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Changing html site to wordpress

by mikehende
19 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hey guys, since wordpress is now the most popular choice, if you have had a regular html site for many years and now want to switch to a WP theme copying over the same content and images and using the same url's of every page. Would you lose any of the original site's SEO benefits and rankings?
#changing #html #site #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Originally Posted by mikehende View Post

    Hey guys, since wordpress is now the most popular choice, if you have had a regular html site for many years and now want to switch to a WP theme copying over the same content and images and using the same url's of every page. Would you lose any of the original site's SEO benefits and rankings?

    If the transition is done correctly you shouldn't lose rank.

    Wordpress still generates HTML pages in the end so the end product that Google is looking at can be the same or extremely similar HTML.

    My advice is do most of the conversion offline like building the custom Wordpress theme, organizing site structure (internal links), etc... That way you can take your time and get it done right the first time instead of being in a hurry and making mistakes.

    If the transition is done wrong you can very easily lose all your rank and it can happen within a few days as Google starts finding broken URLs, missing content, altered page titles, etc...

    If you just slap any old random Wordpress theme on your site you will lose rank, that's pretty much guaranteed.

    Again, take your time, do it right and you shouldn't have any problems.
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  • Profile picture of the author dewalds86
    If you use the same domain you would probably not loose any SEO value. In fact you might even gain some.
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by dewalds86 View Post

      If you use the same domain you would probably not loose any SEO value. In fact you might even gain some.

      That means nothing for SEO.

      A single webpage can be coded or broken a billion different ways. If Google finds a webpage that's been completely overhauled they're going to drop the page in Google Search results.

      The new webpage (Wordpress theme HTML) needs to match the old webpage (HTML).

      Otherwise you might as well be playing Russian roulette with the site/SERPs.
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      • Profile picture of the author mikehende
        Originally Posted by yukon View Post

        A single webpage can be coded or broken a billion different ways. If Google finds a webpage that's been completely overhauled they're going to drop the page in Google Search results.
        So let's say you copy over all of the same images and text [content] of every page to the new WP theme, if you add more content and images to the existing ones, that should be ok or even better not so?
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  • Profile picture of the author aristidis
    There are many things you need to take care when redesigning a site from html to Wordpress. The most important is the redirect issue. In your htaccess file you should set the previous URLs to redirect to the WP new ones using 301. Then Google will realize easily that it's the same site.
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  • Profile picture of the author pixelaura
    No there will no effect in SEO but you should need to do very carefully and keep few things in mind. Redirect old url to new, If the transition is done wrong you can lose everything,
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  • Profile picture of the author paulgl
    Originally Posted by mikehende View Post

    Hey guys, since wordpress is now the most popular choice....
    Where in the world did you get that stupid information from?!?!?!?!

    I mean seriously. Doing your own websites with html, php, etc. is so much easier....

    Even blogspot is a better CMS than wordpress.....and VERY popular.

    I mean the whole premise is just inane.

    Paul
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    If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

      I mean seriously. Doing your own websites with html, php, etc. is so much easier....


      Doesn't make sense.

      Wordpress themes are simply HTML and PHP with a MySQL back end. The same stuff on a bazillion sites that have nothing to do with Wordpress.

      I have no idea why people think Wordpress invented some new language.
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    • Profile picture of the author George Schwab
      Originally Posted by paulgl View Post


      I mean seriously. Doing your own websites with html, php, etc. is so much easier....

      Even blogspot is a better CMS than wordpress.....and VERY popular.

      Paul
      I fully agree with the first point, its much easier, more safe, and you can make
      far reaching changes in minutes. With wordpress you have to first read the manual
      how to do complicated things.

      And as far "WP is html" goes, man look at the source code, its a crowded mess of
      unnecessary filler stuff of functions that nobody uses, what makes it bloated
      in comparison to clean code of a good html site creator.

      But: the TV generation does not want to mess with html, I understand that, its to
      nerdy, but actually its not. Its so simple with a good software, you can lean it
      in a week.
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      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by George Schwab View Post

        I fully agree with the first point, its much easier, more safe, and you can make
        far reaching changes in minutes. With wordpress you have to first read the manual
        how to do complicated things.

        And as far "WP is html" goes, man look at the source code, its a crowded mess of
        unnecessary filler stuff of functions that nobody uses, what makes it bloated
        in comparison to clean code of a good html site creator.



        You're confused.

        Go download my Wordpress silo theme, install, and look how simple the finished HTML source code is.

        Again, Wordpress is regular HTML on the live webpages. No magic involved.
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  • Profile picture of the author webisland
    I dont think it will affect your seo Wordpress will be more helpful for you to get in top list compare to html pages
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by webisland View Post

      I dont think it will affect your seo Wordpress will be more helpful for you to get in top list compare to html pages

      Contradictory nonsense.

      WORDPRESS IS HTML.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikehende
    Another issue, just found out a previous web builder had built not one but a "few" different websites with each site based on different keywords but the sites contents were all the same, isn't this considered "black-hat" SEO?

    If yes, then I am guessing every site but one would need to be taken off the net?
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  • Profile picture of the author mikehende
    Oh sorry no, he got 14 domains all named after different keywords and all leading to one site, what can I advise him to do here please?
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by mikehende View Post

      Oh sorry no, he got 14 domains all named after different keywords and all leading to one site, what can I advise him to do here please?
      This is a client of yours?
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  • Profile picture of the author mikehende
    No, he has 2 people, one who had setup is site and another who does his marketing, he came to me to ask about upgrading his site [web design]. Meaning he's not officially my client yet, I am just noticing these SEO issues while I am looking into everything.
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by mikehende View Post

      No, he has 2 people, one who had setup is site and another who does his marketing, he came to me to ask about upgrading his site [web design].

      Then I would stick to the web design.

      Other than that, I would suggest he shop around for a different marketing group.

      What they are doing is not ideal. It might work short-term, but long-term is not a great strategy. Kind of depends on how the sites are being setup, but potentially could qualify in what Google calls a "link scheme" get the site penalized.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikehende
    Oh yes, I will only build him a new site, the marketing is up to his workers but thanks for the knowledge
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  • Profile picture of the author George Schwab
    well there are always exceptions, cannot try all themes until i find one that looks
    good and also is fast and efficient - themes are overated anyway. Look and
    compare a typical FB page a Pinterest page and a Instagram page

    which one is bloated and looks like crap? FB

    which one is a bit less crowded - but still unfocused and messy? Pinterest

    which one is uptodate design, and totally focused? Instagram

    what "theme" they use? Almost none, call it minimalist or whatever. it works

    The Chic! the rest is totally outdated from a user perspective, nobody needs that mess,
    what we want is focus and simplicity. Instagram understands what users want.
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