SEO All In One Settings

[axolotl]

If a page is already indexed and you make changes using the SEO plugin that will alter its URL--for example changing it from "domain/category/post title" to "domain/different category/post title"--how does Google deal with this? Do you risk losing ranking and/or are you penalized in some way because the spider can't find the URL that is no longer there? I think this happened to me--are there right and wrong ways to make changes to page titles & URLs, or is it always best to leave things intact once a page is indexed?

[BrentH]

Originally Posted by axolotl

If a page is already indexed and you make changes using the SEO plugin that will alter its URL--for example changing it from "domain/category/post title" to "domain/different category/post title"--how does Google deal with this?.... Do you risk losing ranking ... ?

Yes

Originally Posted by axolotl

are there right and wrong ways to make changes to page titles & URLs, or is it always best to leave things intact once a page is indexed?

Yes - it's best to change as little as possible once the site is indexed.

Page structure / site structure / URL changes around existing content will generally affect the page's rankings in the short to medium term - but some types of changes will benefit your rankings in the long term.

Brent