No Redirects In Place After Transfer To New Site With Same Domain :(

[pfarsaii]

Hi Moz Folks,

I'm new here and am loving all the information! Can't wait to dig in more.

Folks, I have a situation and would love to hear more about your experiences here and what advice you all have to give.

I have a client whose SEO I helped out with about 4-5 years ago. It went well and they had historically been ranking on pages 1-2 for the majority of their targeted keywords.

Client and I lost touch over the years, but now we are in process of working together again. What I learned today is that my client redesigned the entire old site without placing any redirects and entirely creating new URL structures (I already hear the gasps of air of those reading this). Long story short - you guessed it - rankings/traffic has dropped and the old pages have fallen out of index. Considering that I was hired to re-do and re-audit the SEO of the site and also considering that the domain had a relative decent standing in the rankings in the past, I'm wondering what exactly I should do of the following options (or please do suggest other options):

1. We have the ability to completely revert back to the old site with all the old keywords and and search optimized URLs. The new site was launched just 2 weeks ago and the owner has said that he is willing to revert back to the old site while we audit the new site and get all of the proper optimizations in place. This would be a great option if it will help us because at least we can get a site up that we know ranked well with Google in the past.

2. 302 redirect the old URLs to the somewhat appropriate page on the new site while - in the meantime - I work on the new site structure and keywords/SEO optimizations. I say 302 because a 301 redirect from the old pages to the new pages may only do me so good because I would plan on changing the keywords/URL structures of the new site anyway. Once finished with the optimizations, I'd then 301 redirect to the new appropriate pages

3. 301 redirect everything from the old site to the somewhat appropriate page on the new site right away. Then, once I've completed all the appropriate optimizations, I'd need to re-301-redirect to the new pages I've created.

As you can see, I'm in a bit of a jam. But, considering that the new site was launched just about 2 weeks ago, maybe there's some hope here. Thanks fellow Mozzers! Hopefully that all makes sense.

Cheers!
Nickname: "P-drama"

[GPainter]

Hello,

Welcome to Moz, everyone has a different way of doing bits. I'll give you some pointers on what i might do in your position.

First off i'd set up a dev site version of one version of the site - new/old this would enable you to get a comparison of what urls/ content is missing. dont forget its not just urls that affect rankings if they've changed all their content too that will also have an affect. If you want the quick win a restoration may be the most beneficial. I wouldn't bother with 302 to be honest I'd rather put my time into getting it right

Most of the time it's down to how to get a client earning again (assuming it's taking business away) so the quick win here is, restore, set up dev site for new, prep a migration plan. Put into motion.

I'm sure lots of other Moz people will also give some great advice as I said this above is what I may do but as I'm sure you know there is always lots of ways to solve and there is also other subtleties to worry about etc.

The best of luck with your problem.