Changing Urls

[Gillie]

Someone kindly pointed out to me that one of my thousands of sites (or it feels like it!) that the urls include /index.php/ in the middle of them and how I should ditch it.

All well and good and easy to re-write them, but will it affect the pages as in some have been around for a while and google is used to seeing it, therefore will it harm em if I just simply re-write them or is there something else I should do, or just leave em??

 

[AcornDomains.co.uk]

If you are using Apache you could do a URL redirect in your .htaccess file to direct incoming traffic to the specific new page. Alternatively do a global redirect to your homepage instead of the usual "page not found" 404 message.

I do that by default, redirect mistyped in-site URLS to go to my homepage.

Acorn Domains

 

[Faevilangel]

Are you on about http://www.shoeboxaccounting.co.uk/?

In the admin panel go to settings > permalinks and will say something like

index.php/&postname&/ in the custom url box. If it does change to /&postname&/.

If it's different then post it here and I will advise.

 

[Gillie]

Are you on about http://www.shoeboxaccounting.co.uk/?

In the admin panel go to settings > permalinks and will say something like

index.php/&postname&/ in the custom url box. If it does change to /&postname&/.

If it's different then post it here and I will advise.

Yes its that one ... will google like me doing it though? I can't recall having posted any links to anything other than the home page, so people won't find themselves heading to a page not found thing.

 

[Faevilangel]

Yes its that one ... will google like me doing it though? I can't recall having posted any links to anything other than the home page, so people won't find themselves heading to a page not found thing.

Install this plugin, then change the url, all the old url's should direct to the new one.

 

[seo next]

Install this plugin, then change the url, all the old url's should direct to the new one.

I second that !!

All old URL's should be 301'd to the new ones ... manually or using a plugin..

 

[Faevilangel]

Just tested this (as you have done the changes) and it's working - http://www.shoeboxaccounting.co.uk/index.php/the-process/ redirects to the new one.

 

[DotNetWebs]

... should ...

If there is even the slightest bit of doubt I would leave well alone.

TBH for URLs that "have been around for a while and google is used to seeing" - I would probably leave alone anyway as you have little to gain but potentially a lot to loose.

Regards

Dotty

 

[Faevilangel]

If there is even the slightest bit of doubt I would leave well alone.

TBH for URLs that "have been around for a while and google is used to seeing" - I would probably leave alone anyway as you have little to gain but potentially a lot to loose.

Regards

Dotty

I have never used the plugin but a lot of reviews for it, and it's working fine on the site It shouldn't make a difference changing the url if done right... but as wp allows you to change the url from the admin, there is less chance of it going wrong

 

[seo next]

Just wait for a few days and watch google index the new URL's and once this happens the old ones should disappear from google's index and be replaced by the new ones.

Try searching some keywords at that point of time and see if they rank with new URL's

This should ideally take 7-10 days.

 

[Gillie]

Thanks, its not that old a site and I want to get it all right as the world gets to know about it via a rather nice press article in lots of local rags etc ... so to change it now will be ok!