keep links and PR while moving website

by monere
6 replies
hi

I want to move a 30-page, static website to wordpress while keeping its PR and all of the backlinks, but I don't know how to do it.

I have heard about 301 redirects and stuff, its just that I don't know if the redirection works in this case too. And if it does, do I need to create the redirects after I install WP and configure everything, or before? I assume it needs be done after installing and configuring everything.

Also, where exactly must I create the redirects: in the admin area of WP through the help of a plugin or somewhere else (like webmaster tools)? And if I use redirection, will everything (PR, backlinks, rankings in Google) remain intact?

The pages of my website all end in .php (mywebsite.com/pageone.php, mywebsite.com/pagetwo.php, etc) and that's what worries me. I have a feeling that all of the backlinks that I built to these extensions since 2009 to date will be lost once I make the transition to wordpress with its different permalink structure

Anyone knowledgeable and willing to help me?

Thanks in advance
#links #moving #website
  • Profile picture of the author Abledragon
    Luckily your site is not too big, so it shouldn't take too long.

    The redirects are the most important thing to sort out because the URLs on the WordPress site will be in a different format from your current URLs.

    This article goes through that and some other things to think about:

    Migrate an HTML Website to WordPress | WealthyDragon

    Good luck

    cheers,

    Martin.
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    • Profile picture of the author monere
      Originally Posted by Abledragon View Post

      Luckily your site is not too big, so it shouldn't take too long.

      The redirects are the most important thing to sort out because the URLs on the WordPress site will be in a different format from your current URLs.

      This article goes through that and some other things to think about:

      Migrate an HTML Website to WordPress | WealthyDragon

      Good luck

      cheers,

      Martin.
      thanks for the tips. I did look at your instructions and everything is clear now. Luckily enough I have a small website indeed and I also have no databases to deal with. Just a bunch of static (.php) pages that picked some domain age, a few thousands backlinks and some PR that I would like to keep after moving (actually, recreating) the website on Wordpress.

      So, I guess I will use the redirection plugin then for the 301 redirects.

      Thanks again
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  • Profile picture of the author bestfriend
    The pages of my website all end in .php (mywebsite.com/pageone.php, mywebsite.com/pagetwo.php, etc) and that's what worries me. I have a feeling that all of the backlinks that I built to these extensions since 2009 to date will be lost once I make the transition to wordpress with its different permalink structure
    You can set up WordPress permalinks similar to your html URL structure. After created the pages with exact names, %postname%.php <== use this as custom permalink structure via WordPress settings, then you can have exact URLs in your WordPress site.

    HTH
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    • Profile picture of the author monere
      Originally Posted by bestfriend View Post

      You can set up WordPress permalinks similar to your html URL structure. After created the pages with exact names, %postname%.php <== use this as custom permalink structure via WordPress settings, then you can have exact URLs in your WordPress site.

      HTH
      Yes, I was thinking about this one too. Just needed a confirmation or something that it is a good option.

      Also, is there any way I can keep the PageRank too? I assume that PR is directly linked to the domain name, so no matter what platforms I move the files to, PR won't be affected since the domain remains the same. Or??

      Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Marc Lindsay
    Hey There,

    So long as you either.

    1. Match the page names and full structure exactly (keep an eye out for categories showing in your url's if your previous pages didnt have them.

    OR

    2. 301 re-direct from the htaccess file, each page individually.

    Given you only have 30 pages, doing each one manually is pretty easy, and then you can create your structure however you like in wordpress and then just do each one manually in the htaccess.

    Yes it will move PR over as well no worries, it essentially re-assigns all value over.

    Now if your internal linking structure is different, you may see some shifts in PR distribution throughout your pages.

    It can take anywhere from 3 days too many weeks for Google to pick up and do the transfer.

    I've just done over 110,000 pages on an ecommerce site recently and it picked up about 70% of it within 3 days.

    Fastest ever.

    A quick way to check if the majority of your transfers are done is this.

    Type this in google search box:

    site:yourdomain.com

    If the pages you see there, are the new pages (not the old ones), and you can't find the old pages in the index anymore, then Google has already swapped over its search results to the new urls.

    Hope that helped.

    Marc
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    • Profile picture of the author monere
      Originally Posted by Marc Lindsay View Post

      Hey There,

      So long as you either.

      1. Match the page names and full structure exactly (keep an eye out for categories showing in your url's if your previous pages didnt have them.

      OR

      2. 301 re-direct from the htaccess file, each page individually.

      Given you only have 30 pages, doing each one manually is pretty easy, and then you can create your structure however you like in wordpress and then just do each one manually in the htaccess.

      Yes it will move PR over as well no worries, it essentially re-assigns all value over.

      Now if your internal linking structure is different, you may see some shifts in PR distribution throughout your pages.

      It can take anywhere from 3 days too many weeks for Google to pick up and do the transfer.

      I've just done over 110,000 pages on an ecommerce site recently and it picked up about 70% of it within 3 days.

      Fastest ever.

      A quick way to check if the majority of your transfers are done is this.

      Type this in google search box:

      site:yourdomain.com

      If the pages you see there, are the new pages (not the old ones), and you can't find the old pages in the index anymore, then Google has already swapped over its search results to the new urls.

      Hope that helped.

      Marc
      It sure did. Thanks.

      But, do you happen to know what I should type in .htaccess regarding the re-directs? I only used this file when I created networks of WP sites, but even then I've been given specific instructions as to what to put in there.

      Also, if you don't mind for asking how long did it take you to redirect those 110,000 pages and have you done this manually or using software and stuff? I am just curious
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