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---- How to redesign 450 page site and not lose ranking

jdMorgan - 4:26 pm on Aug 12, 2007 (gmt 0)


Tough question to answer -- I don't know the site.

Only you can decide whether these old pages have any value. Try considering them as 'archival material' -- Are they of any use as such? If so, you can move them to an 'archive' directory, and add a page header to them that states that they're somewhat/mostly/completely outdated (as applicable). Sitting in that archive directory, they'll be out of the way, and need little or no maintenance. As previously noted, putting them in a different filepath need have no effect on their URLs.

The paper I cited, by the man credited with inventing the WWW, reflects the 'academic mindset' of the Web. Although the Web has since been more-or-less taken over by commercial interests, it's important to realize that this academic mindset persists, especially at search engine companies; They view the Web as a library of information, and not as a temporary roadside billboard sign or a street-corner magazine/newspaper kiosk. For this reason, they noticeably favor persistent content, and the kinds of sites that host persistent content.

To illustrate, a librarian does not go through the library and toss out books just because they are old -- Imagine if we'd tossed all copies of Shakespeare for that reason alone...

Divide the pages of this site into classes according to what makes sense:

  • Pages to keep
  • Pages to archive
  • Pages to replace
  • Pages to remove

    If a page is to be removed (and I suggest that any page that might be of any historical or research value to anyone be retained) then install a 301-Moved Permanently redirect to one or more of:

  • A strongly-similar page
  • A category-listing page providing links to similar (newer) pages on the subject
  • Your site map page
  • A site-search function
  • Your home page (only as a very last resort, and only for a very few pages -- See "duplicate content")

    Your old pages may offer valuable information for people trying to discover what your industry was like five years ago. They may offer you the benefit of PageRank and Link-Pop they've accrued over the years. They may serve as a traffic draw and/or as link-bait because of their content.

    On the other hand, they may indeed be totally useless, but only you can decide that. However, the last criteria I would consider is the "convenience" of their maintenance.

    Again, the above is generalized -- and perhaps to the point of irrelevance; I don't know anything about the site.

    Jim

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