Redesign highly ranked site, text links instead of graphics [Archive]

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rjjj111

11-17-2006, 03:10 PM

My website has first page rankings on Google in a niche market. My menu bar graphics are about 42K, overall front page size is about 63K. I would like to change the menu bar from graphics to text but frankly, I am afraid too. Any option on my ranking being affected in Google?

URL BibleBible.com
keywords
'Bible on CD' #1 in Google
'Audio Bible' #7 in Google

Webnauts

11-17-2006, 03:39 PM

Don't be afraid doing that. That can only make things better. :)

deewpeb

11-17-2006, 05:14 PM

Having your links as text will make things a lot better search wise, while also reducing your page size significantly.

One possibility is to look at CSS style links if you need a graphic look.

Cheers

rjjj111

11-17-2006, 05:21 PM

Webnauts

11-17-2006, 05:29 PM

rjjj111 could it be that you do not understand what we wrote above?

It is the best way to go. Period!

meinking22

11-17-2006, 07:48 PM

I'm a huge fan of CSS text menus and navbars. They function so clean and smooth, especially compared to javascript buttons and the like. The SEO advantages are obvious. One of my old websites, and I mean old (CSS, before it was designated CSS1 haha!), features both javascript rollovers and a css navbar (http://www.stevenmeinking.net). You can see the performance difference for yourself.

I wouldn't sweat your rankings with the change. Just keep the same href and titles and the bots won't know the difference.

Steve

crickets

11-17-2006, 07:55 PM

Switching to text is a great way to HELP your rankings, or at least hold on to the ones you have (since you said you were at the top).

You can pack a lot more information in a text menu then a image based menu, and search engines can read that information a lot easier.

brian.mark

11-18-2006, 12:22 AM

What I am most concerned about are my rankings, being they are front page rankings on Google. Has anyone ever done this type of change, from graphics to text links on a well ranked site and what happened to their rankings?

Yes. I have done this personally, and it helped the inner pages of the site without hurting the homepage.

BTW, the changes you've made recently look nice. You're getting there.

Brian.

rjjj111

11-18-2006, 09:04 PM

hey, Brain.Mark...

i think will likely change the menu bar right after the first of december. that way if something does go crazy with the listing in google, i should be able to make it through Christmas.... or do you think i should wait till after Christmas to make sure?

rjjj111

11-18-2006, 09:08 PM

hey, Brain.Mark...

i have been making some changes to the shopping cart, trying to learn as i go.

***** if you have any suggestions to raise my PR4 in Google, i am all ears......

Webnauts

11-19-2006, 07:27 PM

hey, Brain.Mark...

i have been making some changes to the shopping cart, trying to learn as i go.

***** if you have any suggestions to raise my PR4 in Google, i am all ears......
Get more quality and relevant to your site backlinks.

brian.mark

11-20-2006, 12:35 PM

Get more quality and relevant to your site backlinks.

Sure... give him the easy answer. I mean, surely there's someone on this forum that would make him read the entire formula from the original PR papers. ;)

Yes, all you need to get your PR higher is more links, which has the added benefit of giving you more links to bring traffic into the site and more links for SEO purposes as well.

As for making the change after the holidays, I'd go for it now. I'm of the opinion that there's no better time to test effectiveness than during peak periods. Make backups so you can go back if your conversion rate drops, but we're doing a lot of testing right now to see what is effective and what isn't.

Brian.