Changing URL structure within established site

Good or bad idea?

[javahava]

I'm considering changing URLs of articles within our site from something like article1.php to keyword-keyword.php. The articles have been up for about two years.

Would there be a long/lengthy penalty while the search engines index the new URls? Do keywords in URLs make the switch worthwhile?

[dataguy]

My experience would indicate that it's not worth it. I've read that keywords in the URL probably contribute towards keyword density, but not any more than keywords found in the body of your web page.

I believe that G is probably looking at how long pages have been around, so you might take a hit there if you change your URL's. It also will take G a few months to drop the old URL's in favor of the new URL's. On top of all that, it just looks spammy.

I have a few hundred thousand pages listed in G with up to 3 keywords in the URL, and I have a few hundred thousand without. Although it's not a perfect apples to apples comparison, the sites that I have without keywords in the URL's are doing better.

It may not make a lot of difference one way or the other. In the long run, you may think it is worth it, but currently I don't see a benefit.

[Stefan]

I believe that G is probably looking at how long pages have been around, so you might take a hit there if you change your URL's. It also will take G a few months to drop the old URL's in favor of the new URL's. On top of all that, it just looks spammy.

Totally agreed. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If the old pages are doing ok now, don't mess with the filenames, add new pages instead that have muchos content, and have your newly-focussed filenames. Leave the old pages there and link to the new ones judiciously.

ADDED: I've done what you're talking about on a few pages in the past, and they did indeed take a hit for a couple of months. Imho, never mess with URL's of existing pages unless absolutely necessary. Add new pages instead.