Question regarding indexing - changing from .php to .html

20 replies
  • SEO
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We have a site built quite some time ago using PPCRiches. It created a silo site, and all the pages are .php (the app uses embedded scripts).

The site was essentially "forgotten about" until just now. Surprisingly, it had about 70 pages indexed and ranking very well for some very competitive keywords.

Now we want to "resuscitate" the site and take advantage of it via Adsense.

The plan was to re-create it with Xsitepro and build it out further. We would copy the content and title tags of the original pages.

Here's my question. The pages that are indexed are all .php - if we change them to .html, will they "lose" their indexing and ranking, meaning would they then be seen as "different" pages?

Thanks,

Mark
#changing #html #indexing #php #question
  • Profile picture of the author dburk
    Hi internetmarketer99,

    You can certainly change them and not lose your listing in the index as long as you do a proper "301 Moved Permanently" redirect.

    You might also want to consider using canonical URLs that hide the technology by leaving off the extention.

    hxxp://www.sample.com/contact/

    Instead of

    hxxp://www.sample.com/contact.html
    hxxp://www.sample.com/contact.php
    hxxp://www.sample.com/contact.aspx

    This will future-proof the url so that if you change technolgy in the future your urls will be fine.
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    • Thanks for taking the time to respond, Don.

      Mark
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      • Profile picture of the author Jason Mathews
        How do you use canonical URLs?
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        • Profile picture of the author Melanie Prough
          Just a quick FYI... If you redirect all of those pages they will drop from rank as the site was not kept up as you said so likely has low authority and the Flux will get you. It can also take up to 90 days for a 301 to properly transfer its goodies to the new page.

          This doesn't change the fact that its the right thing to do... Just an FYI

          ~Melanie
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        • Profile picture of the author dburk
          Originally Posted by Jason Mathews View Post

          How do you use canonical URLs?
          Hi Jason,

          Check these out:

          URL normalization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

          Hypertext Style: Cool URIs don't change.
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          • Profile picture of the author CMartin
            I never used Xsitepro, but can't you keep the .php extension even if the pages don't have any php code? It will work as long the server has php enabled and you don't take any risks while using the 301 permanent redirect.
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            • Profile picture of the author Chris Lockwood
              Yes, why change the extension?

              If you were switching from .html to .php to use some PHP features, that would be a different issue.

              But an HTML-only file can have a .php extension and will work just fine.

              I would not rename the files.
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              • Profile picture of the author James Schramko
                Just change the file extension in XSitePro to OTHER >> WEB SITE SETTINGS >> File Naming Settings >> .php in the and no more changes are required.
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                • Profile picture of the author dburk
                  If you drop the extention all together then you are future-proofing your links.

                  At some point in the future you may want to switch platforms or scripting languages. If you leave off extentions, it makes this vey easy to do.

                  No extentions gives you the most flexability!
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                  • Profile picture of the author Jason Mathews
                    Hey dburk

                    I was searching on google on how to do it but most of them talk about the www and non www version of the homepage.

                    So do you know how do you drop off the extension completely?
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                  • Profile picture of the author CMartin
                    Originally Posted by dburk View Post

                    If you drop the extention all together then you are future-proofing your links.
                    Regarding the ORIGINAL post from Mark (internetmarketer99) this is not recommended in terms of SEO - if he has some pages with .php extension ranking well in SEs he should try to keep the same extension instead of changing or removing them.

                    ...

                    Regarding the often called "Clean URLs" subject, where you drop the file extension, I would be careful on using it, mainly if you are not a very experienced web developer.

                    In theory it seems great but when you start to implement it you'll see some headaches with this approach. Sooner or later this might blow on your face if your site expands or if you need to add 3rd party scripts.

                    Think twice before implementing this for all pages in your domains.


                    At some point in the future you may want to switch platforms or scripting languages. If you leave off extentions, it makes this vey easy to do.

                    No extentions gives you the most flexability!
                    Again, in theory this seems really cool... but have you tried to move a site hosted in Apache where you have this implemented (with .htaccess and Mod_Rewrite) to a Windows (IIS) server where you don't have anything installed to rewrite URLs and not able to install them?

                    --

                    "clean URLs" can be very useful for very specific situations... not as a rule for all pages in a domain.

                    Carlos
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                    • Profile picture of the author dburk
                      Hi Carlos,

                      I have moved many sites from Apache to IIS and it's always easier for me if there are clean URLs. That's the whole point of it. You are not tied to any particular platform or technology. You can migrate without all the issues that come with having to redirect URLs

                      If I decide I want to do something with a perl script or some other technology there's never the hassel of having to do 301 redirects or waiting for the ranking to transfer to the new URLs.

                      Sure it requires better link architecture, but I consider that a good thing. Personally I think it's a hallmark signature of a site designed by a pro verses an amature. I think it's good to encourage excellence, not discourage it.
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                      • Profile picture of the author CMartin
                        Hi Don,

                        It seems you missed the whole point of my post. I'm not trying to discourage anyone on using "clean urls" - I'm trying to explain [and educate] that for a non experienced web developer THIS IS NOT SO EASY to implement and maitain as you are implying that it is!

                        Originally Posted by dburk View Post

                        I have moved many sites from Apache to IIS and it's always easier for me if there are clean URLs.
                        Not if someone have implemented in Apache the "clean urls" using .htaccess and Mod_Rewrite (as per the A List Apart article you posted) and then wanted to move that site to a IIS server WITHOUT any ISAPI filters to rewrite URLs and WITHOUT any possibility to install them - that wouldn't be easy (and in some situations even possible) to keep the same "clean URLs".

                        You are not tied to any particular platform or technology. You can migrate without all the issues that come with having to redirect URLs.

                        If I decide I want to do something with a perl script or some other technology there's never the hassel of having to do 301 redirects or waiting for the ranking to transfer to the new URLs.
                        I know very well how it works and what is the purpose and even implemented it in some sites... but I have good experience in this area and it took some time to plan the whole thing. Is not something that anyone can do.

                        Personally I think it's a hallmark signature of a site designed by a pro verses an amature.
                        Really? Google, Microsoft, CNN, A List Apart, W3.org and many, many others are not designed by pros? You must tell them to fire those very unprofessional web designers

                        Carlos
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                        • Profile picture of the author dburk
                          Originally Posted by CMartin View Post

                          Hi Don,

                          It seems you missed the whole point of my post. I'm not trying to discourage anyone on using "clean urls" - I'm trying to explain [and educate] that for a non experienced web developer THIS IS NOT SO EASY to implement and maitain as you are implying that it is!



                          Not if someone have implemented in Apache the "clean urls" using .htaccess and Mod_Rewrite (as per the A List Apart article you posted) and then wanted to move that site to a IIS server WITHOUT any ISAPI filters to rewrite URLs and WITHOUT any possibility to install them - that wouldn't be easy (and in some situations even possible) to keep the same "clean URLs".



                          I know very well how it works and what is the purpose and even implemented it in some sites... but I have good experience in this area and it took some time to plan the whole thing. Is not something that anyone can do.


                          Really? Google, Microsoft, CNN, A List Apart, W3.org and many, many others are not designed by pros? You must tell them to fire those very unprofessional web designers

                          Carlos
                          Hi Carlos,

                          I'm sorry didn't mean to set you off.

                          For the record, I have migrated nearly 100 sites to IIS servers and have used clean URLs on everyone of them. I use the Server Transfer Method. While it does require a little more effort, once you learn how to do it, it's a "piece a cake".

                          Larger companies are slow to change their ways. Most of those sites your mention are already migrating to clean URLs. Just look around the sites listed and you will find plenty of examples of clean URLs.

                          Just because someone is a "professional", it doesn't mean they do excellent work. And, you don't have to be a pro to do excellent work, it's just a hallmark of professionalism. Opinions may vary.

                          I dont think those sites should fire the web designers, maybe ask them to improve on the next version. Most employees have to follow their manager's preferences, I bet that many of those professional designers have been urging their managers to let them use clean URLs.
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