Moving content - How to make sure your content doesn't get lost

URLs sometimes change or content gets reviewed and archived. This is part of a website’s life cycle. 

But moved content can cause problems for users if they can no longer find it. 

Broken links also have a negative impact on search engine optimisation (SEO) – so they will make it harder to get your content to the top of Google. 

As content owners it’s our responsibility to consider the user’s journey. And if we move content, we need to consider who might be linking to us so they can update their links. 

Note: If you’re considering deleting or moving content please speak to the Digital Content Team first, we can help you. digitalcontent@hud.ac.uk  

Types of links to your content 

There are different types of links you should consider: 

• External backlinks 
• Internal backlinks 
• Shortlinks 
• Direct link 

Let’s quickly go through them: 

How to find your backlinks

You might not be able to find all of the links to your content, however it’s important that they are considered before you move or delete your content. 

There are a few tools that can be used to check your external backlinks: 

• Ahrefs backlink checker 
• The Hoth backlink checker 

If you’re working with the Digital Content Team as part of your content project, then they have a number of additional tools that can be used to find both internal and external backlinks. 

Additionally, Google search can be used, especially if pages link to your content with a unique or consistent phrase. Use this syntax in the Google Search bar: 

Site:<domain> “add phrase you want to search for inside the quote marks” 

For example:

Site:hud.ac.uk “Digital Content Team”

That would search the University of Huddersfield website for any page where the phrase "Digital Content Team" appears.

SEO impact 

Do internal pages link to your content? 

If so you’ll need to contact the content owners, let them know what’s happening to your content and when. This is so they can update their links. 

If they are linking to you via the T4 Section link, then T4 should auto-update the link when you move your content types to the new section. 

Do external websites link to your content? 

If possible to get hold of the website owners then request the link is updated.  

On 3rd party profile sites such as WhatUni, Prostgrad and The Student Room this should be easy to complete as we have existing relationships with those websites for updating content. 

Redirects 

Our rule of thumb is to limit the amount of redirects used on the University’s website. Any redirects created are added to a record and will be reviewed in 1 year with the intention of deleting them unless there is a good reason not to. 

When your content has moved the Digital Content Team can request a redirect is added. 

T4 Tips: Move or duplicate content

James from the WebTeam has written a useful article with pros and cons of moving or duplicating content in T4. It's a useful guide for web editors or anyone editing content in T4 using the development section.