SEO "cary over"?

Eric@noware

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Grand Junction, CO
My current website ranks #1 on Google (maps and organic), but is old as hell, has an obnoxiously long url, and a crappy host. I've recently created a new site (shorter url, nice responsive design, better hosting), but am wondering if there's a way to carry over my original site's search ranking to the new site.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
You should use a 301 redirect which can be done with a .htaccess file. (http://www.rapidtables.com/web/tools/redirect-generator.htm)
This tells Google that your site has moved permanently and will pass on your "link juice" to there.

HOWEVER, the new design will probably change your rankings, probably for the good based on what your mentioned. But if not setup right, potentially for the worse. Without having the URL of the new site I cant help there.
 
301 it. You won't get 100%, but you'll get close.

But the most important issue that I want to bring up is your new site. Compared to your old site, it's not as functional. I'm all for updating technology, but you need to keep the functionality. I like that you've got the phone number nice and big at the top of both websites. However, I feel like I need to hunt and peck to find any real information on your new site. Your old site is content-rich, which is one reason why it ranks so well in Google.

If you can keep most pertinent information on the homepage and avoid the need to go to other pages, you'll get a better response. Your new navigation menu is super large and you've got a useless slider that takes up the majority of the space above the fold. Look up the stats on sliders. Users don't really use them or like them. They come to your website to look for information and skim for content, NOT to sit there and watch pretty pictures go by.

If I were you, I'd turn that old site of yours into a responsive Wordpress template. Update the look and feel a little bit, but otherwise leave it alone. It's really good functionality wise and all the information is right there above the fold, right at your user's fingertips. If you don't have the skills/time to turn the old site into a responsive Wordpress template, then find someone on Fiverr. They can usually do it for less than $100 and they'll probably throw in a redesign along with it so it looks a little more updated.

My business is in an area with VERY expensive AdWords cost per click, so maximizing conversions is my #1 priority. I'm just guessing, but I think your new site will get maybe a 1/5 conversion, which is pretty low. Your old one will probably get a 1/3 to 1/2, which is considerably better. You probably won't notice right away if new visitors to your website aren't converting because of past customers, but I guarantee you your new site doesn't convert very well compared to your old one. My conversion rate is close to 90% with my website design. If it weren't, I'd be out of business. I've tested many different website layouts and designs, and invariably the more information I keep on the main page and the more call to actions I have, the better the conversion. Your new website has absolutely no call to action and the information on the homepage is very minimal. Users generally don't click on links that don't look like links (like your "in our shop" links) and they don't want to have to click on a bunch of different pages to get the information they need.

The best thing about keeping your old content is it's 100% guaranteed to retain your ranking. There's no way your new site is going to rank as well as your old site because it has virtually no information on the homepage.

I don't mean to bring you bad news or bash your design or anything. But these Wordpress templates don't work very well at converting visitors into paying customers. Trust me, I've tried. I have to work my butt off every time I need to redo my website because you can't just buy a decent Wordpress template anymore because what I'm talking about is an "old" design. But what matters is whether or not your website generates calls and emails, not how modern it is. But I think you can have a mix of both.
 
You can loose a LOT of ranking via 301. I've done it many a times in my online marketing business. It just doesn't carry rank, especially if your current website is ranking due to domain age. You take that ranking factor away, and it may drop like a stone. Be warned.
 
Thanks Sage. Fortunately domain age isn't my sole ranking factor. That being the case, do you still imagine the ranking hit to be dire?
You can never tell until you try, and the 301 carries over full rank for about a month, and then the rankings drop.

Keep your old domain name, 301 it to the new one. If the rankings drop, pull the 301, the new site, and go back to the old.

301 passing full rank was disproven years ago. It's a common myth.

Where possible, always keep your aged domain name. I have sites that rank really well, purely because they're 6 years old.
 
Thanks again for your input, it's appreciated.

Would it be in any way beneficial to just have 2 sites for a while, at least until the new climbs up in the rankings, and then ditch the old? Basically keep the old for the current ranking, and focus my attention on getting the new to the top?

Also, one of the my biggest customer draws is being at the top of the Google Maps listing. Will switching sites effect that as well, or does just the organic listing take a hit?
 
Thanks again for your input, it's appreciated.

Would it be in any way beneficial to just have 2 sites for a while, at least until the new climbs up in the rankings, and then ditch the old? Basically keep the old for the current ranking, and focus my attention on getting the new to the top?

Also, one of the my biggest customer draws is being at the top of the Google Maps listing. Will switching sites effect that as well, or does just the organic listing take a hit?
There's no harm - this is the ideal situation really. Just don't have too much duplicate content on the new site as on the old.

Google maps from what i've seen takes the ranking of it's attached website and uses that as a ranking factor within the google maps five pack. The best thing you can do for google maps is have the exact information as on the website (telephone/address/hours), and get good customer reviews. It all comes down to ranking relevance, location, and reviews.

Google maps / my business is awesome. It drives over 50% of my business, and all free.
 
effectiveness of 301's depend a lot on the quality and quantity of backlinks you have that determine your ranking. If you have a ton of spammy crappy links, then it's going to be difficult to get all that crappy link juice to another domain. However if you have a few really good quality links, they're usually more effective. Unfortunately spammers have ruined it for legitimate businesses. That's been my experience anyway. Google doesn't want black-hatters hammering a domain with spammy links and then trying to pass that link juice on to another "clean" domain. I hate organic SEO and only focus on local SEO nowadays. It's much more "fair" (if you can call it that).
 
It's true, and you know what works for me? Basic local links from local directories... that's it. I find i don't even try to link build anymore.. and that tactic works because it's natural!
 
@Eric@noware Also keep in mind that the .tech TLD may not rank as well as the .com, at least that was the case a few years ago. I like the idea of keeping both websites going for a while and see how things shake out (if you can afford to). I'm currently working on a lot of great SEO options in the coming months for TSB, so keep your new site up at least until I can implement those to see if they help out.
 
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