American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing case study--Merging 3 Websites Without Breaking SEO

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF POST-ACUTE CARE NURSING

Merging 3 Websites—Without Breaking SEO

Challenge

Three Established Associations, One New Umbrella

Any time an organization migrates their online presence to a new website, there are risks. SEO can take a hit if you don’t plan ahead. It’s essential to formulate a strategy to ensure that existing site users, searchers, and search engines can easily find your valuable information and resources.

Those challenges became exponentially more complex for the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing (AAPACN) as it prepared to become the home for two other associations in the same space.

All of the sites had strengths, and a critical risk was that the merger would break the SEO traction that all three organizations had established. In addition, the launch of the new website was scheduled just ahead of AAPACN’s annual conference, so timing was critical. They wanted to ensure the highest possibility for that event, so they needed to not only maintain their rankings but also stay ahead of competitors.

AAPACN’s internal web development and marketing teams were in control of the website build and on track for on-time delivery. But they didn’t have the capabilities to address an SEO migration plan. So they reached out to Refactored.

Deliverables

Comprehensive SEO Audit

Technical SEO Strategy

URL Redirect Plan

On-Page Optimizations

Managed Web Content SEO Program

Service Offerings

Website SEO Audit

Website Performance/Technical Audits

URL Mapping and Redirect Planning

SEO Strategy

Keyword Analysis and Strategy

Website Performance Tuning

Code Validation

Deployment Preparation

Onsite Page Meta-Tagging

Onsite Page Content Optimization

Home page of the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing

Solution

Getting Ahead of the Issues

 AAPACN was ahead of the curve but needed to be sure we could execute their most critical optimizations before their site launch. They also wanted to ensure that the site’s search engine rankings remained strong immediately after launch. We created a phased strategy to ensure both technical and keyword optimizations would be in place, right on time.

For AAPACN, Refactored planned the migration of 3 websites and strategically redirected 522 URLs

Phase 1

Triage Research and Technical Remediation

Refactored’s SEO and web development teams pulled benchmark performance data on all three existing websites. We recommended key technical optimizations to avoid common issues including:

  • Duplicate content, meta descriptions, and title tags

  • Missing or broken alt tags, external links, redirect chains, and loops

  • Non-responsive or adaptive design

  • Improperly tagged content, headings, and subheads

  • Slow page speeds

  • Non-optimized URLs

  • Missing or incorrect site map and privacy policy

  • Lack of structured data

We also performed SEO analysis on each of the domains to determine how to maintain page rankings for the most high-value pages. With that information in hand, we could provide AAPACN’s dev team with a detailed redirection mapping sheet.

Because all the legacy sites had established domains, we needed to match searchers’ intent and build authority with search engines. That meant AAPACN could not do a blanket redirect. They needed a carefully targeted, strategic redirect of the most valuable pages from all their sites.

For the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing, Refactored created SEO Strategy, keyword, title, and meta descriptions for 110 pages

Phase 2

Pre-Launch Code Validation, Site Review, and Launch Preparedness

Two weeks before launch, we ran a full SEO scan on the new AAPACN site and provided a technical SEO health report, giving the dev team time to address any remaining essential issues. We also provided detailed guidance on procedures for deploying the new site and decommissioning the old domains.

 Also during this phase, we performed a pre-launch optimization of their page metadata. We developed a detailed keyword strategy and wrote optimized titles and descriptions for all their priority pages. This step ensured they launched with a strong, authoritative presence.

SEO milestone timeline showing AAPACN's program progress over multiple months

Phase 3

Monthly Managed SEO Optimizations

After launch, we provided ongoing analysis, leveraging Google Analytics and Webmaster tools to provide reporting and on-page optimizations.

With targeted monitoring and continuous visibility into site performance and traffic, we methodically refined their on-page keyword relevance over the course of the next four months.

A caring nurse helps a patient learn to use a walker

Pulling Out In Front

After the launch of AAPACN’s new site, they found the redirection and SEO program had not just maintained their site’s page rank; it had actually increased visibility to outrank competitors.

Before the launch of the new site, AAPACN’s visibility sat below 30%.

After a few months of steady optimization, their visibility had risen to 48%—translating directly into increased traffic.

Competitive analysis before SEO optimization
Competitive analysis graph showing visibility improvement after SEO optimization
Graphic report showing improvements in AAPACN's site health score

Results

A Position of Strength

AAPACN went into their busy conference season strong, with a well-optimized site poised to engage and convert their newly combined audience.

With help from Refactored, AAPACN was able to implement an SEO strategy tailored to the unique needs of their organization. By investing in targeted optimizations, and through the creation of highly relevant content, they continue to realize lasting benefits for their prospects, members, and the organization.

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