Does it make sense to create new pages with friendlier URLs then redirect old pages to new?

[DA2013]

Hi Moz!

My client has messy URLs. does it make sense to write new clean URLs, then 301 redirect all old URLs to the new ones?

Thanks for reading!

[gowebsol]

Depending on how messy, or how lacking they are in good organization or keyword value, I sure would if I felt the benefit out weighed the cost. I don't see a risk here if done properly.

Good luck.

[Keszi]

Hi Daniel,

Having a friendly/readable url structure will surely help you in several ways.

You can read more about it here:

• http://moz.com/learn/seo/url
• http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/basics-of-search-engine-friendly-design-and-development

In the second article check the "Url construction guidelines" part.

But before you start implementation on such a development, try to check how you could avoid an url structure redesign failure. (Such as forgetting about 301 redirects from the old structure to the new one).

I hope it helped. Gr. Keszi