I'm working with a previously successful editorial publication that went dormant for 10 years, and is now relaunching. The site still has hundreds of (currently inactive) backlinks from top-tier domains. When the site launches, those links will become live again, linked to new (but similar) original content, on a new home page.
For example:
website.com/article/water-is-wet ..was a backlink to an extinct article about
water, which was previously highly rated.
When the site re-launches, it will now link to a new, completely re-written article about
water. The new article will be original content, fulfill google's EEAT needs, dedicated to explaining the same topic. But its not the same article.
I am hoping there is an approach by which I can retain some of that google good-energy. Or at least avoid bad energy. My plan is to A/B test variables that I suspect would contribute to how google determines my ranking.
Concerns on my mind are:
- implementation factors that might make or break that transition link, (i.e. retaining original metadata for page titles and descriptions)
- At what point google would penalize the change in content, as if it were a bait and switch. Rather than a re-write on the same topic.
- value of testing paid traffic to "activate" these backlinks, by sort of "waking them up".
Anyone have opinions there on any of these points?
