From Static to Dynamic

by 5 replies
6
We are converting a very old (launched in 1995), high ranking, static site into a dynamic site. Obviously, we want to keep our rankings. We have first page rankings for some keywords that get over 1 million searches a month. Number 1 for over 150 keywords that get minimum 1000 searches a month.

Instead of using a 301 redirect from the old html pages to the new php pages to keep rankings, link juice/authority we wanted to retain the old .html URLs and simply use mod_rewrite to call the new php code. So we're basically converting the site to php, but keeping the exact same URLs.

Specifically, the coder says we are: "retaining old URL's by using mod_rewrite (Example: RewriteRule ^(.*).html/?$ index.php?page=$1 [L]) to capture the new dynamic pages."

Is this a better way of going about instead of just 301ing the old URLs to the new?

Thanks very much for your time.

Noah
#search engine optimization #dynamic #static
  • Hello Noah

    In my personal experience and modest opinion, the mod_rewrite feature is much better because of it's simplicity. You will not have so many files that simple redirect, so you can keep them with much better organization. Although for some unexperienced people, creating the rewrite rules are a bit hard to get.

    In order to avoid a ranking drops, you need to avoid the unexpected unfound pages from the search engines. So either you do a 301 or mod_rewrite, if you do it correctly you won't experience ranking drops.

    However, another benefit from mod_rewrite, is that there will not be a re-rank old content to new locations, as they will have the same URI. So if done right, you won't even notice any drop on the rankings.

    Hope I have helped you clear this out, and don't doubt on making me questions if you need help.
    • [1] reply
    • Why change?

      php does not mean dynamic. It just means easier
      to modify if each piece of the page is a separate php
      file.

      html pages don't mean static either. Many people still
      change their html pages. I do both.

      I have one site that has a ton of content, all html.
      If I change, yes, I hand code it. But since it is only
      a few lines on each page, it does not take that much
      time. I should have done php a long time ago. But,...

      I also have a couple of large content sites done with php.

      I don't see myself editing them any more or any less.

      But as stated, php does not change a site into a dynamic site.
      It's what you do with the php, html, asp, even javascript,
      that makes it such.

      I have a php site that I have no changed in months.

      The bottom line for me:
      If you have a coder, why be lazy? Do a 301 redirect for
      each one.

      Paul
  • That will work if there is a one to one mapping of the html to php.

    You might also consider creating a smart 404 handler to map missing pages by rules.

    Here is a link to an example script
    Smart 404 Handler, a custom replacement 404 error page for IIS | Evolved Code

    I realize this is for IIS but it serves as an example
  • Your pages could go up or down no matter which way you do it. If the code on the page changes, you can trigger rankings changes. Just so you are aware. I think the rewrite is cleaner as opposed to the 301.
  • Thanks so much for the responses.

    I guess my real question, do you see a problem with using the mod_rewrite in this way where we keep the old URLs, and just the source code will change. It just seems like, if all the external links are pointing to the original URLs, which is propelling the rankings, then why change to URLs if you don't need to?
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    From Static to Dynamic

    We are converting a very old (launched in 1995), high ranking, static site into a dynamic site. Obviously, we want to keep our rankings. We have first page rankings for some keywords that get over 1 million searches a month. Number 1 for over 150 keywords that get minimum 1000 searches a month. Instead of using a 301 redirect from the old html pages to the new php pages to keep rankings, link juice/authority we wanted to retain the old .html URLs and simply use mod_rewrite to call the new php code. So we're basically converting the site to php, but keeping the exact same URLs.