Dear Kalena…
I recently got promoted on my job and I’m now responsible for the SEO of the company website.
We’re currently ranking number 1 on Google but I would like to do some changes to the content of the site (use more keywords, make it more appealing to the visitor, etc) but I’m afraid that with these changes, the website can go down on the ranking. What’s your opinion?
Thank you.
Victoria
Dear Victoria
Changes in content can affect your search rankings, but this shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing (as long as you do it right).
There are two things to consider – first and foremost, your website should be designed for your clients. If your planning on improving the content, adding more value to the site, making it more user-friendly etc. then please don’t let the potential loss of a ranking or two stop you. These types of improvements to a site usually reduce bounce-rates which, although not instantaneous, will have a better, long-term effect on your site’s overall rankings and performance.
The second thing to be mindful of is that while making these changes, you still keep the most important keywords in the right places. This includes all the obvious stuff like title tags, headings etc.
Also, if these changes only affect the content, but not the actual architecture of the site, then ignore this next bit, but if you’re planning on changing file names, or moving pages around, ensure you use the appropriate 301 redirects to avoid losing any of the link value these pages have built-up.
Hope this helps
Peter Newsome
SiteMost Search Engine Optimisation
