ramone_kalsaw Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 I’ve converted all of my old FrontPage .htm files to .php using Expression Engine - some of which have pretty good Google page rankings. If I set up ‘redirects’ for the .htm pages will that effect their google page ranking? If not, GREAT; if yes, is there another strategy to consider? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samrc Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 Don't have personal results to report. Can only tell you what I have read. Google recommends using the 301 (permanent) redirect, not a 302 Temporary redirect. Read about it here on their help center: http://www.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=9071&topic=363 In many forums, posts are MIXED on the effects of those redirects. Some people report that a few days after setting redirects, the Page Rank and Rankings (position on results) transferred to the new page. However, I can find an equal number of people that say the position fell and had to rebuild. Maybe part of the discrepancy is due to Google changing/updating algorithms. Some folks may not have as many visits from Google as another person, so the results may vary. Another possible cause is that some people are changing page naming (as you are) while others are actually moving to a new domain. You might just try with a page or two and test your OWN results before changing MANY pages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deverill Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 I've never seen the Temporary Redirect recommended unless it is truly a temporary situation (moved the site due to hurricane?) Anyway, the permanent redirect will help the search engines find your new pages but if you have a million sites pointing to your "old" address then that "credit" is wasted unless they switch to the new one - over time. Remember too my favorite mantra "Google's not the only game in town". Other search engines work differently and one should never depend on only one search engine or even one marketing method (search engines only). I have one site that gets as many hits as another and the other gets a majority from Google and that site gets tha majority of hits from Yahoo. The downside to incoming links is if anything changes it throws things sideways. I still get 401 errors in the log from pages that haven't been there for years - just because some directory out there linked directly to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Bruce Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 I switched one site from .htm to .php and added permanent redirects and did not lose any page rankings. I moved a second domain to a new name and I've been lost in the search engines ever since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramone_kalsaw Posted May 7, 2006 Author Share Posted May 7, 2006 I switched one site from .htm to .php and added permanent redirects and did not lose any page rankings. I moved a second domain to a new name and I've been lost in the search engines ever since. When you moved the "second domain" did you use the same method as the first -- permanent redirects? If so, are you implying by using permanent redirects the search engines may or may not continue to find the redirected pages? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Bruce Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 I moved from a subdomain to a full domain so no, I did not to any redirecting. since the subdomain has been removed there is no way to redirect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rnmcd Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 I switched one site from .htm to .php and added permanent redirects and did not lose any page rankings. I moved a second domain to a new name and I've been lost in the search engines ever since. Does anyone know if Bruce is referring to the redirects available through cpanel or is it some other method? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Bruce Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Yes, they can be done through cpanel but I just edited the .htaccess file. Example: >Redirect permanent /index.html http://my-domain.ext/index.php If all your pages were renamed from html to php you could use: >Redirect permanent /*.html http://pdabruce.com/*.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rnmcd Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Yes, they can be done through cpanel but I just edited the .htaccess file. Example: >Redirect permanent /index.html http://my-domain.ext/index.php If all your pages were renamed from html to php you could use: >Redirect permanent /*.html http://pdabruce.com/*.php Do you think that by using the cpanel redirect it could hurt indexing by search engines? I had just noticed that I had used a javascript redirect (that I forgot I was using) on one of my vbulletin sites and after 3 years it was never indexed on google (as far as I can tell). Lesson learned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Bruce Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 As I said, my rankings were not hurt and I never was removed from Google. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rnmcd Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 As I said, my rankings were not hurt and I never was removed from Google. Yes but I was wondering about the cpanel redirect and how that method might impact google indexing/spidering. I understand you used a method that involved editing the .htaccess file. Could google interpret/see a difference between the two methods? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Bruce Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Adding a redirect in cpanel will write the exact same line to the .htaccess file I manually added. So to answer you question again, it hasn't hurt my ranking. All redirects are stored in the .htaccess file regardless if you manually enter them or let cpanel do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rnmcd Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Adding a redirect in cpanel will write the exact same line to the .htaccess file I manually added. So to answer you question again, it hasn't hurt my ranking. All redirects are stored in the .htaccess file regardless if you manually enter them or let cpanel do it. Wow, I didn't realize the cpanel redirect was doing the same thing as your manual .htaccess file edit. I trust cPanel more than I do my ability to properly edit the .htaccess file. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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