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Will I lose google ranking?

by Adrianhenry
19 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi all,

I have a client that has one page basic html website for their business. Has a few paragraphs of text stating what they do and some contact info and thats it. It currently ranks well for the search terms he is interested in.

Now he has got me to design him a new single page site that is more up to date and looks better than his old single page site. The question I have is will removing the old html page and replacing it with a wordpress install affect the google ranking?

Thanks
#google #lose #ranking
  • Profile picture of the author dmadnani
    Generally if the content, meta and backlinks remain the same your ranks shouldn't get affected.

    But of course I've seen cases where traffic fell off despite keeping the site content identical.

    Here's an article on SEJ that went over the things you need to remember while re-designing.
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  • Profile picture of the author mdfariq
    if your content , mate tag is unique, then there is no worry for google ranking loss
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  • Profile picture of the author Ranksword
    The question I have is will removing the old html page and replacing it with a wordpress install affect the google ranking?
    Usually in such case the chances are minimal.
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  • Profile picture of the author SusanHayden
    I don't think so. If your backlinks, meta tags and titles are same, then there is no effect on your Google ranking.
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  • Profile picture of the author DivyaRai
    As everybody said you should keep your content as same as previous website, design would be different, you should not lose your contents which is added for the website.
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  • Profile picture of the author firsttender
    Usually it could be happened but search engine mainly checking the meta tag and website content uniqueness.
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  • Profile picture of the author RandySwanston
    Originally Posted by Adrianhenry View Post

    Hi all,

    I have a client that has one page basic html website for their business. Has a few paragraphs of text stating what they do and some contact info and thats it. It currently ranks well for the search terms he is interested in.

    Now he has got me to design him a new single page site that is more up to date and looks better than his old single page site. The question I have is will removing the old html page and replacing it with a wordpress install affect the google ranking?

    Thanks
    Even though you retain all the meta data, content etc etc, like others said. The main internal coding and structure of the website will change when you change CMS, so this is what Search Engines see, you have to obviously expect some ranking changes (up/down) when you make design changes to a website.
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  • Profile picture of the author Shirlyn
    Hi,
    WordPress CMS is search engine friendly and I do not think so it will heart your ranking on search engine.
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  • Profile picture of the author amandagentle
    I think Single page website means you have no more options to work on links.
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  • Profile picture of the author SeoKungFu
    People who ask such questions should not be allowed to operate with "clients" under the label of any form of "internet marketing"/SEOs/whatevers...
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    • Profile picture of the author Adrianhenry
      Originally Posted by SeoKungFu View Post

      People who ask such questions should not be allowed to operate with "clients" under the label of any form of "internet marketing"/SEOs/whatevers...
      I dont operate under seo. I have never claimed to know anything about seo. I am a programmer and developer. I have a designer that creates designs and I code them and upload them to the hosting accounts. No seo other than semantic markup. I dont deal with content or seo.

      In this case the client already had a site on their domain and asked if the redesign would affect the ranking of the page. I did not know, and unlike many "experts" I wasnt willing to lie to them in my ignorance. Instead I decided to seek out the information before I told them anything.

      I guarantee that everything you know right now, you didnt know at one point in your life. People need to learn things. By your logic in this moronic post you imply that anyone involved in IM should know everything about IM before they even start. I hope you realise how ridiculous that is.
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      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Adrianhenry View Post

        I dont operate under seo. I have never claimed to know anything about seo. I am a programmer and developer. I have a designer that creates designs and I code them and upload them to the hosting accounts. No seo other than semantic markup. I dont deal with content or seo.

        In this case the client already had a site on their domain and asked if the redesign would affect the ranking of the page. I did not know, and unlike many "experts" I wasnt willing to lie to them in my ignorance. Instead I decided to seek out the information before I told them anything.

        I guarantee that everything you know right now, you didnt know at one point in your life. People need to learn things. By your logic in this moronic post you imply that anyone involved in IM should know everything about IM before they even start. I hope you realise how ridiculous that is.
        Nothing is guaranteed with SEO, all you can do is try your best & wait for Google to adjust the SERPs, tweak the SEO as needed, repeat...There's still best practices that can work in your favor.

        Basically, keep existing hyperlinks on the new pages & make sure the new internal URLs match exactly to the old internal URLs/pages or worst case 301 redirect to new/cleaner URLs If necessary.

        When your finished with the site redesign, run Screaming Frog free version & check for any 404s & clean those up.
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  • Profile picture of the author jenniferrini
    Hi,

    By changing the website content you will never lose your page rank, Only if your website content is static your page rank will get down.
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  • Profile picture of the author SEOWizard417
    You can minimize any ranking loss by going with your initial thoughts, although there could be some minor movement. If it is a local business term your client is ranking for, competition is likely low so I wouldn't overly worry about it.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulgl
      I hope he is not paying for SEO services.

      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author Adrianhenry
        Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

        I hope he is not paying for SEO services.

        Paul
        He isnt. His old site was very plain, basic html structure. He wanted a new modern website with nice graphics that just looked more appealing. That is the service he is paying for, a new functional website design, which is the only service I am offering. He just asked about the impact to google rank as a passing caveat and I was interested in finding him an answer.
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        • Profile picture of the author kk075
          Originally Posted by Adrianhenry View Post

          He isnt. His old site was very plain, basic html structure. He wanted a new modern website with nice graphics that just looked more appealing. That is the service he is paying for, a new functional website design, which is the only service I am offering. He just asked about the impact to google rank as a passing caveat and I was interested in finding him an answer.
          In other words, you were going above and beyond despite charging a flat rate. Which means the exact opposite of what another user said...you are a very welcome addition to the SEO boards.

          To weigh in on your original question, your client's site will probably drop temporarily and then spring right back like nothing ever happened. With that said, why would you not encourage him to further develop the website with 3-5 more pages, each of which focus on him and his products, to improve his ranking even more?

          Because the way I see it, even if he's ranking great today...it's only a matter of time before someone else sees that niche and takes it from him. So I'd add a little more content to his sub-pages. That's just my 2 cents though...and it's certainly not mandatory.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
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    Originally Posted by Adrianhenry View Post

    Hi all,

    I have a client that has one page basic html website for their business. Has a few paragraphs of text stating what they do and some contact info and thats it. It currently ranks well for the search terms he is interested in.

    Now he has got me to design him a new single page site that is more up to date and looks better than his old single page site. The question I have is will removing the old html page and replacing it with a wordpress install affect the google ranking?

    Thanks
    My advice is look at the text version of the webpage, both the Google cache (text version) & use a web/dev plugin for Firefox. Download the browser plugin & use the settings below.
    • Disable all javascript
    • Disable all images
    • Disable all styles

    What's important on the old webpage will show up in the text version of the page.

    While your at it on the new site design, add any relevant schema tags to help bring the site/page up to date.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Seymour
    It shouldn't be affected and make sure its mobile ready.

    Also suggest some improvements. You'd make some extra and he can get a wider reach.
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