Updating old backlink

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

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  Bobby S: Hi!  ;If you have a backlink on a site such as TechCrunch that points to /items/iphone6/, for example, but you change your URL structure to /products/iphone6/, are you better off leaving the link on TechCrunch as is and 301 redirecting to the new URL, or is it better to have TechCrunch update their link to point to your new URL?
  
  Someone mentioned that updating old backlinks can devalue them, whereas I was under the impression having an up-to-date backlink would be more valuable than the value gained from an outdated backlink that 301 redirects.
  
  Do you lose equity when a backlink is updated as described in my example above?
  
  Please provide any relevant links to useful information on this topic (if available).
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  Jim Munro: Thank you for your participation here, +Bobby S. ;
  
  I am not an expert, but I can state unequivocally that you could search and find many instances of Googlers stating that a redirect will not pass full equity. I am sorry I cannot provide a link but I have a clear recollection.
  
  Apparently the loss is not great but a refresh of the link seems to be the preferable option.
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  Bobby S: Thanks for your reply.  ;I know it won't pass full equity, but what I don't know is if updating an old backlink to an updated URL could potentially hurt you (thereby making it better to leave things as is and redirect).
  
  Hopefully that makes sense.
  
  Thanks.
• 
  Jim Munro: Again, I'm not smart but I would not give a second thought to making a single link more relevant.
  
  Optimising large numbers of links, however, might be outside the scope of this question. I would have waited for other opinions if it had been framed that way. :)
• 
  Blade S: +Bobby S
  Hello!
  
  First of all, you need to do a 301 redirect anyway. Every time you change a link, you must perform a 301 redirect from the old one to the new one.
  
  Secondly, you will probably lose some link juice because of that redirect, but in a very small amount.
  
  I believe that the best thing to do is to update the URL from TechCrunch, if possible. And even if you can't, don't worry about it. Like I said, you won't lose a significant amount of link juice.
  
  If I remember correctly, I read on Moz once that the amount of link juice passed through a 301 redirect is >90%.
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  Bobby S: Thanks for your reply.  ;I would, of course, also implement a 301 redirect for the old URL.  ;I'm simply trying to weigh the benefit(s) (if any) of leaving the TechCrunch URL as is instead of updating it to the new URL.  ;The fact that somebody mentioned updating it to the current URL as something potentially harmful made me want to get some opinions on the matter.
• 
  Blade S: You're welcome!
  
  You'll always hear different opinions in the SEO industry. Personally, I don't see any harm in updating the URL. Some may disagree, of course.
  
  I did some quick research and found this Moz answer which pretty much matches your question http://moz.com/community/q/how-much-juice-do-you-lose-in-a-301-redirect
  Check the first answer.
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  Neeraj Pandey: Hi +Bobby S ; could you mention here any article talking about if I update the pointing page link It will harm my website or the link juice will be lesser???