Affects of a redeveloped website and host change

[matthew mraz]

Hello all,
For the last six months we have been working hard at AlbertsGifts.com to redevelop our website. We have changed the entire look, feel and functionality of the website to make the experience better for the user. We have also moved our website from a hosting company to an in-house server. Due to go live tonight.

We have worked hard as many of you have to get rankings in the top five for our keywords in the big three search engines. Now, we have some concerns about our rankings in the big three and how we will be affected. We have incorporated the same SEO plan to the new site that we used in the current website. Does any one have any suggestions to reduce the loss in rankings or how to remain in the top five in the search engines? We do expect a period of climbing back to the top but would like to reduce the time/effort to get there. Any suggestions or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated!

[weslinda]

Outside of leaving the old system in place, while the new one grows, the best option is to use proper redirects to the new content from the old, using your server.

As with any new content on a site, there is a period of time that it takes that content to get indexed and to be given a level of importance. Your domain alone will carry a good reputation, the big key here is to drive that reputation through all the new content.

Best Options:
1. Simply change the look, while not changing the actual links and page names. This is the best option as you are using the same URL's and such and should keep performance relatively steady.

2. Use redirects from old content to new content. This will be a bigger challenge, as the search engines will still look at the new content as just that, new, and there will be a period for it to become as important as the old links.

Either way, it will be a bit of time before the outcome will really be known, but if you do things right, it shouldn't be a large amount of time.

[matthew mraz]

weslinda,
Thanks for responding to this post! We have thought about using a redirect on the current website to the new website. The only problem with that is the domain name is going to be attached to the new website on a new server removing any content from the old website/server. Which was out of my controll and would have preferred to do it the way you have suggested. The directory structure and the catalog system is basicly the same. All departments, subdepartments are exactly the same and will include the same meta tags and content. I appreciate the input!

[incrediblehelp]

Matt I would be interested to see what you mean here:


The only problem with that is the domain name is going to be attached to the new website on a new server removing any content from the old website/server.

[matthew mraz]

incrediblehelp,
We have taken the domain name from our existing website and applied a different IP address. I may have my terminology wrong or have made things confusing here. The domain name was changed to a different I.P address. Before it was 66.102.11.99 now it has changed over to a new server and is 69.59.199.54. This is not the actual I.P address but I think it helps demonstrate what I am trying to say. I appreciate any help that you might have to give.

[incrediblehelp]

Changing web hosts, servers where your website is, changing your IP....should NOT effect your SERPs. When I make moves I leave the website on the old server for a month or so just to be safe.