Overly-Dynamic URLs & Changing URL Structure w Web Redesign

[JaredDetroit]

I have a client that has multiple apartment complexes in different states and metro areas. They get good traffic and pretty good conversions but the site needs a lot of updating, including the architecture, to implement SEO standards. Right now they rank for " <brand_name>apartments" on every place but not " <city_name>apartments".</city_name></brand_name>

There current architecture displays their URLs like:

• http://www.<client_apartments>.com/index.php?mainLevelCurrent=communities&communityID=28&secLevelCurrent=overview</client_apartments>
• http://www.<client_apartments>.com/index.php?mainLevelCurrent=communities&communityID=28&secLevelCurrent=floorplans&floorPlanID=121</client_apartments>

I know it is said to never change the URL structure but what about this site? I see this URL structure being bad for SEO, bad for users, and basically forces us to keep the current architecture.

They don't have many links built to their community pages so will creating a new URL structure and doing 301 redirects to the new URLs drastically drop rankings?

Is this something that we should bite the bullet on now for future rankings, traffic, and a better architecture?

[Marcus_Miller]

I tend to subscribe to the 'don't change the page names' rule but sometimes, it just has to be done for the greater good. The trick her is to be absolutely fastidious in the approach to rewriting the old pages to new and try to make sure there are several benefits to the new page name and url structure.

You are not moving the domain so you are only possibly impacting page level metrics so I tend to feel that if you 301 and come up with a better structure for humans and a better architecture for search you will not have any major problems.