Duplicate content question

[elduque]

Hi,

I need some advice for a project I am hoping to start soon....

I am going to be working with a NPO who has a really old website with loads of good content but terrible 1990s design.
I will be creating and managing a new ecommerce site and brand for them, which will be hosted separately and have its own domain name. If the new site is successful then I will almost definitely be given the job of rebranding their existing site to bring it into line with the new brand, however in the meantime I will be wanting to copy many of their articles onto the new site.

I obviously need to get the new site ranking well in order to succeed, so what is the best way leveraging the authority of the existing content without getting penalised by google for duplicate content if I just copy it?

 

[elduque]

 

[FutureProofSeo]

Why are theses articles so necessary on the new website immediately?

I would re write them, if the budget is low then you have to put the time in to do all the jobs yourself.

 

[skyflash]

If it's possible you to do then 301 redirect from old site to new site will be the way to go or else creating new content will be your best other option.

 

[elduque]

Why are theses articles so necessary on the new website immediately?

I would re write them, if the budget is low then you have to put the time in to do all the jobs yourself.

They are not 100% necessary immediately, but there is a huge depth of content there that gives great information about the work the NPO is doing, and the work of the NPO is one of the main USPs for the new brand. If I just link from the new site to the existing site for visitors who want to read this stuff then my thinking is that I am undoing my good work with site design and branding because the existing site looks incredibly amateurish and will definitely stop people from purchasing.

I guess re-writes is the only way to go. Any tips or links for how heavily I have to edit them to make them appear original to Google?

Edit:
New idea - rewrite a couple of articles, copy the others but noindex the copied pages. Then over time, rewrite the copied artlicles and index rewritten pages. This way there is plenty of content for users from day 1, but no duplicate content that is not noindexed. Plus google sees site growth over time as new pages are indexed....

 

[Techxan]

If the original site is going away, and the pages have ranking, simply move the page to the new site, no-index it a the original site, and 301 the old URL to the new URL.

This pushes all that juice into the new site. Start with older, low ranking pages first.

 

[elduque]

 

[Techxan]

The reason for that is you never mess with a ranking page until you have to. By moving the lower ranking pages you begin to transfer content and link juice to the new domain. As you do each page, hone the onpage SEO so it is perfect. Watch your internal linking.

I would do it bit by bit, so you can see what changes have what effect. I have seen site switches go without a hitch, and I have seen rankings shot to hell over it. If you make small steps, you can always back up a step. One problem I see is that when a site goes from a high text to code ratio to a lower one, the rakings will slide.

Do a few pages at a time until you have a good bit done and you see rankings in the new site start to rise.

Don't move your ranking pages until last, when the new domain is at its strongest, but if rankings start to fall in the old domain, move the rest of the pages at once and 301 url to url.

A hit may be inevitable, prepare for it, and handle expectations.

 

[watchthisspace]

I have a similar question.

I have a site with good quality articles that I wrote but now I realise the domain name is a really bad one.

can I save the articles and delete the site then put the same ones on my new domain name? would I get penalised for copying them if I delete the old site?

 

[misteryou.]

you will need to wait and be sure the content is not in the google cache anymore

 

[matthiasba]

Defintely re-write. Unique content is what you need. Don't forget to update regularly.

 

[matthiasba]

PS: Good trick is to go to waywayback machine and see what content was on the page years ago. Try to copy the old texts in google. If they are not indexed in Google, you can re-use them and Google will index them as unique texts

 

[elduque]

One problem I see is that when a site goes from a high text to code ratio to a lower one, the rakings will slide.

Yeah, this is very likely to be a problem for me if/when I reach this point The old site is very basic html, the new one obviously will be much heavier on code. Would it be a good idea to put several of the old pages onto one page of the new site so the ratio is better? This would also mean 301 redirecting several pages to one target - would this have negative SERP implications?