It’s been almost three weeks now since I started the site makeover.  While I’m really happy with the new look, I’ve noticed that some of my search engine rankings have come down due to some of the new structuring.

This has surprised me a little.  I had estimated that I had had the number one position for so many search terms for so long that I would have some slack with the transition.  That may seem silly to some, but I do have some basis to assume that.

I have many sites in other niches, most rank very well.  I’ve done similar makeovers from time to time with some of them, and expected to drop in my keyword rankings but didn’t.  This of course peaked my curiosity enough to start some deliberate testing.

To my surprise, I found that some structural elements that used to be paramount now had little to no effect.  This is a classic example of search engine algorithm changes and the non stop evolution of the web.

The results of my tests found that the longer you have in a number one, the more authority you are given.  This was substantiated by trying to put up a new site without those structural elements.  It was impossible in certain niches, to ever achieve position beyond a certain point, regardless of the passage of time and link authority.

While taking a site that already had number one authority, and taking away the same elements, the positions held about 80% of the time.  The other 20% were very competitive and I knew in advance that every element was needed.

While link authority used to be almost the sole dictator of the rankings, I’ve noticed that this has changed as well.  After doing an informal link audit of most of my number one rankings, and cross checking against holders of the other top five positions for each phrase, I found that in every case, I had less inbound links than they did.

Because I know that topical theme link vectors are the most relevant, according to my informal research, I only beat on average 2 out of 5 competitors for those terms, yet still outranked 4 out of 5 of them.

I have suspected for while that inbound links, even theme vector links no longer had the authority that they used to, and this has confirmed that.  That is not to say I no longer concern myself with these elements, I think they are still necessary, but they can no longer be relied upon by themselves.

It also shows me that the “reno website design” suite of keywords has become more competitive as well.  A year ago, I did a similar makeover, which involved losing a lot of my old rankings because I wanted to change the linking structure of this site.  This ment I had to change the filenames of a lot of my pages.  I could’ve 301′d all of the old pages to the new ones, but I opted not to because I think of 301’s as messy, and I like things clean and sharp.  Clutter is my enemy.

While it did affect my rankings for a few weeks, I went right back up to the top after the new structure was indexed and trusted.  This time I have done the same thing, as in changing the file names and structure in favor of what my new research has hsown me is superior.  And this time I also did not 301 the old URL’s.  But this time the cost has been much more immediate and severe.

This shows me that my competitors, all very talented designers and seo’s, have stepped up thier game substantially from a year ago.

It took me about 9 months starting from a brand new site with no authority to get to number one in this niche.  I’m curious to see how this will shake out in terms of my previous authority, with a brand new set of URL’s without redirects from the old ones.

I’m more excited than worried.  Why?  Because I really want know the answer!  Every action leads to a new discovery in SEO.  There is no book, college course, degree or diploma that can teach you what I will learn from each test.  The downside, if you want to call it a downside, is that everything I learn from this will change again soon.

It’s like being an athlete in a race.  The day you win, you’re the best that day.  If you don’t keep training and pushing, next month someone else will be the best.  SEO is different in the sense that you get some credit for past performance, but it’s the same in that if the competition steps up, past credit isn’t enough.