Changed site structure twice, got indexed by Google both times, how long until it trusts the current site structure?

I think the site was penalized in trust because of this. I changed the site structure from /companies/insurance/home-insurance/ to /company/insurance/home-insurance/ to /insurance/home-insurance/. Currently, all structures are indexed. When I search for a page, sometimes I get the newest two pages, and Ahrefs shows that the oldest structure is indexed sometimes too. I dropped 33% in traffic value, after being on an upward going momentum, and as of the past two weeks it's been a slow downward trend.

I assume the site's taken a hit to trust. It was moving positively upward but now reversed, as Google is having difficulty indexing the right pages.

Does anyone know how long it takes until Google settles for the new site structure, or trusts it, or a penalty like this subsides? Is there something I can do to let them know what's going to be the structure for the future, so they can start trusting the site quicker?

There is no fixed time; sometimes it will take just a week, or sometimes it will take longer than you think.
Check if the 301 redirect is implemented well or there is any issue with the redirect. If it's not implemented well so you will lose your traffic and can also face the duplicate content issue with keyword cannibalisation as Google sees all three URLs as different with the same content and keywords.
If you use ScreamingFrog, then it's good to check whether the redirection is implemented properly or not.

prince_nirala said:

There is no fixed time; sometimes it will take just a week, or sometimes it will take longer than you think.
Check if the 301 redirect is implemented well or there is any issue with the redirect. If it's not implemented well so you will lose your traffic and can also face the duplicate content issue with keyword cannibalisation as Google sees all three URLs as different with the same content and keywords.
If you use ScreamingFrog, then it's good to check whether the redirection is implemented properly or not.

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I've checked and from the moment I made the changes, the redirects are perfect. I just realize it's caused a trust issue for the site, because it was moving up with the old URLs, then the new URLs were indexed at a lower rank. To this day (it's been about 2-3 weeks) the old URLs are still sometimes preferred at a higher rank. I wonder if someone has suffered a similar thing and how long it took for them to bounce back?

TurboCharge said:

I've checked and from the moment I made the changes, the redirects are perfect. I just realize it's caused a trust issue for the site, because it was moving up with the old URLs, then the new URLs were indexed at a lower rank. To this day (it's been about 2-3 weeks) the old URLs are still sometimes preferred at a higher rank. I wonder if someone has suffered a similar thing and how long it took for them to bounce back?

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Try to update internal links first with the newest one and also update backlinks if possible. It will help you with the ranking and trust flow.
Also it is one of the best ways to get crawlers to visit your website and look for the new links or updated ones.

Update the XML sitemap and check the coverage report for errors, duplicacy and redirects in GSC.

Have you submitted your sitemap to google indexing?

TurboCharge said:

I've checked and from the moment I made the changes, the redirects are perfect. I just realize it's caused a trust issue for the site, because it was moving up with the old URLs, then the new URLs were indexed at a lower rank. To this day (it's been about 2-3 weeks) the old URLs are still sometimes preferred at a higher rank. I wonder if someone has suffered a similar thing and how long it took for them to bounce back?

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It usually takes a couple of weeks, up to a few months,
Nothing much to do from your side, just keep up the work with the on/off page,
Ideally, you should've planned for the permalinks/structure, you'll have some fluctuations, and it will settle back afterwards hopefully

ReaL_GainZ said:

Have you submitted your sitemap to google indexing?

Click to expand...

Absolutely. It is an old site, 4-5 years old. I changed the URL structure last time back in November 2024. Changed again April 27 2025 (last month) and then again May 2 2025. So two changes in relatively short time span. At first it was no big deal but then the newest URL structure was indexed at the same time as the one before it, so I had two pages, and the newest structure would be on page 2-3 (compared to page 1-2 for the new). The old structure still dominated. Now the index is confused, sometimes I have the old structure, sometimes the newest. All ranks are worse than before I made these two changes.

I am thinking it is a trust issue. Google doesn't know what is what with the site anymore, and it needs time to trust which structure is the right one. But I've never been through something like this so I have no idea what to expect. Will all ranks decrease? Do I need to wait for a core update? Do I need to wait a few weeks? What can I expect...

hideath said:

It usually takes a couple of weeks, up to a few months,
Nothing much to do from your side, just keep up the work with the on/off page,
Ideally, you should've planned for the permalinks/structure, you'll have some fluctuations, and it will settle back afterwards hopefully

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Ok, thank you. It's just so god damn demoralizing after all the work I put in since March, seeing ranks climb after mid April, and then collapse again in the beginning of May. The site does not look the same anymore, it is infinitely more valuable now. MUCH better in every regard. It was reflected in the ranks, 3,5x traffic value and positive momentum, and now it's down to 2x traffic value and downward momentum. I am suffering psychosis from this, it is not healthy.

OnlineProxyIO said:

Changing a webpage’s address can take search engines an unpredictable amount of time to recognize. Quick updates might happen in a week, while others might take longer. Proper implementation of this change is crucial. If the new address isn’t set up correctly, you risk losing visitors and confusing search engines, potentially harming your website’s search ranking. Using tools like ScreamingFrog can help ensure a smooth transition and maintain your site’s performance

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Everything is set up, all URLs are properly 301'd, yet it's been a month and ranks aren't back to a positive momentum.