Changing website hosts

[lloydtaylor]

HI guys,

I am looking to take on a website which has already been built and is very high up in google for the keywords, but the thing is I want to change the whole site both look and wording and start from scratch....will it still be high up in google if I do this as it is still on the same web address?

Thanks in advance.
Lloyd

[Marincky]

There's a number of factors here, the main being:

1) Depends to some extent how the SEO has been done, i.e. If a majority of it relys on off-site SEO then as long as the changes are for the better then you should be ok. Totally redesigning the site will cause Google to relook at it differently, just ensure it is for the better not worse.

2) Depends on how well the new site is put together in that you understand what gives it it's high ranking in the first place. Does the domain name play a part in that high ranking, will that stay the same?, do the page titles, keywording, page descriptions, page text content, layout, navigation have anything to do with it's ranking high... There is a lot to think about here.

3) Depends, without insulting you as I don't know your capabilities what your background is in site construction, SEO etc....

Just some food for thought...

[Marincky]

Might have worded that a bit wrong...

When I say does the page titles, keywords, page content etc have an effect.. I understand they ALL do obviously, what I meant by that was there could be certain aspects of how the site is created now that are more vital then some others in what has given the site it's high ranking position now...

[lloydtaylor]

Hi many thanks for the reply. I understand what you mean, I am a bit new to seo, however I have done some on a previous website. Do you think that if I kept the wording pritty my the same in the new design it would be ok?

[Marincky]

In this case yes. If you don't know much about SEO then keeping it the same would be better as you know this has already worked.

I am only giving you a very brief guide her, there are far more things to consider with your site move but without knowing the site itself I cannot guide you any more than I have. If I were to see it I may give you conflicting advice, more advice, less.. hard to tell without knowing the full story...

[lloydtaylor]

Thanks again for your help. Yeah no problem the website I am looking to take over is http://www.bigandbold.net if you type in cefa training in google we come fairly high up for example.

[Marincky]

Nice looking site. The other thing to consider of course is the hits/sales conversion rate, if it's doing well on that score then don't change a thing...

[Collectors-info]

Just a note:
Would also be worth looking through the page source & noting down the single h1 tags on each page & the multiple h2 tags

[Vasili]

Whether or not you faithfully duplicate every aspect of a previously ranked website (including every detail about simple META), the fact it 'migrates' from one server address to another creates the impression to the Search Engines that it is indeed a new site altogether and is entree for new and separate evaluations and values to be attributed.

In the attempted dicussion where the point alluded to about whether or not the META entered in the "previous" site was still current or reflective of valued trends is valid, especially with regard to websites other than .com (including country extensions, .net, .org, etc.), as they are either organically "localized" or have less import based on the extension itself. As a .net website, it is more compelling to attend to proper administration of all aspects of website evaluation, and that includes optimization strategies along with simple constuct and Content updates to remain interactive and to demonstrate site evolution.

Simple optimization needs to be constantly updated to reflect the varying trends and shifts in importance, adjusting Key Words, Titles, H-Tags, and other core values, and if they are not being updated at least monthly, it matters not what SERP was attributed to the site prior: it simply is not providing the dynamics nor relevance the SE's require to establish a baseline worth ranking (other than to maintain position within a small pool of other sites also tied to the same outdated and/or localized META: i.e. CeFA, CeMAP, DipFA and such are strictly UK terms and not generic enough to rank globally, unlike the US term "CFP = Certified Financial Planner" which scores doubly as a proper US-local Term/Title and as a global Key Phrase).

This being the case, hoping to maintain old, stale SERP is a worthless concern. More important would be the concern with the "new" site not being flagged as non-compliant or even counterfeit based on the majority of the site's Content being duplicated when compared to the "older" site's cached version, since the distinction between the sites is established with the migration and separate server address.

Thus, as a better overall solution, it is advised you update your Content at with at least 40% new material (to establish a minimal distinction) and use this as an opportunity to include more current and proven relevant META entries, being sure they are all demonstrating solid site and page relevancies (anchored, titles, labels, etc.), as well as dynamic relevancy to the WWW based on clear values and baseline metrics.

[Vasili]

Yes?

[lloydtaylor]

Hi Vasili, Many thanks for your response...I do kind of understand what your saying however I am very new to site building so some of this did not mean alot to me. Are you saying that se should still pick up the site well because it is a .net site and I am trying to optimize english key words.

I will explain my position. I am one of the directors of Big and Bold and currently the website it is run through the company who built the site however I am looking to take on the site so that I can take full control of it and not have to pay each time I want to do some changes. I will not have access to the back office system of the current site so it would mean starting the design from scratch and just using the wording of the site and of course changing the hosting over to bluevoda. Hope this makes sense.

[Vasili]

Yes, it makes sense, as does the "logic" of purposefully preserving whatever merit the site had earned previously.

Since your "market" is in fact localized, the aspect of optimization should be therefore focused on local results, with lesser attention given to global results as they really do not influence much of the site's purpose with regard to conversion, interaction, and additional marketing efforts. Copying the site verbatim will not simply preserve whatever values are currently present, however, as the mere migration itself will indicate to the SE's that it is a new site due to the new Server address.

You might wish to consider seeing if the .com domaion is available, and if it is, then I personally would choose to use the .com version to build my new site on and reserve the .net for a "background site" in support of the new "primary" .com site (more on that when the time comes). Using a .com will elevate your standing across the whole web far easier than the .net site will, and any local traffic that is using the SE's to find you will undoubtedly see more of you based on the greater reach the .com domain makes available. So, if the .com domain is available, pick it up, and if not, the .net will work fine to build a site over completely (which is essentially what you will be doing, even if you "copy" the site entirely to a new server address).

However, as I mentioned, you are advised to update your Content with at least 40% new Content, all of which should include the new and currently prioritized META to not only create the minimal differentiation from the previous site, but to best reflect the real values you should be focusing on. You also want to avoid any comparisons to any cached versions of the prior site that might flag with SE's as being "counterfeit" (plagairized, duplicated) or non-compliant.

All "optimization" efforts need to be regualrly updated, rotated, changed, and re-evaluated at least once a month if you hope to fare well and create the potetntial results .... otherwise, your site will become stale and poorly performing. No way around it!

You will be surprised at how easy it is to do exactly what you want to do using Blue Voda and all the technologies VodaHost offers freely to their clients, and when following the proper processes and techniques as mentioned above, the results should far surpass any previous achievements!

Good luck!