I am buying a site that is 10 years old and it comes up 1st - 5th in a google search for 99% of it's keywords. The site is all html (and very unclean source code) I am taking over this site tonight and want to put wordpress on the site keeping the same link structure, page titles and meta / alt tags. That being said, I am looking to do a rewrite for wordpress to add .html to the urls as seen here http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Permalinks (scroll 3/4ths down the page to "tips and tricks") My question is, if I do this, can google see past the .html added in the url and tell there is no actual html file on the server? Will I lose placement, can this help or hurt me? Also, if i'm going from the scattered / table filled code to the nice css of WP will this help me? Please weigh the pros and cons so I may go about this the best way possible. Thanks in advance for all the help. ~Joel
Nope, the search engines will not know the difference if you keep the file names the same from a client perspective. So, you're talking about changing well ranked content on a sitewide basis? That can hurt you. -Michael
No Google won't "see through" the rewrite, if you keep all the content and link structure the same you will be fine. All your doing is a change of code that renders the page, not the actual content or structure itself.
Well, if you're shifting from tables to strictly css layouts, then the content to code ratio will change. In theory, I guess it really shouldn't matter, but there is a chance that it might. I would suggest changing it on a few (perhaps 5) pages, waiting for Google to re-cache those 5 pages, and make sure that the rankings for them stay consistent. Just a suggestion. -Michael
There are only 12 html pages on the site, I know the content to code raito will change, but isn't it easier to google to now read will 100% css? I will do some research on code to content raitos.
I used a search tool and the content percent went up about 8% while the file size we down 80% (from html to WP)
If the pages of the site are as next website.com/my-page-title.html than its easy, just go on wordpress Options>Permalinks and chose custom then use this scheme /%postname%.html (i believe it should fix the problem). That should work only if the structure of the old pages are as above mentioned. If they are different you will need to hack this. Just give it a test on a blog and see if the page will appear that way and let me know if it worked out.
I know it works, it being functional is not for debate. I want to know the impact of it upon google / seo ranking. I am 1st for many keywords and don't want to lose it.
Btw, your website now (using wordpress) will face another issue, which hasn't been facing while it was HTML site. The duplicate content, there is the hack linked to that post and explains why you should consider using that hack. Also, would suggest you to add nofollow to comments RSS to prevent duplicate content and pages going in Supplemental results
Here's the thing... why are you changing it? If you change nothing, then the rankings will probably stay the same. If you switch anything, then there is an unknown probability that the rankings will switch, possibly up (if they are not #1), and possibly down (regardless of where they rank now). In the same way that having a pretty site versus having an ugly site does not mean better conversions (looking the way you think it should look has little to no impact on what your users actually do), having pretty code versus having what you have now will not guarantee better rankings. Tests have been done indication that it won't make a discernible difference (although, again, it might). -Michael
I'm changing it b/c i need to, the design is 1995 and it is a total mess. I also need more functions to the site that i could do in new html file but i would rather use wordpress as a cms so it is easier
I would suggest not to lose the old files. Just give it a try, i don't think it should penalize your ranking, but just in any case if you see the organic traffic crawl down the rocks place back the old pages and concentrate on just changing the design.
Yea, i just finished doing the ".html" rewrite, it took about 1 hour to get it to work properly. Just have to finish it up with some plugins for sitemap and seo stuff. Thanks for all your help, i'm going to post the results here of the status so future people will have a heads up since no one has a for sure answer
Yes please do, i've done similar and it hasn't effected things in a negative way. However, what i was going to say was set up a test page with Wordpress and add your old content then view both new and old pages with one of the many Spider Simulators, or a Lynx browser. I've seen layouts mess content a bit such as menu items going to: HomeContactAboutRegister This could obviously cause problems. That's why this question hasn't always got a 100% guarantee answer.
i would go ahead and do the change as long as you keep the urls these same....cleaner code...css layouts...better titles and descriptions....I don't see how it can hurt you
Site was changed the result so far was that nothing happened. Google and Yahoo's Cache updated and have indexed my pages, the site is in the same position for all it's keywords. Although, the new pages I added are coming up 1st and 2nd pages for their keywords which is amazing, I couldn't believe it! Its almost as if any page i were to add in this scheme of keywords it will come up high. Time to sell some ads. Oh, BTW the adsense is up higher than the previous owners reports which was what this selling price was based on, so this is a good thing. Just wanted to let you know the outcome.
Thanks for the update. And, yeah, when it comes to the age factor the domain having been registered continuously since 1997 and never being parked is a HUGE boost. -Michael