Old site to new WordPress site - Client concerned about Yahoo Ranking

[Bill_K]

Hello,

Back Story

I have a client (law firm) who has a large .html website. He has been doing his own SEO for years and it shows. I think the only reason he reached out to a professional is because he got a huge penalty from Google last fall and fell very far down in rankings. Although, he still retains a #1 spot in Yahoo for his site for the keyword phrase he wants.

I have been creating a new WordPress theme for the client and creating all new pages and updating the formatting/SEO. From the beginning I have told the client that when we delete the old site and install a new WordPress site (same domain name, but different page hierarchy) he will take a bump in the search engines until all the 301 redirects get sorted out. I told him I can't guarantee any time frame of how long the dip in SEO will last. Some sites bounce right back while others take longer.

Last week, during a discussion, he tells me that if he loses his #1 ranking on Yahoo for any length of time he thinks he will go out of business. Needless to say I was a little taken back. When it comes to SEO I use best practice techniques, do my research, stay on top of trends but I never guarantee rankings when moving to a new site.

I'm thinking of ways I can help elevate any type of huge SEO drop off and help the client. Here is what I was thinking of suggesting to the client and I would love some feedback.

Main Question

He has another domain he isn't doing anything with. It's pretty much his domain name with pc added. I was thinking about using that domain to create a simple 1-2 page WordPress website with brand new content (no duplicate content) aimed at attracting his keyword phrase. I would do as much SEO as I could with a 1-2 page site and give it a month or so to see if this smaller site can get into the top #10 in Yahoo, or higher. Then, when we move the site he will still have a website on the first page of Yahoo for his keyword phrase.

I hope I explained it clearly

I would be open to any suggestions anyone may have. Thanks

[Andy.Drinkwater]

Hi William,

During the transition period, he could always look at Adwords in order to keep enquiries coming in and until the organic side of things kicks in?

-Andy

[Bill_K]

Thanks Andy. I will suggest that to the client. I think he's mainly concerned with Yahoo, but if he could afford some Google Adwords space that couldn't hurt. Thanks for commenting.

[JCurrier]

I'd suggest starting with a whole new domain or using the unused one. If he has had penalties that lost him rankings then you are starting from scratch, or worse, by trying to fix the rankings for his current domain anyways. This way you avoid losing that first place position, which I am almost certain will happen for a period of time once you make the switch.

If you start a whole new site, he can maintain that first place ranking until the new site takes its place.

Like Andy mentioned, he could also run some PPC ads at the same time. Which he could be doing on Bing and Google to alleviate some of the lost traffic anyways.

[Bill_K]

Thanks for the comments. I would agree but he told me he has been paying someone to help him work with Google to remove the penalties. He said he wished he would have talked with me first because I gave him the same advice you would have given. He said that Google finally got back with him and said his site should be on the "up and up" soon.

Thanks for sharing.