Change of website and SEO

[tony84]

I am unable to log in to the admin page on my website, I could spend money trying to fix it but I have been planning to switch it over to wordpress anyway and one of those mobile responsive themes, so it seems a little pointless.

When I move it over to Wordpress, I could keep the same domain structure ie: domain.com/?id=about-us or I could switch it to domain.com/about-us.

I am a little concerned that if I change it, the pages will all need to be re-indexed and positioning will start from scratch, but then I am thinking in the long run it might be better...but how long is long?

Then I thought what about moving everything over to the new structure bar the homepage (which will not change anyway) and the other page that brings in a lot of my hits.

Then I got a headache.

This is all compounded by the fact that it has to be done today as I have to make a slight tweak to some wording (due to a change in my regulatory status) but I can not do it as I can not log in.

 

[Mike Bunn]

Hi Tony,

I would scan your current URLs and then match them to the new ones(which are better) and then redirect the old URLs to the new ones using your .htaccess file or a wordpress plugin.

This would mean that any of your old pages within google index would push the traffic to the new pages during the re-indexing. This would prevent any loss of traffic and pass any SEO value through for when it does get index.

I hope the change goes well for you.

All the best

 

[PugDigitalUK]

Hi Tony

Ideally, you would implement 301 redirects for what would become old URLs. This type or redirection will indicate to search engines that the given page or pages have moved permanently, and generally speaking this best practice for SEO.

In terms of the URL structure, it would be best to keep the URLs clean, by that I mean domain.com/about-us would be preferable.

Remember, if you're migrating to WordPress have a look at your Permalink settings, ideally you'll want to set this to custom, or post name, especially if you're using a theme.

I hope this helps, and good luck.

 

[tony84]

Thanks for the replies, I have just done it. There are 2 pages that tend to bring in the bulk of my hits one of which is the homepage.

I have just put a new site up, new structure and I will have to live with whatever google throws at me.

 

[arnydnxluk]

It's not too late for you to add those 301 redirects if you get a moment (Google still has the ?id= format indexed).

Something like this in your .htaccess file would do the trick:

RewriteEngine On

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} id=mortgages$
RewriteRule (.*) /mortgages? [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} id=contact$
RewriteRule (.*) /contact? [R=301,L]

# (Repeat the above two blocks for each page)

 

[fisicx]

There is a plugin called redirection that will do just that. It takes a few minutes to set up but works brilliantly.

However, there are all sorts of problems with the new site. Can't offer advice here as rewiews are only for full members.

 

[tony84]

Appreciate the replies.
It has dropped down a couple of places, but in the main it is still on page 1.

Im happy enough to leave it for now.

 

[StevePoster]

"domain.com/?id=about-us or I could switch it to domain.com/about-us"

domain.com/aboutus would be highly recommended in which will improve the navigation of the site and for the benefit of the users.

 

[tony84]

====UPDATE=======
I switched my site over to wordpress and there was a drop in places, 5th to 10th meaning enquiries have pretty much slowed right down/stopped completely.

I have just put my domain in google and can see all of the old pages ie domain.com/?id.... are alll still there, however they all divert through to my homepage of the new site. It is like I have 20 of my homepages with all different URLs (althoug under the same domain).

Is there anything I can do to get rid of them?

 

[arnydnxluk]

I have just put my domain in google and can see all of the old pages ie domain.com/?id.... are alll still there, however they all divert through to my homepage of the new site. It is like I have 20 of my homepages with all different URLs (althoug under the same domain).

Is there anything I can do to get rid of them?

Yup - http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/threads/change-of-website-and-seo.368341/#post-2711254