Changing .html to .asp in URLs
-
Hi Mozzers,
I have a question. The webmaster of a client of mine needs to make changes to some files which will effect the URL's.
Essentially everything is staying the same but the end of the URL will change from .html to .asp.
This is because the site will be dynamically loading content (perhaps from a database) (i.e. latest news to come from their blog etc..) In order to do this we would need to change the filenames of the whole website. (i.e. personnel.html would become personel.asp).
Changing URLs can harm indexation but a small change to the end - would Google drop these pages? A 301 redirect is not possible from old URL to new.
What impact would this have on Rankings?
Thanks
Gareth
-
Hi Kevin, O French and Dr Pete,
Thanks for your input - I'm being told a 301 isn't possible but looking at your comments we can do it and I'll push for it.
Thanks so much for all of your help
Bush
-
Yeah, I'm with Kevin - there's a way to do a 301-redirect, and you need to find it. Otherwise, you'll lose the value of most of the current links to your site, and you'll create a ton of 404s from visitors and links with old URLs trying to find the old content. That's an SEO nightmare waiting to happen, and it's bad for usability, too.
-
Similar to Kevin's response, I have a section in my web.config performing a similar action, should be something like this I believe -
<match url="^([a-z]*).htm"></match>
<action type="Redirect" url="{R:1}.asp"></action>
This should just redirect any instance of .htm to .asp.
-
Why isn't a 301 possible? If the host doesn't have ISAPI_Rewrite, then a custom 404 that contains a 301 will work.
There would be a big impact on rankings otherwise.
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
-
URL Parameters to Ignore
Hi Mozers, **We have a glossary of terms made up of a main page that lists out ALL of the terms, and then individual pages per alphabet letter that limit the results to that specific alphabet letter. These pages look like this: ** https://www.XXXX.XXX/publications/dictionaries/XXX-terms?expand=A https://www.XXXX.XXX/publications/dictionaries/XXX-terms?expand=B https://www.XXXX.XXX/publications/dictionaries/XXX-terms?expand=C https://www.XXXX.XXX/publications/dictionaries/XXX-terms?expand=D etc. If I'd like Google to remove all of these "expand=" pages from the index, such that only the main page is indexed, what is the exact parameter that I should ask Google to ignore in Search Console? "expand=" ? Just want to make sure! Thanks for the help!!!
Technical SEO | | yaelslater1 -
URL is invalid: Why?
Hello everyone, I am currently listing my company on business directories. For some websites however when I add my website URL, it comes up as URL is invalid. What could be the reason for this? I have tried different variations like www., http:// and https://. Kind Regards,
Technical SEO | | SMCCoachHire
Aqib0 -
Usage of keywords in URL
Hi everyone, I'm trying to optimize our website and I'm not sure what's ideal for our URL structure. We have two products: one of them is focused on B2C & the other one on B2B.
Technical SEO | | Klouwers
Our homepage is focused on the B2C product. For our B2B product, I'm not sure what's ideal. The URL for our 'homepage' of the B2B product is ourdomain.com/software. We have different target groups for our B2B software, and therefore different pages on our website. Which URL would be best to use for the keyword personal trainer software?
1. ourdomain.com/software/personal-trainer-software
2. ourdomain.com/software/personal-trainer0 -
Canonical URLs in an eCommerce site
We have a website with 4 product categories (1. ice cream parlors, 2. frozen yogurt shops etc.). A few sub-categories (e.g. toppings, smoothies etc.) and the products contained in those are available in more than one product category (e.g. the smoothies are available in the "ice cream parlors" category, but also in the "frozen yogurt shops" category). My question: Unfortunately the website has been designed in a way that if a subcategory (e.g. smoothies) is available in more than 1 category, then itself (the subcategory page) + all its product pages will be automatically visible under various different urls. So now I have several urls for one and the same product: www.example.com/strawberry-smoothie|SMOOTHIES|FROZEN-YOGURT-SHOPS-391-2-5 and http://www.example.com/strawberry-smoothie|SMOOTHIES|ICE-CREAM-PARLORS-391-1-5 And also several ones for one and the same sub-category (they all include exactly the same set of products): http://www.example.com/SMOOTHIES-1-12-0-4 (the smoothies contained in the ice cream parlors category) http://www.example.com/SMOOTHIES-2-12-0-4 (the same smoothies, contained in the frozen yogurt shops category) This is happening with around 100 pages. I would add canonical tags to the duplicates, but I'm afraid that by doing so, the category (frozen yogurt shops) that contains several non-canonical sub-categories (smoothies, toppings etc.) , might not show up anymore in search results or become irrelevant for Google when searching for example for "products for frozen yoghurt shops". Do you know if this would be actually the case? I hope I explained it well..
Technical SEO | | Gabriele_Layoutweb0 -
URL Structure Question
We are building a job board website that will have a decent amount of "career resources" type content and want to make sure we set up our url structure correctly. After researching on Google and here I have an idea how to structure it but would like some insight if we are on the right track. We are using Wordpress for the content part of our website. We will have about 5 content categories (like resume-tips, job-interviews, job-search etc.) The two options we are considering; www.domain.com/career-resources/index.html As content start page www.domain.com/career-resources/resume-tips/index.html category start page www.domain.com/career-resources/resume-tips/top-5-resume-mistakes.html article name is the /career-resources/ folder really needed or can we go something like; www.domain.com/career-resources/index.html As content start page www.domain.com/resume-tips/index.html category start page www.domain.com/resume-tips/top-5-resume-mistakes.html article name Are we on the right track... and is one way better for SEO that the other? Thanks! Shaun
Technical SEO | | aactive0 -
Changing TLD type
Hi, Our client required us to change the TLD of is domain. Currently it is something like www.xyz.qc.ca and they have registered www.xyz.ca which while be more easier to remember. What would be the best pratice for migrating the domain? Use webmaster tool domain change? Making the new domain name the defaut one and use 301 redirections? Or both ? Thank you M.Adey
Technical SEO | | madey0 -
Importance of SEO Friendly URLs
Hey SEOZ! How important do you all think SEO friendly URLs are to SEO. Here is an example: Non: http://www.domain.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=2964 Friendly: http://www.domain.com/product_name_here.html I have always heard mixed reviews but did an experiment comparing results on the same domain and actually noticed quite a difference with the friendly ones. Thanks!
Technical SEO | | 6thirty0 -
How can i redirect a url that has % in it?
Google webmaster tools shows a 400 eroor for an old link that contains a 30% off in it. The problem is the % I would like to 301 redirect this link : http://www.geographics.com/Graduation-Stationery,-35%-OFF-Printable-Certificates-Blank-Gift-Certificates/c1353_1354_1359/index.html to http://www.geographics.com/Graduation-Stationery-Printable-Certificates-Blank-Gift-Certificates/c1353_1354_1359/index.html We do not know how to do this in httaccess. Can you please advise? Thanks a lot! Madlena
Technical SEO | | Madlena0