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Problem : Underscore Links. Change to Hyphens in WP?

by Tom Addams
11 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I wonder if anyone can give me some advice.

I'm currently in the process of redesigning one of my websites. The original site, coded in HTML and PHP, uses underscore links, as opposed to hyphens.

I'm redesigning the site in WP and I'd prefer to use hyphens (which Google prefers) but I don't want to create a ton of dead links and hurt SEO.

Can anyone recommend how to proceed?
#change #hyphens #links #problem #underscore
  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    I'm no SEO expert but I'd say leaving the pages how they are would be the best option.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tom Addams
    Hi Will and thank you for stepping in to offer advice.

    So leave the underscores as is on the new WP site?

    I was thinking of changing permalinks to hyphens and using using 301 redirects for the underscores. Would this be an option, Will or anyone else?
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  • Profile picture of the author digitalproductreporter
    301 redirect is what google suggests

    https://support.google.com/webmaster...er/93633?hl=en

    i wouldn't personally change all of my urls to new addresses just to change an underscore to a dash, there is too much risk involved in messing it up, or hoping google doesn't delist or drop the rankings of the pages now that they are "new" urls
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    • Profile picture of the author Tom Addams
      Originally Posted by digitalproductreporter View Post

      301 redirect is what google suggests

      https://support.google.com/webmaster...er/93633?hl=en

      i wouldn't personally change all of my urls to new addresses just to change an underscore to a dash, there is too much risk involved in messing it up, or hoping google doesn't delist or drop the rankings of the pages now that they are "new" urls
      Thank you for the advice!

      So the safest option is to redesign the html site in Wordpress and keep the existing link structure, using underscores.

      Can yourself or anyone else advise on how to setup underscore permalinks in WP?
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      • Profile picture of the author Ron Killian
        Originally Posted by Victoria Stone View Post

        Thank you for the advice!

        So the safest option is to redesign the html site in Wordpress and keep the existing link structure, using underscores.

        Can yourself or anyone else advise on how to setup underscore permalinks in WP?
        I was going to say the same, leave it as it is, too risky.

        As for permalinks, you can set each post to what ever permalink that you want. Course that is doing it by hand. It's might be possible to use a search and replace, to replace permalink "-" with "_".

        This is the one I use: WordPress › Search and Replace « WordPress Plugins

        Though I've never used it for permalinks. Might work? Just a thought.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tom Addams
    I'm reading a lot about how underscores are bad for SEO.

    Are you absolutely sure it isn't worth using 301 redirects and changing site permalinks to hyphens?
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    • Profile picture of the author digitalproductreporter
      Originally Posted by Victoria Stone View Post

      I'm reading a lot about how underscores are bad for SEO.

      Are you absolutely sure it isn't worth using 301 redirects and changing site permalinks to hyphens?

      i think the assumption is that this site is making you money/already has links, then it's not worth risking screwing things up, you could lose your rankings and your link juice if you have an error (many times you don't find out you did something wrong until it's too late)

      yes they recommend dashes not underscores ( https://support.google.com/webmaster...er/76329?hl=en ) but there are millions of pages if not more with underscores ranking in the top 10 of google so it would be interesting to see your sources?

      this video from google is a little older where matt cutts flat out says if you have an existing site that works like you like it to then don't change from underscore to dash, only if you are starting a new site

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=AQcSFsQyct8
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      • Profile picture of the author WillR
        Originally Posted by digitalproductreporter View Post

        i think the assumption is that this site is making you money/already has links, then it's not worth risking screwing things up, you could lose your rankings and your link juice if you have an error (many times you don't find out you did something wrong until it's too late)

        yes they recommend dashes not underscores ( https://support.google.com/webmaster...er/76329?hl=en ) but there are millions of pages if not more with underscores ranking in the top 10 of google so it would be interesting to see your sources?

        this video from google is a little older where matt cutts flat out says if you have an existing site that works like you like it to then don't change from underscore to dash, only if you are starting a new site

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=AQcSFsQyct8
        SEO recommendations are just that. They don't ultimately determine the ranking of a page. Is Google going to rank a site that uses dashes and is not popular over a site that uses hyphens and is popular? No. They want to give users the best, most relevant content everytime.

        Dashes or hyphens not important. Value of your content IS.

        Ofcourse if you are building a site from scratch then it's best to follow as many SEO recommendations as possible but they are only recommendations. You can still rank well doing the complete opposite provided people like and engage with your content.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jtraits
    i wouldn't use search & replace for WP for this matter. That's almost a 90% risk -if not 100%- to mess up the links and end up with eventually creating all the links and site from scratch
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  • Profile picture of the author IrisMKH
    (Warn me if I don't make sense, because I only have the most basic knowledge of SEO)
    Quality backlinks help a website or specific pages rank in Google, right?
    So if Victoria makes the old links redirect, would she lose the ranking effect of old quality backlinks using that URL? Or would it still have a positive effect on the new URL since it redirects?
    In the first case it would be an extra reason to keep the old URL and just use hyphens for new pages.

    - Iris
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