Change the homepage text entirely
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_"It is not a dramatic departure from the original." _
I don't see any point in staging the transition then. Go for broke. Do it all at once. If, as you say, it's not a dramatic departure - the theme, subject matter, content is similar just more extensive - there should not be a huge impact, just the normal rankings fluctuations that we all observe daily. Be careful with your title tag though. It will have the most influence on ranking fluctuations all else being equal.
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I agree with Donna. Just rip the bandaid off and do it all in one shot!
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- Use Google Search Console and see what queries you get traffic from for the home page.
- Replace the old with the new text in one sweep.
- Monitor and see what you've gain and what you've lost as far as organic traffic for the home page and see if you are missing anything. You can roll back if the "damage" is extensive. There is no real damage you can end up with that you can't reverse. You can always roll back if needed - but if you say the content is on the same subject but more professional then all should be good and for the best.
Hope it helps.
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Agree with the above, if you are generating better, more relevant content that expands on your topic and answers the frequent questions your audience asks, (maybe checkout GSC for these questions) then it should be fine. Make sure you monitor your site closely for a period to ensure nothing is tripping up.
If you are looking to rank your home page rather then specific pages for both current and newly targeted keywords, I would suggest these are set up to be tracked so you can monitor multiple ranking movements both prior and post change. Hopefully with better content you will move in the desired direction.
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Yeah, I kept the title tags pretty much the same (even though I'd like to improve those as well.) Thanks for the encouragement. I am going for it!
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I've done a total overhaul of my homepage before. Sounds a bit like yours--not a dramatic departure from the original. I did it all at once and didn't notice any significant negative consequences. In fact, I think the changes helped the site get better results more quickly than if I had slowly implemented the revisions.