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I am contemplating renaming the directory /techtalkforums/ to just /forums/ but I am very concerned with SEO. Of course, I would do a 301 redirect for everything in the directory. However, how guaranteed is that alone? Will the google toolbar PR eventually carry over and how long does it take to do so?

I am aware that a 301 redirect tells the se's that the pages have permanently moved to a new location and therefore *theoretically* carries over all their ranking. But I don't care about theoretical :) I want actual :)

I sell text links as the majority of my site's revenue. Even though *I* may know that I am using 301 redirects and the search engines will catch on, I'm not sure my advertisers will be so keen on being on a messload of PR0 pages.

How long will it take for the new URLs to be fully indexed?

I think that I need to add that my reason for wanting to rename the directory is purely "cosmetic" and to better reflect that Tech Talk is now only one section of my site (unlike it used to be back in the day).

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A directory rename for cosmetic reasons can be done safely, but execution and monitoring are the important parts. is right to flag risk — a sloppy migration causes traffic dips and broken links — and the practical steps below fill gaps not covered in the thread so far.

Build a tested, 1:1 mapping of old→new URLs and roll the change out as a single planned deployment.

  • Implement server-side redirects and verify there are no redirect chains or soft-404s.
  • Update all internal links, templates, and canonical tags so new URLs are served directly once the move is live.
  • Replace the URLs in your XML sitemap and resubmit the sitemap in Search Console; use URL Inspection for representative pages.
  • Keep the old URLs returning the proper redirect for at least 6–12 months (longer if you sell links).
  • Monitor server logs, Search Console Coverage and Links reports, and analytics for 404s, crawl spikes, and traffic changes.
  • Inform top advertisers in advance and ask them to update their links; provide Search Console screenshots or recent traffic numbers as proof while redirects remain in place.

Expect Google to begin following redirects within days to weeks; high-traffic pages often reindex quickly, but full consolidation of link signals can take several weeks to a few months. The old toolbar PageRank metric is no longer a reliable indicator — use Search Console performance, organic traffic, and third‑party link tools to measure and demonstrate authority to advertisers.

If the cosmetic gain is small and advertiser confidence is critical, consider a staged test (one section first), or keep the filesystem path and change only the visible navigation or rewrite rules so external links remain intact while the public label becomes “/forums/.”

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Member Avatar for shimon

Hi cscgal,

Sounds a little scary. techtalkforums is a nice keyword (i haven't checked the numbers). Besides you have great PageRank, and I wouldn't want to mess with that. The risk sounds too much for the potential SEO reward...Which most likely won't happen at all. IMO, I'd leave it be.

Member Avatar for Dani

I'm not really expecting any SEO benefit to come of it. Like I said, it's more for usability / cosmetic reasons. I posted in the SEO forum because it's the SEO repercussions I am worried about.

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