URL slug update, temporary rank drop question

[EgoOne]

I was considering updating a slug on my website for a page getting solid organic traffic, but I'm aware that even with a proper 301 redirect there might be a small drop in rank initially (and thus traffic), but it should be better in the long run.

My question is this: If the rank/visibility drop is too severe, can I simply revert the slug back to the original slug and quickly regain my visibility...or would that cause more complications?

I very rarely make these sorts of adjustments and I want to make sure I'm clear on potential issues and recourses should I decide to proceed.

Thanks, folks!

 

[SunnyLeon]

You should never update URLs that are ranking properly. Why risk it? Income school was arguing that a simple redirect would bring most of the traffic back, but why would you risk losing a ranking page?

 

[EMAOneBillion]

I was considering updating a slug on my website for a page getting solid organic traffic

Why would you want to make changes to a page already ranking?

 

[xReminisce]

My question is this: If the rank/visibility drop is too severe, can I simply revert the slug back to the original slug and quickly regain my visibility...or would that cause more complications?

from my own testings, it will just screw it up even more if you change it back midway

if you make the change, you pretty much make peace with it
I personally changed entire URL structures before, i dropped for a few days.
But ended up better. while other times, the rankings never came back
It's all about if it's worth changing the url structure to you in the end.

 

[EgoOne]

Why would you want to make changes to a page already ranking?

I'm under the impression that it could help by having a relevant keyword in the slug.

from my own testings, it will just screw it up even more if you change it back midway

if you make the change, you pretty much make peace with it
I personally changed entire URL structures before, i dropped for a few days.
But ended up better. while other times, the rankings never came back
It's all about if it's worth changing the url structure to you in the end.

I see. Thank you for the insights. I'll give this some thought but I don't want to put things in a position to potentially lose visibility for an extended period of time.

I'll probably either not make the change or do it in a very low-traffic season.

 

[nakamura]

In theory: If you set a 301 redirect to the new URL it should be fine and you should keep the rankings and therefore the traffic.

In my experience: It is a gamble, because from my experience Google's algorithm/crawling isn't exact or what it should be. It could work out properly, but it isn't sure for 100%. I was in the similar situation before and after two weeks of not getting the previous rankings I changed the URL back to the original.

Conclusion: If you don't have to do it - don't do it.

 

[paddyboy91]

Give It some time, let google crawl it completely, there are some issues in ranking after some new G updates, it will be better after some time.