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WANTED: Wordpress Plugin To Preserve PR When Converting HTML Site To Wordpress!

by magentawave
18 replies
Hi,

I have an older high PR HTML built site that I want to convert to Wordpress but I don't want to lose all my Google PR when I do the conversion from HTML to php. I think someone told me once that I need to do some kind of redirect thing with all the urls?? I was wondering if anyone knows of a WP plugin that will take care of this issue so I can preserve my PR?

Thanks very much for you input.

Steve
#converting #html #plugin #preserve #site #wanted #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author affiliated survivor
    Do you want to move to a new domain? Otherwise I don´t think it´s possible. If you stay on the same domain you have to delete the html site first before installing the wordpress site. I wouldn´t know how to redirect something that does not exist anymore. But I´m not an expert. Someone else might know a solution.
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    • Profile picture of the author magentawave
      I want to use the same domain. The site is a mess and has been for quite some time ever since I moved it from SiteBuildIt to Hostgator because of all SBI's own images, etc., etc. In spite of tons of broken links, it still has great PR due to it being about 5 years old. So I need to rebuild it and would like to rebuild it using WP but only if I can preserve its PR.

      Someone told me of a way to redirect all the urls but I have no idea how to do that and am hoping there is some kind of WP plugin that will do that for me.

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
    Use .htaccess to redirect all .html to .php ...

    James
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    • Profile picture of the author magentawave
      Thanks James.

      1) Do you know where I can find more information about how to do that because I really have no idea?

      2) The site has about 150 pages - Do you know of a WP plugin that will do that?

      3) Does doing that slow down the loading of pages?

      Thanks

      Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
        Originally Posted by magentawave View Post

        Thanks James.

        1) Do you know where I can find more information about how to do that because I really have no idea?

        2) The site has about 150 pages - Do you know of a WP plugin that will do that?

        3) Does doing that slow down the loading of pages?

        Thanks

        Steve
        Steve,
        Here goes a good resource for you instead of me explaining it all ..

        [en] .htaccess Editor

        Using .htaccess redirect does not slow anything down as a 301 is instant unlike other redirect methods..

        James
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        • Profile picture of the author magentawave
          Originally Posted by radhika View Post

          No. Even google recommends it in their webmaster help section.

          301 redirects - Webmasters/Site owners Help



          No. I did that for 400 pages on my VPS. If your site allows .htaccess in your root directory , you are good to go.



          I don't know anything about this super cache



          Yes, you can do it page by page. Once you moved the content to WP, set up 301 and delete .html page.




          Simple ...

          Add code like this in your .htaccess:

          Code:
          RewriteEngine on

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^.*$
RewriteRule ^folder/page1.html$ http://www.yoursite.com/wordpress-folder/page1/ [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^.*$
RewriteRule ^folder/page2.html$ http://www.yoursite.com/wordpress-folder/page2/ [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^.*$
RewriteRule ^page3.html$ http://www.yoursite.com/wordpress-folder/page3/ [R=301,L]
          .
          I doubt I will have trouble with htaccess since I'm using hostgators seohosting.com.

          Are you sure the old html site won't go away after I install WP in my cpanel? How does that work that two sites can be up concurrently with the same domain?



          Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

          Steve,
          Here goes a good resource for you instead of me explaining it all ..

          [en] .htaccess Editor

          Using .htaccess redirect does not slow anything down as a 301 is instant unlike other redirect methods..

          James
          Hmmm, thanks but that site doesn't seem to say much to me.

          Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Bill Corners
    You could do redirect but there is a simpler way, there is a plugin to make custom permalinks ..

    When you create a page, you can give it a custom permalink so you can keep the ".html" at the end

    For posts, just go into settings -> permalinks and use a custom permalink "/%postname%.html"

    Here's the link for the plugin ..

    WordPress › Custom Permalinks WordPress Plugins

    When you activate it, you'll see a custom permalink option when you create a page, it will be near the bottom, just type in what you want it to be.

    I use it myself so I know it works well.
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    • Profile picture of the author magentawave
      Wow, that sounds like this might be exactly what I am looking for! Thanks Jack!

      1) After installing and activating this plugin, all I have to do is go to Settings > Permalinks and then paste "/%postname%.html" in to the permalinks box?

      2) Is there any downside to doing this?

      3) What would you do if the developer of this plugin stops updating it and it stops working? Would the site fall apart?

      4) Does page loading become slower with this plugin?

      5) And if pages load slower (site has about 150 pages), can I still use something like WP Super Cache?

      6) Last question I think ... Since my domain will remain the same, is it possible to rebuild the site one page at a time while still keeping the old pages I haven't replaced yet intact and live on the internet? Or does the entire original 150 page html built site have to go down while I create WP in my cpanel and then rebuild it one page at a time within WP?

      Thanks again.

      Steve



      Originally Posted by Jack Sperot View Post

      You could do redirect but there is a simpler way, there is a plugin to make custom permalinks ..

      When you create a page, you can give it a custom permalink so you can keep the ".html" at the end

      For posts, just go into settings -> permalinks and use a custom permalink "/%postname%.html"

      Here's the link for the plugin ..

      WordPress › Custom Permalinks WordPress Plugins

      When you activate it, you'll see a custom permalink option when you create a page, it will be near the bottom, just type in what you want it to be.

      I use it myself so I know it works well.
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      • Profile picture of the author radhika
        You don't need any plugin. Just redirect old site html pages to WP pages by 301 redirect. That is it!

        I did this with two of my sites (articles). It worked well.

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        • Profile picture of the author magentawave
          Okay cool. Would you mind answering these questions about that please?

          1) Is there any downside to doing this?

          2) Does page loading become slower after doing this?

          3) And if pages load slower (site has about 150 pages), can I still use something like WP Super Cache (although I'd rather not cuz I really don't like that thing)?

          4) Since my domain will remain the same as before, is it possible to rebuild the site one page at a time with WP while still keeping the old pages I haven't replaced yet intact and live on the internet? Or does the entire 150 page html built site go away after I build the WP/Fantastico thing in my cpanel (Hostgator)?

          5) Do you know where I can find easy to understand non-nerdy instructions on how to do this?

          Thanks
          Steve

          Originally Posted by radhika View Post

          You don't need any plugin. Just redirect old site html pages to WP pages by 301 redirect. That is it!

          I did this with two of my sites (articles). It worked well.

          .
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          • Profile picture of the author radhika
            1) Is there any downside to doing this?
            No. Even google recommends it in their webmaster help section.

            301 redirects - Webmasters/Site owners Help

            2) Does page loading become slower after doing this?
            No. I did that for 400 pages on my VPS. If your site allows .htaccess in your root directory , you are good to go.

            3) And if pages load slower (site has about 150 pages), can I still use something like WP Super Cache (although I'd rather not cuz I really don't like that thing)?
            I don't know anything about this super cache

            4) Since my domain will remain the same as before, is it possible to rebuild the site one page at a time with WP while still keeping the old pages I haven't replaced yet intact and live on the internet? Or does the entire 150 page html built site go away after I build the WP/Fantastico thing in my cpanel (Hostgator)?
            Yes, you can do it page by page. Once you moved the content to WP, set up 301 and delete .html page.

            5) Do you know where I can find easy to understand non-nerdy instructions on how to do this?

            Simple ...

            Add code like this in your .htaccess:

            Code:
            RewriteEngine on

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^.*$
RewriteRule ^folder/page1.html$ http://www.yoursite.com/wordpress-folder/page1/ [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^.*$
RewriteRule ^folder/page2.html$ http://www.yoursite.com/wordpress-folder/page2/ [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^.*$
RewriteRule ^page3.html$ http://www.yoursite.com/wordpress-folder/page3/ [R=301,L]
            .
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  • Profile picture of the author philayres2
    First thing I would do would be to go to into the Permalinks options in Wordpress and adjust the urls to be more descriptive. You do this by clicking on the Custom Structure button and entering this:

    /%postname%/

    Then, you will need to do a manual re-direction via the .htaccess file of each url to the corresponding url on the wordpress site... that is, after you transfer the content.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bill Corners
    The plugin does not slow down anything.

    The plugin is for "pages"

    For "posts", just go to the normal wp settings and change permalinks, this will affect all posts, but not pages, that's why you need the plugin
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    • Profile picture of the author magentawave
      Originally Posted by Jack Sperot View Post

      The plugin does not slow down anything.

      The plugin is for "pages"

      For "posts", just go to the normal wp settings and change permalinks, this will affect all posts, but not pages, that's why you need the plugin
      So you are saying that I would use the plugin for my "normal" pages like contact, disclaimer, privacy policy, etc. -- but to use this "/%postname%.html" for all the future posts (that are currently html pages on the old site)?

      Any reason why you didn't use the .htaccess method others have mentioned here when converting your html sites to WP?

      When you did this, did you use the exact same domain when you converted from your html sites to WP?

      And if you kept the same domain, were you able to keep the old html pages live while rebuilding each page/post one page/post at at time in WP?

      Thanks
      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author TerrieS
    Argh! I wish I would have known how to do this. I've been moving my site Pure Thoughts over from html to Wordpress. I kept the navigation down the left-hand side the html pages and the rest are new pages from Wordpress. It works but now I know something new to try.

    Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
    Steve,
    The link I gave you helps you create a .htaccess file ... Simple and easy ..

    I would not use "another" plugin when .htaccess can do this, this is what .htaccess is designed for. Yes another "plugin" can slow your system down ..

    James
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    • Profile picture of the author magentawave
      1) Did you convert your original html pages to posts, or did you make them pages in Wordpress?

      2) If you converted your old html pages to posts, did you still use "/%postname%.html" in the permalink settings?

      3) By converting the old html pages to posts, will they still have all the cool WP search engine friendly stuff built into them like regular WP posts even though they still end with .html?

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author tknoppe
    I agree with the others, use .htaccess to redirect your old html pages to their new location in WordPress using 301 redirects.

    Just in case you miss a page in the redirects, and also just as good practice, create a custom 404 page for your WordPress theme that includes a sitemap on the page and/or instructions directing folks to view your sitemap and/or the site search function with WordPress to find what they were looking for.

    You do not need to delete your html site before installing WordPress; as php and html can reside alongside each other.

    Also the permalinks, while you can use postname.html - that's just for posts, not pages in WP. Pages in WP (when using permalinks) are like: http://anydomain.com/pagename/ There is no .php or .html at the end of a dynamically created page in WP, only in posts.

    Yes, whether your posts end in .html or .php in WP, still same SEO goodness.
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