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Moving domain from html to wordpress - what to do with the old urls

by KenJ
8 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
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I have a year old domain that I want to change. The content is rubbish on it and I now want to use it as a wordpress blog. Can I erase the old html pages or redirect them.
The traffic is only 30 -50 daily so should I just forget about the old pages and just let them fall off the search engines over time.

Thanks for any help here

Kenj
#domain #html #moving #urls #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author n7 Studios
    Hi Kenj,

    I'd suggest implementing a 301 redirect on the old pages to their equivalent new posts / pages in Wordpress.

    A 301 redirect tells the referring site (i.e. Google) that the old page requested (i.e. the HTML page) no longer exists, but will also redirect the user to where the new page is (i.e. the post / page on your Wordpress blog). Over time, this will also mean that Google et. al will re-index accordingly.

    Typically you would implement 301 redirects in your .htaccess file, once you've installed the Wordpress blog.

    Tim.
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    • Profile picture of the author KenJ
      Thanks Tim

      There will not be equivalent pages on the blog so I could send all the redirects to the wordpress home page does this work OK?

      Ken
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  • Profile picture of the author mattalways
    You could redirect them to the Wordpress 404 error page. That way you keep the theme of the site, but let them know that the file they are looking for is not there.

    Also, if the site is not the same, there is really no need to redirect the traffic, unless you just wanted that traffic I suppose. Probably more confusing than anything else. It's good to have a redirect in place though because you can capture all traffic on the domain.
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    • Profile picture of the author Forest_Parks
      YOu could redirect to a 404 page and make sure you have a Search box prominently on there to entice them to search.

      There is a very easy plugin for wordpress called redirection that allows you to manage 301 redirects inside wordpress.
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  • Profile picture of the author n7 Studios
    So you're both suggesting to do a 301 redirect to a 404?

    Apart from not following how web server error codes should be managed (you would server either a 301 or a 404, not do a 301 redirect to a 404 page!), I'd also say that's pretty bad advice - site visitors will have clicked a link to a non-existent page from, for example, Google or another web site, and they will expect to be taken somewhere.

    Sending them to a 404 page simply loses you a visitor, unless you happen to have a very well written 404 page that will ensure the site visitor stays. Chances are they'll simply go elsewhere, rather than stay on your site. By Kenj's calculation, 50 visitors / day = 350 visitors / week = approx. 1500 visitors / month. Not a huge figure, but certainly better than zero.

    Back to Kenj's post - yes, you can redirect them to the Wordpress home page, but I'd say if it is at all possible, try to redirect them to something relevent / similar to the old page they were trying to visit.
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  • Profile picture of the author smoke.sessions
    Yes, a 301 redirect to your blog is recommended. Also, all you have to do is set up the WP platform correctly and point your domain to the correct nameservers. Then, make sure that the domain WP install is in the domain names default directory.
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    • Profile picture of the author KenJ
      OK Many many Thanks

      301 to a relevant page even though the new site will be slightly re-purposed.
      Not too hard for a writer of my calibre

      Kenj
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      • Profile picture of the author Forest_Parks
        Sorry I agree rather than a 404 relevant content would be a much better bet or even the blog homepage as others said...
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