords/descriptions?

I am at a loss as i don't want to do irreparable damage to our reputation.  The site is still reasonable easy to manage so changing now is the best time to do it, but if changing the URLs is a waste of time then i may just forget that and just work on the keywords, descriptions and content.

Advice is 'oh so welcome'