Page URL Change

[JoeLin]

We're planning on rolling out a redesign of an existing page, and at the same time, we're looking to possibly changing the URL of the page. Currently, the URL is

www.blah.com/phraseword1-phraseword2-phraseword3-phraseword4

and we're ranking top 3 in Google SERP for that 4-word phrase. The keyword phrase is something we have in our Page Title, Site Copy and the URL.

Now, we are planning on simplifying the URL to below..

www.blah.com/phraseword1-phraseword2

The plan is to 301 redirect the original URL to this new URL and actually work the exact phrase into the copy a few more times. My understanding is that URL doesn't get as much weight as it does in the past, but it's still important.

So my question is...

How important is the URL in this case where we will continue to have it in our page title and also we'll be working more copy on to the page with the appropriate keyword?

Will 301 redirect from the old URL address the issue of passing SEO value for that keyword phrase?

Thanks,
Joe

[SpadaMan]

No Change!
I would not change any URLs that are ranking well. Keep your URLs as is; and only add. Once the new design is LIVE with the new pages; I would slowly do the whole 301 redirect; starting with the least important pages and see if the PR value and ranking are affected.

We revamped a site a few years back, Invested quite a bit on fresh new content and we attempted to simplify the URLs and got burnt. We ranked TOP 2 for good keywords and disappeared! We did integrate the 301 redirects properly and ensured content was super clean etc....

If you want Users to reference your current URLs easily; consider using URL shorteners.