Why You Should Never Change The URL Of Your Business Website?
Are you planning to make some alternation in the URL of your company’s website? Do you think that a new URL will give your business them much needed boost? Well, stop building castles in the air, as doing so can drag your well-established website from top to bottom in no time. You might consider it strange but this fact is very much true. Even a small change made can plummet the ranking of a website in popular search engines. Need not say, this will lead to traffic of negligible audience. Overall, changing the URL could be the worst thing one can do to their business.
Every time a website’s URL is changed and it is done inappropriately, visitors come across specific errors in reaching the site. Adding up to the situation is Google’s inability to index the site properly. Even when done correctly, a temporary fall in the traffic is definite, depending on Google indexes. Want to know more? Read on…
How a changed URL hampers a website’s performance?
Not in a single way but an altered URL leads to serious consequences in many ways. Can’t wait to uncover how? Let’s begin with reason #1.
1. Loss of SEO ranking
Any changes in the URL such as addition of hyphen, capitalization, incorrect redirects, an underscore, change in domain, etc. cause adverse impact on the SEO or search engine optimization.
To clear the fact, let’s consider an example. Assume you are moving to a new domain. Understanding its (domain’s) history is something you can’t avoid. If by any reason, the history has spam, a significant drop in the audience traffic is inevitable. Besides this, there is always a risk of copied content and irrelevant redirects. Talking about the organic search performance, it also undergoes particular changes, something not good for the web presence of a website.
2. Loss of referring site traffic
Every successful business has profitable link portfolio which is all about useful referring site traffic. However, with a slight change in the URL, a website looses the referring audience crowd. In other words, all the efforts a business puts in to attract potential visitors goes useless. Redirecting the audience to error pages devastates the referring traffic as well as the credibility of the website.
3. Redirecting of Email to dull URLS
Email marketing campaign goes through downfall when a change is made in the URL. This is because when subscribers click on a link, it redirects them to a non-working URL. These broken links clutter the inboxes of the subscribers which ultimately drops the email clicks as well as subscriber base.
Weigh your decision wisely
Quite understood, every site’s backbone is its URL. Hence, it should only be changed when there is no other way. As per the graphs, approximately 25% traffic loss is seen while altering a URL. If you think this temporary fall won’t affect much and you will cover up the loss in few months, you are definitely thinking on the wrong track.
Let’s talk about a situation where a business website is undergoing renovation. Changing the URL in this case is optional; hence, it would be good to consider making the change if the business is redirecting permanently. 301 redirects resolve broken links or indexing errors; thereby, preventing link juices from being lost.
Generally, static URLs are better than dynamic ones in terms of click through rates. However, progress has been made in dynamic URLs as well. However, it is recommended not to rewrite dynamic URLs useless parameters are removed.
Why use 301 redirects?
As per the recommendation of Google, in order to change the URL, 301 redirects should be used. This is because it allows effortless and flawless move in shifting an old website to a new domain. This is also helpful when a business wants its audience to access their website through different URLs. It also allows merging websites to make sure old URLs are redirected to the new one.
Creating an effectual redirect strategy preserves a website’s link quality and traffic. This lets the new URL take up the old URL’s link juice; hence, no need to start all over again. Other benefits include:
• Reduction in the amount of time organic search suffers before returning to normal.
• Reduction in the number of broken links or you can say downfall in the loss of referral traffic.
When a business is sure about the change, there are some steps to be followed for effortless transition with negligible SEO implications. These steps are:
• Usage of 301 redirects with a redirect URL-to-URL for each and every page.
• Updating all on-page links to house the change.
Besides this, it is required to create a new XML sitemap and submit it to Google. However, if an old website is moved to a new website, the old site map should be left temporarily.
Check the URLS
It is extremely important to look for errors and fix them when determining how the new links will perform. Using the right tools such as SEO spider tools, a site can be analyzed and checked for duplicate pages and missed redirects. This way, it is possible to resolve onsite issues on time and prevent the SEO from threats or consequences.
The final call
URLs as well as redirects are complicated and misunderstood by majority of people. Though you may think that changing the URL will do wonders for your site by fetching target visitors, it is important to understand the cons. Whether a website is undergoing renovation or any platform change, determining the risks and pros about the impact on SEO is very important. Some important factors related to URL are:
• Length
• Keywords within in the URL
• Subfolders
• Short URL
As URLs are the life source to a website’s feasibility, taking the final call carefully is undoubtedly important. If you are planning making the changes, try your level best to avoid doing so. Earning potential customers and giving your brand global exposure takes time and efforts. Whether you want to continue with the success you already have or want to start from the scratch is definitely your decision. Make sure to settle for the right, as your loss can turn into your competitors gain. Think wise, think smart.
Every time a website’s URL is changed and it is done inappropriately, visitors come across specific errors in reaching the site. Adding up to the situation is Google’s inability to index the site properly. Even when done correctly, a temporary fall in the traffic is definite, depending on Google indexes. Want to know more? Read on…
How a changed URL hampers a website’s performance?
Not in a single way but an altered URL leads to serious consequences in many ways. Can’t wait to uncover how? Let’s begin with reason #1.
1. Loss of SEO ranking
Any changes in the URL such as addition of hyphen, capitalization, incorrect redirects, an underscore, change in domain, etc. cause adverse impact on the SEO or search engine optimization.
To clear the fact, let’s consider an example. Assume you are moving to a new domain. Understanding its (domain’s) history is something you can’t avoid. If by any reason, the history has spam, a significant drop in the audience traffic is inevitable. Besides this, there is always a risk of copied content and irrelevant redirects. Talking about the organic search performance, it also undergoes particular changes, something not good for the web presence of a website.
2. Loss of referring site traffic
Every successful business has profitable link portfolio which is all about useful referring site traffic. However, with a slight change in the URL, a website looses the referring audience crowd. In other words, all the efforts a business puts in to attract potential visitors goes useless. Redirecting the audience to error pages devastates the referring traffic as well as the credibility of the website.
3. Redirecting of Email to dull URLS
Email marketing campaign goes through downfall when a change is made in the URL. This is because when subscribers click on a link, it redirects them to a non-working URL. These broken links clutter the inboxes of the subscribers which ultimately drops the email clicks as well as subscriber base.
Weigh your decision wisely
Quite understood, every site’s backbone is its URL. Hence, it should only be changed when there is no other way. As per the graphs, approximately 25% traffic loss is seen while altering a URL. If you think this temporary fall won’t affect much and you will cover up the loss in few months, you are definitely thinking on the wrong track.
Let’s talk about a situation where a business website is undergoing renovation. Changing the URL in this case is optional; hence, it would be good to consider making the change if the business is redirecting permanently. 301 redirects resolve broken links or indexing errors; thereby, preventing link juices from being lost.
Generally, static URLs are better than dynamic ones in terms of click through rates. However, progress has been made in dynamic URLs as well. However, it is recommended not to rewrite dynamic URLs useless parameters are removed.
Why use 301 redirects?
As per the recommendation of Google, in order to change the URL, 301 redirects should be used. This is because it allows effortless and flawless move in shifting an old website to a new domain. This is also helpful when a business wants its audience to access their website through different URLs. It also allows merging websites to make sure old URLs are redirected to the new one.
Creating an effectual redirect strategy preserves a website’s link quality and traffic. This lets the new URL take up the old URL’s link juice; hence, no need to start all over again. Other benefits include:
• Reduction in the amount of time organic search suffers before returning to normal.
• Reduction in the number of broken links or you can say downfall in the loss of referral traffic.
When a business is sure about the change, there are some steps to be followed for effortless transition with negligible SEO implications. These steps are:
• Usage of 301 redirects with a redirect URL-to-URL for each and every page.
• Updating all on-page links to house the change.
Besides this, it is required to create a new XML sitemap and submit it to Google. However, if an old website is moved to a new website, the old site map should be left temporarily.
Check the URLS
It is extremely important to look for errors and fix them when determining how the new links will perform. Using the right tools such as SEO spider tools, a site can be analyzed and checked for duplicate pages and missed redirects. This way, it is possible to resolve onsite issues on time and prevent the SEO from threats or consequences.
The final call
URLs as well as redirects are complicated and misunderstood by majority of people. Though you may think that changing the URL will do wonders for your site by fetching target visitors, it is important to understand the cons. Whether a website is undergoing renovation or any platform change, determining the risks and pros about the impact on SEO is very important. Some important factors related to URL are:
• Length
• Keywords within in the URL
• Subfolders
• Short URL
As URLs are the life source to a website’s feasibility, taking the final call carefully is undoubtedly important. If you are planning making the changes, try your level best to avoid doing so. Earning potential customers and giving your brand global exposure takes time and efforts. Whether you want to continue with the success you already have or want to start from the scratch is definitely your decision. Make sure to settle for the right, as your loss can turn into your competitors gain. Think wise, think smart.
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