should i do both 301 and remove urls from google index?

I recently i changed the urls on a site and set up 301 redirects in the htaccess file for the old to the new urls.

i didnt go into the webmaster account and remove those old URLs from the index.

since the site seems to have dropped in rankings alot, i was thinking it was due to these redirects working through the system.

do you think it would help if i removed those old urls from google's index thru the webmaster account or doesnt the 301 essentially do the same thing?

thanks for your help!

 

No, Google will remove them in time after the 301 redirect is complete.

 

Rather than changing it and wasting your time you can make new links as they will be more google friendly

 

thanks for ur help!!!!