61: The Biggest and Most Common SEO Mistake

Summary

In this episode, Meredith's husband discusses the common SEO mistake of changing URLs or deleting old content without implementing proper redirects, which can severely impact website rankings. He emphasizes the importance of setting up 301 redirects to preserve SEO value and prevent losing traffic. The episode also covers how to update or remove outdated content properly, ensuring minimal damage to search engine rankings and improving overall site performance.

Blog Post: Avoid This Common SEO Mistake—How Changing URLs Can Damage Your Rankings

When it comes to maintaining a website, especially during a redesign or content cleanup, it's tempting to remove old blog posts or change URLs. However, one of the biggest mistakes website owners can make is deleting pages or changing URLs without implementing a proper 301 redirect. This simple oversight can have a significant negative impact on your search engine rankings, leading to a sharp drop in traffic.

A 301 redirect is a tool that tells search engines and visitors that the old URL has been permanently moved to a new address. Without setting up this redirect, any SEO value those pages had built up over time will be lost, and visitors may be met with 404 error pages. Here’s how you can avoid this issue and maintain your website’s SEO health.

Why Changing URLs or Deleting Pages Hurts SEO

Search engines, like Google, rely heavily on links from other sites to determine how valuable your content is. If a website links to one of your blog posts, that link passes SEO value (or "link juice") to your website, helping improve your rankings. However, when that blog post is deleted, the link becomes broken, leading to a 404 error page. Not only does this provide a poor user experience, but it also causes search engines to devalue that link, leading to a potential drop in your rankings.

How to Properly Manage URL Changes or Deleted Content

If you need to change URLs or remove outdated content, here are some important steps to take to preserve your SEO value:

1. Identify Pages That Need to Be Removed or UpdatedBefore removing a blog post or changing a URL, consider whether the content can be updated or rewritten instead. Google loves fresh, updated content, and republishing a revamped post can be great for SEO.

2. Check for Existing BacklinksUse a tool like SEMrush to identify which pages have incoming links. This will help you determine whether a post or page has valuable backlinks before you delete or update it. If you have significant backlinks, a 301 redirect is essential.

3. Set Up a 301 RedirectWhen a URL must change or a blog post is deleted, set up a 301 redirect. This redirect will send visitors and search engines to a new, relevant page. Although a 301 redirect won't transfer 100% of the SEO value from the old page, it will retain approximately 80%, making it a critical step in maintaining your rankings.

4. Choose the Right Destination for Your RedirectAlways redirect to a relevant page. For example, if you are removing a blog post, redirect visitors to the main blog page rather than the homepage. If it’s a service page, redirect users to the main services page.

5. Run an SEO AuditAfter making changes, run an SEO audit using tools like SEMrush. This will help you identify any broken internal links that might still point to the old URL. Update those links to avoid additional SEO issues.

Key Points for Managing URL Changes:

• Always check if the content can be updated rather than deleted.

• Identify any backlinks using a tool like SEMrush before making changes.

• Set up 301 redirects to ensure SEO value and traffic are preserved.

• Redirect visitors to relevant pages, not just the homepage.

• Run an SEO audit afterward to fix broken internal links.

Resources

If you're looking for a step-by-step guide on managing URL changes and redirects, Meredith’s husband offers a helpful SEO roadmap. You can find the link to this resource in the show notes.

By following these steps, you can ensure that any necessary updates or changes to your website don’t result in a loss of valuable search engine rankings or traffic. Remember, SEO is an ongoing process, and taking the time to manage URL changes properly can make all the difference in maintaining your site’s visibility online.