Static HTML to WordPress

  • AJ20152015

    (@aj20152015)


    10 months ago

    Hi,

    I have my blog on HTML. All pages end with the extension .html. I am using ShareThis as social sharing widget through embedded codes, and it is calculating the sharing counter data based on the URL structure. I am planning to move everything to WordPress, but, I am in a mess when regarding decision-making.

    My pages have very good ranking on SEO. 90% of my posts rank on Page 1. I do not want to lose them. So my questions are:

    • If I move to WordPress, the URL will not have extension .html. Is it better in this case to use 301 redirect from old URLs to new URLs, and re-submit sitemap OR, it is better to add .html to have same URL structure in permalinks?
    • If I choose to not have .html anymore, will I lose ranking massively with 301 redirection from old URLs to new URLS or with time, Google will recognize I changed URLs and it will keep my ranking?
    • If I remove the .html extension, ShareThis social sharing will not give the same sharing counters, as currently, they are counting my links with the .html extension. By removing this extension, it will be like a new link to them, thus, my counter will be zero again. Is there a social share plugin where I can add custom counter number to start?
    • Overall, based on my case, what you would do to avoid SEO issues and avoid losing page ranking?

    Thanks!

    • This topic was modified 10 months ago by AJ20152015.
Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • threadi

    (@threadi)

    You can also map the previous URLs 1:1 in WordPress. You can define the ending .html in the permalinks, see: https://www.ads-software.com/documentation/article/settings-permalinks-screen/ – in the structure field, simply enter .html at the end.

    Then, of course, you just have to make sure that the pages and posts you create have the same URLs. You can also define these yourself – the path may be different depending on which editor you use, in the block editor it looks like this: https://www.wpzoom.com/blog/gutenberg-how-to-change-the-url-slug-of-a-post/

    This should enable you to map the URLs 1:1. If YOU reach your limits, this plugin can help: https://de.www.ads-software.com/plugins/permalink-manager/

    If you do need redirects from old to new, you can use this plugin: https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/redirection/ – but you can also do similar things with many SEO plugins.

    Thread Starter AJ20152015

    (@aj20152015)

    What is your advise in my case? Change URL and remove .html or I go with it?

    WordPress page cannot be .html I guess. Permalinks work with post only.

    threadi

    (@threadi)

    Then create the previous HTML pages as posts? Or does that not fit thematically? For pages you can also change the URL as described above. It would be a one-time effort for you for all previous URLs. You can then write new pages with new URLs.

    I would try to get away from .html. This has no relevance to SEO and just lengthens the URLs unnecessarily. Of course I see the problem with the previous URLs in your project, which is why I wrote above how you can implement them. This avoids the problem that the URLs are no longer recorded correctly afterwards.

    Thread Starter AJ20152015

    (@aj20152015)

    I am ready to get away with .html but my sharing plugin will start counting as from zero and I will lose the number of shares on my posts. Is there a plugin you know where I can manually add a value in sharing counter to start?

    threadi

    (@threadi)

    I only know ShareThis by name. There is a plugin for this for WordPress: https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/sharethis-share-buttons/ – it’s best to ask there.

    Thread Starter AJ20152015

    (@aj20152015)

    They do not provide the feature custom counter or URL mapping. If I get such a plugin, I will proceed with 301 redirection.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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