Using copy from a current site on a new one
-
I have a client who is closing down his local business because he'smoving to another state. When he gets there he will launch a new website.On his current website, he put in a lot of work and has a ton of good copy, including blog posts that have helped gain him excellent rankings.He's asking me if he can use that copy on his new site and get original author credit for that, like he did on his current site.Can he use the same copy from his current website on his new websitewithout any problems — and get original author credit for it?Would it be best to shut down the old site or to 301 all of the pages beingmoved to the new corresponding pages?If 301's are the way to go, how long should he leave those in place?Thanks!Kirk
-
Thanks!
-
Hello Kirk,
As long as you point the root domain, all should be well. I went through the process a few months ago with a clients websites; no problems were encountered.
I've collated the articles I found useful prior to the process I went through.
-
Ta, with the old site going down, Joe's and Egol's advice is spot on. All straight forward.
Hope that helps.
-
Hi Joe, I apologize for the slow delay. I did not get any notifications of replies to my question.
Does your suggestion apply even if the old website will be taken down? (Which is the case)
thank you, Kirk
-
Thank you for this info!
-
Hi Don, The old site will be taken down. (I apologize for the slow delay. I did not get any notifications of replies to my question.)
-
If a thorough job of using 301s to redirect the site is done, as Joe Viveiros suggested, and those 301s remain in place forever, then all content can be safely moved and all link equity should follow. It will take a while for Google to figure this out, and possibly a lot longer for Google to appreciate the original author credit, but everything should be fine in a few to several months.
-
Hi
What is not clear is - is what is happening to the original site. Is the original site staying up? If so it is different advice as to a new site and simply transferring content.
Can you clarify?
-
By all means, use the copy especially if you're ranking well for it. I'd recommend:
- Creating 301s
- Updating the robots.txt file, after Go Live with the Disallow / command
- If you have access to the old version of GSC then you can repoint the whole domain over - old to new URL
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How much change should you make to your site in one go?
Hey everyone, So we are currently working on a new website and are in the final stages right now. We have some plans for a brand name change too and there is some debate internally whether we should: a) roll out the new site now and hold off on the rebrand - let the redirects kick in and the site bed in so to speak. Then when the dust settles look at a domain name change b) Roll out the new site with the domain name change too - an all in change A bit of background on the changes being made: The new website will have some structural changes but the main blog content will remain the same - this is where we get the majority of our traffic. The blog will have a slight page layout change but the core content, structure, urls, etc. will be exactly the same. The core website surrounding the blog will change with 301 redirects from old out of date content pages consolidated to fewer, more relevant pages. I hope I've explained enough here, if not please let me know and I'll add more detail
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | hotchilidamo0 -
Use Nonindex or Canonical on product tags of a e-commerce site
I run a e-commerce site and we have many product tags. These product tags come up as "Duplicate Page Content" when Moz does it's crawl. I was wondering if I should use Nonindex or Canonical? The tags all go to the same product when used so I figure I would just nonindex them but was wondering what's the best for SEO?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | EmmettButler1 -
Does Google make continued attempts to crawl an old page one it has followed a 301 to the new page?
I am curious about this for a couple of reasons. We have all dealt with a site who switched platforms and didn't plan properly and now have 1,000's of crawl errors. Many of the developers I have talked to have stated very clearly that the HTacccess file should not be used for 1,000's of singe redirects. I figured If I only needed them in their temporarily it wouldn't be an issue. I am curious if once Google follows a 301 from an old page to a new page, will they stop crawling the old page?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | RossFruin0 -
If your site has used www for the last few years is it a good idea to direct to non www?
I had a website moved to wpengine lately and when the developer set it up on wpengine he used http://example.com/. For the last few years the site has been directing to http://www.example.com/ Should I redirect the site to http://www.example.com/ to avoid losing indexed pages and google rankings?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | webestate0 -
Should we move to a new domain??
Working with a company that is considering moving to a new domain and wanted some advice.They have 2 domains (they own both) and one is a shorter version of the other. The current domain is over 10 years old and has a domain authority score of 80. It is 9 characters long. The new domain (which they also own) has a DA score of 43 and is only 3 characters long. The debate is as much about branding as anything but there is a concern on how it will affect search. I was hoping for so advice and any pitfalls others may have experienced. Thanks!!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | 2comarketing0 -
On-Site Optimization Tips for Job site?
I am working on a job site that only ranks well for the homepage with very low ranking internal pages. My job pages do not rank what so ever and are database driven and often times turn to 404 pages after the job has been filled. The job pages have to no content either. Anybody have any technical on-site recommendations for a job site I am working on especially regarding my internal pages? (Cross Country Allied.com)
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Melia0 -
Strategies to compete with a new domain/site
Hi all, What would be ( highlights ) your strategy in order to rank and compete with a new domain against competitors that have an average of 50% domain authority and around 2000 root domain linking to them, if you would start with a completely new website/domain? How long would you estimate the new site to be competitive? In the retail area. Working on it a month full time I would go with On page SEO off course, detailling each products and building the internal link structure Get back links, backlinks, backlinks and... backlinks... Build the social media network feed a blog Thanks for your input Considering working on the site for a month full time, I would estimate a ranking after a month or 2 although the competitions very high. Your thoughts ?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Derek_A0 -
Should I be using rel canonical here?
I am reorganizing the data on my informational site in a drilldown menu. So, here's an example. One the home page are several different items. Let's say you clicked on "Back Problems". Then, you would get a menu that says: Disc problems, Pain relief, paralysis issues, see all back articles. Each of those pages will have a list of articles that suit. Some articles will appear on more than one page. Should I be worried about these pages being partially duplicates of each other? Should I use rel-canonical to make the root page for each section the one that is indexed. I'm thinking no, because I think it would be good to have all of these pages indexed. But then, that's why I'm asking!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | MarieHaynes0