Changing URL Vs Google SERPS

Can you change the site URL without dropping in the SERPS?

[bigace]

I have been lurking for a while. I wanted to read as much as I could about this topic. There have been a lot of great discusions on this topic but I still have questions on the procedure I've used. This is a little complicated.

I have been required by the compliance board in my industry, as well as the BBB, to change my URL from wholesaleWidgets.com to something else. (I lost the argument that since I was selling directly to the consumer I couldn't sell wholesale.) We registered a new domain and gave it the same content. No changes were made to the site except the Logo. Both sites reside on the same server with the same IP address.

After 3 years of SEO the Google SERPs have been #1 for most of the important KWs. But while we were trying to get all of the hundreds of incoming links changed to the new URL, we decided to point the new domain (AffordableWidgets.com)to the old domain (WholesaleWidgets.com) so we wouldn't lose PR or SERPs We did this with a simple DNS redirect from the server. So far only about half of the links have been changed. I thought it would be easier to change the links than it is.

After this recent update.
Old site: PR: was 6/10 now PR 5/10
SERPS: still #one in all but one KW (so far so good)

Concerns:
1)Since both URLs are being advertised via the links and the content is identical, how long can I keep this setup without getting penalized for duplicate sites? (I would like to wait until most of the links have been changed if possible.)
2) Hopefully most of the links will soon get changed to the new URL. How can I avoid losing the #l SERPS as this takes place.
3) When it's time to do a 301 permanent redirect of the old site to the new, as Google suggests, will I then likely lose the SERPs or can that be done seamlessly.

While I might get kicked off Google, I sure hope I don't also get kicked off the forum for such a long post :)

Thanks,
ace

[hurlimann]

301 should work fine and you should do it now if the new site is up. Serps will transfer and engines will not see it as spam. Best to try and get inbound links changed if you can.

[bigace]

Thank you for your reply. But in case I can't get ready to 301 redirect right now, I was wondering under the configuration I am using, if the two same content sites would be enough to triger a penalty for duplicate sites. Does anyone have a definitive answer to this.

There is a company in the 5th and 6th position for one of my important KW that has had these two site listed 5th and 6th for months. They are identical content except for the title and a few lines of text at the top of the page.

Thanks
ace