How to track data from old site and new site with the same URL?

[Issuer_Direct]

We are launching a new site within the next 48 hours.  We have already purchased the 30 day trial and we will continue to use this tool once the new site is launched.

Just looking for some tips and/or best practices so we can compare the old data vs. the new data moving forward....thank you in advance for your response(s).

PB3

[S_Curtis]

I find the Rank Tracker tool really useful for this. Put in the keywords you are interested in then tick "track history". It make take a while for things to change but you can see what has happened. You are also not restricted to the weekly ranking update so you can do it now and capture the current rank of your old site before launch.

[RuthBurrReedy]

What analytics tool are you using? I know that both Google Analytics and SiteCatalyst have functions where you can make a note of changes - make sure you've recorded the date of the change so you can compare back and forth and as time goes on, remember exactly when the switch happened.

I would also run some comparison reports for equal amounts of time before and after the switch - things like your most popular pages by organic traffic, home page visits, etc. That will show you right away if an important page has stopped doing well.

In the Moz tool, tracking rankings before and after is definitely a good thing to do. You should also dig in and see which pages are ranking for your target terms before and after the switch to make sure it's still the page you want ranking for the keyword you want.

Lastly, don't forget that your site switch didn't occur in a vacuum. Take into account factors such as seasonality that could also be impacting your traffic post-switch.

[Issuer_Direct]

Wow, thanks for the responses Ruth and S_Curtis.  I guess what I am trying to do might just be impossible.  The main URL will remain the same; most of the other page URL's are going to be eliminated (old site) or updated (new site).

I will definitely make sure to note the switch over date and monitor what pages are or are not working - thanks for that tip as well Ruth.

Have a great day everyone - PB3

[George.Fanucci]

If you have many inbound links or landing page traffic for the old page URLs, will you be redirecting those old URLs to your new URLs?

[Issuer_Direct]

OK, now a stupid question - how do I mark my Question as ANSWERED?  Moz is sending me emails telling me to "Mark as Answered" yet I do not know how to do that...thank you in advance.

Paul

[KeriMorgret]

It should already be marked as answered, since you selected answers as a "good answer".

We just deployed a new script today that emails people after one week if their question is still "unanswered", and there may be a bug there. We'll take a look. Thanks for letting us know!

Edit: I looked at timestamps, and I think we emailed you, then you came and marked several responses a "good answer", which marked the question as answered, and removed the "mark as answered" button the emails talked about.

[Issuer_Direct]

I did receive the email.  However, I never saw the the "Mark as Answered" button so I just marked GOOD ANSWER.  Hope this helps...