Question: “I recently read advice cautioning against creating a new website for improving SEO unless absolutely necessary. Does this advice not apply to websites that are difficult to optimize, like the Oaktrees site?”
Reply: The advice you encountered likely refers to the advantage that established websites have in SEO rankings compared to new ones. It’s generally inadvisable to change all primary page names or the domain name at once. Such changes reset your SEO efforts because search engines need time to index new content and link it to a specific domain and page names. Longer-established sites tend to be more thoroughly indexed, given they follow SEO best practices and are consistently updated.
It’s crucial, especially if you aren’t already using tools like Google Webmaster Tools, to start doing so. I’ve shared a tutorial on my business Facebook page that could help.
Regarding your question, the issue isn’t with building a new site per se but with removing indexed content, changing page names, etc. SEO professionals may adjust keywords, their positions, and metadata, as well as edit page content. These changes don’t necessarily harm a site’s ranking, but minor fluctuations can occur.
However, what significantly impacts a site’s SEO—for better or worse—is modifying page titles and content on key pages. Even simple changes, like adjusting a title’s length (recommended no more than 70 characters) or the order of words, can have substantial effects. For example, changing “Oaktrees Catering in Sacramento” to “Sacramento Catering – Oaktrees” can improve a site’s SEO because search engines assign more value to the first words in a title. Similarly, using heading tags correctly, linking to other pages, and optimizing text for keyword density, spelling, and grammar are crucial. Finding the right balance of text quantity and quality—enough to target specific queries without diluting keyword relevance—is essential.
