Can I swap a website yet keep it's high ranking for a competitive keyword?

[acecream]

Couldn't fit the entire question in the main bit so the explanation is here:

Working on a client's website which is hosted by volusion and also been doing SEO for them for about a year. Now we've finally got them ranking at the lower end of page 1 (around 10+) for their main keyword.

They now want to move from volusion over to Amazon Web Store which seems to be an SEO nightmare from even my basic understanding of SEO.

From looking at the coding and the way Amazon Web store is built on top of how restricted you are from doing anything with it, I am almost certain the shop will be extremely difficult to optimise and we will have to completely change nearly all of the content.

Finally! the actual question; I was thinking I could get them to delay their move to Amazon webstore until they are ranking in the top 5 for this top keyword. Once they switch over, i assume they'll keep this ranking for at least a short while? This keyword attracts a high volume of traffic and if this traffic is clicking on the result for their website, and google sees that people are finding this website valuable (not clicking back onto google results). Will they be able hold onto this high ranking?

Basically what I'm asking is, this will be a terrible outdated badly SEO'd shop, but if a high volume of people are clicking on it and staying on it from their lingering ranking will Google just let it stay at the top?

A massive amount of gratitude in advance for anyone who tries to help with this!

[Jinx14678]

"Basically what I'm asking is, this will be a terrible outdated badly SEO'd shop, but if a high volume of people are clicking on it and staying on it from their lingering ranking will Google just let it stay at the top?"

Maybe for a few days, until the index changes but it is tough to say for certain what would happen without knowing or seeing a before and after shot of sites code.

My main point to them would be -

What is the ROI in switching, and does it counteract the negative you might see from current ranking drop? (and how much traffic will you really get from this keyword)

It would all come down to end strategy, but if it is as you say "a terrible outdated badly SEO'd shop" I am not sure I see a great reason for switching, but of course I do not even know what your company does.

But to the question in your title

"Can I swap a website yet keep it's high ranking for a competitive keyword?"

I would first say what do you mean specifically by "swap" but it appears you are only talking about the Server and Architecture.

If this is the case it is VERY possible to keep rankings, but not sure as I have never worked with Amazon shop. So I am not sure how much control you have, but a very short broad answer would be yes, it is very feasible to even change domains and keep rankings.

It all just depends on if it is done correctly. (but of course I cannot answer the question as it pertains to Amazon shop, as I have never used it)

[acecream]

Thanks for the in depth answer shane!

"I would first say what do you mean specifically by "swap" but it appears you are only talking about the Server and Architecture."

Yes we're moving onto their platform and are basically just changing the design of the webstore template so its similar to the previous one. Losing about 80% of the categories amongst other things  because of the set up too

The reason they're moving to amazon webstore is they already store all of their stock in the amazon warehouse (they're originally amazon sellers) so they would rather just have the store completely automated which in my opinion is short sighted and I think theres a good chance it won't progress further than where it is right now because of the move.

[Everett]

Joe I agree with Shane that it is very possible to keep rankings after changing domains, but that is if everything else stays the same. You are moving to a totally new platform so not much is going to stay the same. I would not expect rankings to stay the same after the switch. Still, if you must do it, make sure all of the 301 redirects are in place and working correctly. Do the best you can with what you have to work with.

I'd advise against switching if most of their revenue comes from Google organic search. However, some retailers actually find Amazon to be their leading channel (over search, even) so it all depends on what their business goals are.

Good luck!