How to set up redirects when converting site to Wordpress?

Darrel Hawes · 10-31-2009, 10:26 AM

Hey everybody,

I'm working on converting a static HTML site to a Wordpress site.

There are quite a few content pages, and I'm wondering what are the "best practices" for doing the transfer in respect to keeping the Google love?

Here's what I'm thinking presently:

1. I can leave the old HTML files where they are on the server, and visitors to the home page (the new Wordpress site) will never see them. Google however will continue to see them.

The exception would be the original index file, which I'll need to delete or rename so it doesn't hijack Wordpress from loading.

2. As I have time, I can replace the code on those original pages with redirect code to the new Wordpress content pages.

What I'm trying to avoid, of course, is either Google or a web searcher coming up empty when looking for a page.

So my questions therefore are...

a. Is my approach basically sound?

b. Should the redirects be put in place gradually, or as quickly as possible? There's maybe 100 content pages.

Thanks!

Bruce Hearder · 11-01-2009, 10:05 AM

The correct approauch will depend on the structure of your new site versus the structure of your old site.

If its exactly the same, then obviously no redirect are necessary, unless your old pages end with something like ".html" and now there is no extension.

My gut feeling would be to say, the sooner you put the redirect into play the better off you will be in the future..

Hope this helps

Bruce

dburk · 11-01-2009, 12:50 PM

Hi Darrell,

With only 100 content pages you could easily add the instructions to your .htaccess file in about 30 minutes time.

One of the features of Wordpress is that it allows you to schedule when your posts are published. I would give yourself ample lead time and schedule all of your old page content as new posts that get published at the same time. Prepare your .htaccess file with the proper redirect instructions and save the changes at the exact time as all of your posts are scheduled to be published.

Keep the time between when your new pages are published and when the redirect goes into place as short as possible. The pinging feature of Wordpress is likely to send the bots right away to crawl your new content.

10-31-2009, 10:26 AM	#1
Darrel Hawes Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Spokane, WA Posts: 550 Blog Entries: 4 Thanks: 216 Thanked 54 Times in 40 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	How to set up redirects when converting site to Wordpress? Hey everybody, I'm working on converting a static HTML site to a Wordpress site. There are quite a few content pages, and I'm wondering what are the "best practices" for doing the transfer in respect to keeping the Google love? Here's what I'm thinking presently: 1. I can leave the old HTML files where they are on the server, and visitors to the home page (the new Wordpress site) will never see them. Google however will continue to see them. The exception would be the original index file, which I'll need to delete or rename so it doesn't hijack Wordpress from loading. 2. As I have time, I can replace the code on those original pages with redirect code to the new Wordpress content pages. What I'm trying to avoid, of course, is either Google or a web searcher coming up empty when looking for a page. So my questions therefore are... a. Is my approach basically sound? b. Should the redirects be put in place gradually, or as quickly as possible? There's maybe 100 content pages. Thanks!
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11-01-2009, 10:05 AM	#2
Bruce Hearder Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Perth, Australia. Posts: 717 Thanks: 4 Thanked 184 Times in 138 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: How to set up redirects when converting site to Wordpress? The correct approauch will depend on the structure of your new site versus the structure of your old site. If its exactly the same, then obviously no redirect are necessary, unless your old pages end with something like ".html" and now there is no extension. My gut feeling would be to say, the sooner you put the redirect into play the better off you will be in the future.. Hope this helps Bruce
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11-01-2009, 12:50 PM	#3
dburk Senior Warrior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 4,486 Thanks: 137 Thanked 641 Times in 553 Posts Contact Info	Re: How to set up redirects when converting site to Wordpress? Hi Darrell, With only 100 content pages you could easily add the instructions to your .htaccess file in about 30 minutes time. One of the features of Wordpress is that it allows you to schedule when your posts are published. I would give yourself ample lead time and schedule all of your old page content as new posts that get published at the same time. Prepare your .htaccess file with the proper redirect instructions and save the changes at the exact time as all of your posts are scheduled to be published. Keep the time between when your new pages are published and when the redirect goes into place as short as possible. The pinging feature of Wordpress is likely to send the bots right away to crawl your new content.
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