Want to Remove numbers from Old Post URL - Will it effect its Ranking?

[techmaish]

Hi.

I have a number of posts that are ranking in google for several keywords. However the URLs contain numbers, for example 2011, 2014 and 35. I want to remove these numbers to make the URLs more updated.

If I use the 301 redirect for old URL to the new one, will I retain the same ranking for these blogposts Or it can effect the ranking.

Does anyone have tried this in the past? I would like to get your opinion on this.

Thanks in advance.

[LoganRay]

Hi,

By applying 301 redirects, you will certainly lose a small amount of authority for those pages, which will in-turn affect your rankings. Whenever possible, it's best to leave URLs as they are, especially if they're driving traffic. Is there a particular reason you want to remove the numbers?

When it comes to changing URLs, I always go by this mantra: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

[techmaish]

Thank you Logan and Matt for your answer.

The reason why I wanted to change the URL was that it contain the year 2011 and to make it look updated, I wanted to remove the year 2011. But now, I am going to leave it because I don't want its ranking to go down.