301 redirect

[Shackattack]

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HI All

I have a conundrum at the moment I am currently working on migrating a website with a domain to a completly new site with new domain, however the new site will have a completely new website structure, new pages and new navigation although some pages will remain the same.

I assume that a 301 redirect will ensure that Google is aware that the new site is being replaced with the old site (is this right?), however how will this impact on Search Engine Visbility.

If the new site has diffferent content and a differernt structure will it drop out of organic search for given keyword terms, could i expect a drop in traffic whilst the new site is being indexed?

What is the best solution?

Any help would be appreciated.

[thefog]

I'd advice that you seek out professional help from SEO experts and freelancers on sites like Guru ...if you want to maintain your rankings and all your hard work intact...Just a thought to save you from banging you head against the wall later...

[Brendon]

For maximum effectiveness, you are going to need a fairly large .htaccess file (or equivalent for MS servers - possibly a load of meta refresh=0) which directs pages in the OLD site /structure to a relevant place in the new one. If it all turns out to be too messy, you could just use a global rd to the home page of the new site, but that lacks finesse and will waste a lot of the link equity.

>> will it drop out of organic search for given keyword terms, could i expect a drop in traffic whilst the new site is being indexed?

The old site will almost certainly drop out BEFORE the new one gets indexed and ranked, but the gap should only be weeks at most. Google are getting very good at picking stuff up quickly. A lot depends on how good the performance of the old site is