Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Remove html file extension and 301 redirects
-
Hi
Recently I ask for some work done on my website from a company, but I am not sure what they've done is right.
What I wanted was html file extensions to be removed like
/ash-logs.html to /ash-logs
also the index.html to www.timports.co.uk
I have done a crawl diagnostics and have duplicate page content and 32 page title duplicates. This is so doing my head in please helpThis is what is in the .htaccess file
<ifmodule pagespeed_module="">ModPagespeed on
ModPagespeedEnableFilters extend_cache,combine_css, collapse_whitespace,move_css_to_head, remove_comments</ifmodule><ifmodule mod_headers.c="">Header set Connection keep-alive</ifmodule>
<ifmodule mod_rewrite.c="">Options +FollowSymLinks -MultiViews</ifmodule>
DirectoryIndex index.html
RewriteEngine On
#Rewrite valid requests on .html files RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.html -f
RewriteRule ^ %{REQUEST_URI}.html?rw=1 [L,QSA]
#Return 404 on direct requests against .html files
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} .html$
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !rw=1 [NC]
RewriteRule ^ - [R=404]AddCharset UTF-8 .html # <filesmatch “.(js|css|html|htm|php|xml|swf|flv|ashx)$”="">#SetOutputFilter DEFLATE #</filesmatch>
<ifmodule mod_expires.c="">ExpiresActive On
ExpiresByType image/gif "access plus 1 years"
ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access plus 1 years"
ExpiresByType image/png "access plus 1 years"
ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access plus 1 years"
ExpiresByType image/jpg "access plus 1 years"
ExpiresByType text/css "access 1 years"
ExpiresByType text/x-javascript "access 1 years"
ExpiresByType application/javascript "access 1 years"
ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access 1 years"</ifmodule><files 403.shtml="">order allow,deny allow from all</files>
redirect 301 /PRODUCTS http://www.timports.co.uk/kiln-dried-logs
redirect 301 /kindling_firewood.html http://www.timports.co.uk/kindling-firewood.html
redirect 301 /about_us.html http://www.timports.co.uk/about-us.html
redirect 301 /log_delivery.html http://www.timports.co.uk/log-delivery.html redirect 301 /oak_boards_delivery.html http://www.timports.co.uk/oak-boards-delivery.html
redirect 301 /un_edged_oak_boards.html http://www.timports.co.uk/un-edged-oak-boards.html
redirect 301 /wholesale_logs.html http://www.timports.co.uk/wholesale-logs.html redirect 301 /privacy_policy.html http://www.timports.co.uk/privacy-policy.html redirect 301 /payment_failed.html http://www.timports.co.uk/payment-failed.html redirect 301 /payment_info.html http://www.timports.co.uk/payment-info.html -
This looks good to me, the html pages are 301ing to the non .html versions.
-
I think I've done it this is what I have found and added to my htaccess code.
<ifmodule mod_rewrite.c="">
Options +FollowSymLinks -MultiViews</ifmodule>DirectoryIndex index.html
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /#removing trailing slash
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ $1 [R=301,L]#non www to www
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www.
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]#html
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^([^.]+)$ $1.html [NC,L]#index redirect
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /index.html\ HTTP/
RewriteRule ^index.html$ http://www.timports.co.uk/ [R=301,L]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} .html
RewriteRule ^(.*).html$ /$1 [R=301,L] -
I still have the internal error, thank you for your time in looking at this I will keep trying
-
Hi,
htaccess can be a pain and I will admit I usually manage what I am after with a bit of trial and error. Try the following, and if you have problems concentrate on the lines:
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} .html
RewriteRule ^(.*).html$ /$1 [R=301,L]I have added a redirect for index.html to root, and from non www to www and removed the last .html from the last list of _ to - redirects. Give it a shot, and keep that backup handy just in case. If no go, maybe one of the htaccess experts around can step in and have a look, I am not 100% sure what some of those other rules are doing to be honest!
<ifmodule pagespeed_module="">ModPagespeed on
ModPagespeedEnableFilters extend_cache,combine_css, collapse_whitespace,move_css_to_head, remove_comments</ifmodule><ifmodule mod_headers.c="">Header set Connection keep-alive</ifmodule>
AddCharset UTF-8 .html
<filesmatch ".(js|css|html|htm|php|xml|swf|flv|ashx)$"="">
#SetOutputFilter DEFLATE
#</filesmatch><ifmodule mod_expires.c="">ExpiresActive On
ExpiresByType image/gif "access plus 1 years"
ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access plus 1 years"
ExpiresByType image/png "access plus 1 years"
ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access plus 1 years"
ExpiresByType image/jpg "access plus 1 years"
ExpiresByType text/css "access 1 years"
ExpiresByType text/x-javascript "access 1 years"
ExpiresByType application/javascript "access 1 years"
ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access 1 years"</ifmodule><files 403.shtml="">order allow,deny allow from all</files>
# mod_rewrite On only needed once
RewriteEngine On301 permanent redirect old underscore.html to new dash urls
redirect 301 /PRODUCTS http://www.timports.co.uk/kiln-dried-logs
redirect 301 /kindling_firewood.html http://www.timports.co.uk/kindling-firewood
redirect 301 /about_us.html http://www.timports.co.uk/about-us
redirect 301 /log_delivery.html http://www.timports.co.uk/log-delivery
redirect 301 /oak_boards_delivery.html http://www.timports.co.uk/oak-boards-delivery
redirect 301 /un_edged_oak_boards.html http://www.timports.co.uk/un-edged-oak-boards
redirect 301 /wholesale_logs.html http://www.timports.co.uk/wholesale-logs
redirect 301 /privacy_policy.html http://www.timports.co.uk/privacy-policy
redirect 301 /payment_failed.html http://www.timports.co.uk/payment-failed
redirect 301 /payment_info.html http://www.timports.co.uk/payment-info301 permanent redirect index.html to folder
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /([^/]+/)index.html?\ HTTP/
RewriteRule ^(([^/]+/))index.html?$ http://www.timports.co.uk/$1 [R=301,L]301 permanent redirect non-www to www
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^(www.timports.co.uk)?$
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.timports.co.uk/$1 [R=301,L]301 permanent redirect all .html to non .html
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} .html
RewriteRule ^(.*).html$ /$1 [R=301,L] -
thanks Lyn, but that gave an 500 internal error, back up worked though
-
Hi,
I think you will only need this bit:
#301 from example.com/page.html to example.com/page
RewriteCond%{THE_REQUEST}^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /..html\ HTTP/
RewriteRule^(.).html$ /$1 [R=301,L]And you would replace this bit below with the above:
Rewrite valid requests on .html files RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.html -f
RewriteRule ^ %{REQUEST_URI}.html?rw=1 [L,QSA]
#Return 404 on direct requests against .html files
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} .html$
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !rw=1 [NC]
RewriteRule ^ - [R=404]But leave the at the end of that section.
htaccess files can be a bit picky, so be sure to keep a backup so you can quickly undo something if it is not working!
-
Ok have got links to work again with old code, going to try this
#example.com/page will display the contents of example.com/page.html RewriteCond%{REQUEST_FILENAME}!-f RewriteCond%{REQUEST_FILENAME}!-d RewriteCond%{REQUEST_FILENAME}.html -f RewriteRule^(.+)$ $1.html [L,QSA] #301 from example.com/page.html to example.com/page RewriteCond%{THE_REQUEST}^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /..html\ HTTP/ RewriteRule^(.).html$ /$1 [R=301,L]
where would I put this code in relation to what I already have in my htaccess file
-
Thanks you for your reply, I have looked at the links you provided and tried replacing this RewriteEngine On #
Rewrite valid requests on .html files RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.html -f
RewriteRule ^ %{REQUEST_URI}.html?rw=1 [L,QSA]
Return 404 on direct requests against .html files
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} .html$
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !rw=1 [NC]
RewriteRule ^ - [R=404]with this, but it didn't work or I did something wrong. #example.com/page will display the contents of example.com/page.html RewriteCond%{REQUEST_FILENAME}!-f RewriteCond%{REQUEST_FILENAME}!-d RewriteCond%{REQUEST_FILENAME}.html -f RewriteRule^(.+)$ $1.html [L,QSA] #301 from example.com/page.html to example.com/page RewriteCond%{THE_REQUEST}^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /..html\ HTTP/ RewriteRule^(.).html$ /$1 [R=301,L]
Now www.timports.co.uk says this page cant be displayed so I tried to put it back to the previous .htaccess and still no links working
I am so stuck
-
Hi,
Indeed there seems to be an issue with your redirects since the .html versions are still available on your site. Two things to check in the first instance:
1. The redirect line for the .html to non .html versions:
Rewrite valid requests on .html files RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.html -f
RewriteRule ^ %{REQUEST_URI}.html?rw=1 [L,QSA]
I am not sure if this will work the way you want it. First of all a # at the beginning of this line means it is a comment and not processed so you seem to have the RewriteCond part of the statement as a comment (maybe this is just the forum formatting it wrong, but good to check).
You can check some other solutions for redirecting .html to non .html here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5730092/how-to-remove-html-from-url2. At the bottom of the file you have a bunch of 301 redirects like this:
redirect 301 /kindling_firewood.html http://www.timports.co.uk/kindling-firewood.html
Which are working as expected redirecting underscored urls to urls with dashes. But they are also redirecting to the .html version which means you will be getting into double redirects which is pointless in your case. Once you have the non .html redirects working as expected you should adjust these 301s to go to the non .html version like so:
redirect 301 /kindling_firewood.html http://www.timports.co.uk/kindling-firewood
Hope that helps!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Unsolved Temporary redirect from 302 to 301 for PNG File?
#302HTTP #temporaryredirect
Technical SEO | | Damian_Ed 0
Hi everyone, Recently I have faced a crawl issue with my media images on website. For example this page url https://intreface.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Horion-screen-side-2.png has 302 HTTP Status and the recommendation is to change it 301. I have read the article on temporary redirections here:
https://moz.com/learn/seo/redirection?_ga=2.45324708.1293586627.1702571936-916254120.1702571936
but its not written here how to redirect in my HTML 1 image url not the landing page.
Screenshot 2023-12-15 at 11.02.40.png
I have messaged to MOZ Support but they recommended to go for the MOZ Community!
Screenshot 2023-12-15 at 11.06.02.png Could you assist me wit this issue please? I can reach HTTML of the necessary page and change what I need for permanent redirection but firstly I need to understand how to do that correctly.0 -
301 redirect from dynamic url to static page
Hi, i want to redirect from this old link http://www.g-store.gr/product_info.php?products_id=1735/ to this one https://www.g-store.gr/golf-toualetas.html I have done several attempts but with no result. I anyone can help i will appreciate. My website runs in an Apache server with cpanel. Thank you
Technical SEO | | alstam0 -
Increase 404 errors or 301 redirects?
Hi all, I'm working on an e-commerce site that sells products that may only be available for a certain period of time. Eg. A product may only be selling for 1 year and then be permanently out of stock. When a product goes out of stock, the page is removed from the site regardless of any links it may have gotten over time. I am trying to figure out the best way to handle these permanently out of stock pages. At the moment, the site is set up to return a 404 page for each of these products. There are currently 600 (and increasing) instances of this appearing on Google Webmasters. I have read that too many 404 errors may have a negative impact on your site, and so thought I might 301 redirect these URLs to a more appropriate page. However I've also read that too many 301 redirects may have a negative impact on your site. I foresee this to be an issue several years down the road when the site has thousands of expired products which will result in thousands of 404 errors or 301 redirects depending on which route I take. Which would be the better route? Is there a better solution?
Technical SEO | | Oxfordcomma0 -
301 Redirect with index.asp
I am very new to all of this so forgive the newbie questions I will get better. Ok so after starting a campaign I see that I have many issues including where some pages are being deemed as duplicate content. 1. The report says the http://lucid8.com has duplicate content on 2 other pages 2. When I look at them it shows that http://lucid8.com/index.asp and http://www.lucid8.com are duplicates. 3. Really these are the exactly the same page because the default page that is opened for www.lucid8.com http://www.lucid8.com etc always opens the index.asp page. 4. Now I read that I should do permanent redirects and how to do this via IIS and I tried to do a redirect from index.asp to www.lucid8.com but that does not work because www.lucid8.com is pointing to index.asp and so we end up in a circle. So the question is how do I get rid of these duplicate page references without causing problems. Thanks
Technical SEO | | TroyW0 -
Will bad things happen if I cancel 301 site redirect?
Hi, please someone help! We have two identical websites, say A & B. Because of the not so good SEO establishment, site B was built and site A was 301 redirected to site B weeks ago. For some reasons, we have to reuse site A, which means we have to cancel the 301 redirection. (Sound a little crazy) So the question are: 1. Can we conduct the action? 2. If we cant, what's the reason? 3. If we can, what would be the best practice? Thanks for help in advance! Plus: we also CARE what would happen to site B if the 301 is cancelled? Will it grow healthy like a new site?
Technical SEO | | Squall3150 -
301 redirects & merging two sites into one
We have a client that has two sites that rank well for different searches in their market. The main pages ranking are things like advice articles and news pieces. For various reasons, they just want one site. I believe they need to duplicate the content from the outgoing site and place it on the main site, with a 301 redirect from each old page to each new one. What happens when they eventually want to redirect the entire domain? Would these smaller, internal redirects become obsolete, therefore removing any link value they once had? I am not sure how this works or if there is a best practice way to do this. Thanks Gareth
Technical SEO | | Gmorgan0 -
Converting files from .html to .php or editing .htaccess file
Good day all, I have a bunch of files that are .html and I want to add some .php to them. It seems my 2 options are Convert .html to .php and 301 redirect or add this line of code to my .htaccess file and keep all files that are .html as .html AddType application/x-httpd-php .html My gut is that the 2nd way is better so as not alter any SEO rankings, but wanted to see if anybody had any experience with this line of code in their .htaccess file as definitely don't wan to mess up my entire site 🙂 Thanks for any help! John
Technical SEO | | JohnHerrigel0 -
200 Redirects for SEO instead of 301
We are working with a company on re-platforming our website. On a call yesterday they outlined a strategy to use 200 redirects for our top keywords instead of 301s. I am not familiar with this type of redirect and was wondering if anyone could provide some more insight.
Technical SEO | | EvergladesDirect0