Switched from Wix to Wordpress dreaded hashtag URL
-
Recently took over managing a site for a non-profit which was using the dreaded Wix. Switched over to Wordpress but now Google still has the old URL's with the hashtag. Can't forward them in .htaccess and don't want to add javascript for fear of slowing down load time.
I found a solution that seems like it will take hours and hours of work. I found the solution at http://www.thedriversgarage.com/web-technology/redirecting-hashbang-urls-wix-urls/ but it seems like it would take hours with all the URL's.
I submitted an XML sitemap in Google webmaster tools.
My question is, how serious could this effect SEO for my site? Google accepted the new sitemap but still has the old URL's in SERP. How long does this generally take to remove? Will the hashtag URL's penalize the site for duplicate content? If so is there a way to tell Google the homepage without hashtags is the page with original content? Sort of like the rel=canonical tag which I know wont work as the hashtag URL's all redirect to the homepage so they will all have the tag.
Does Google ignore the hashtag? Could there even be a benefit to this, possibly the homepage getting more page authority due to the redirects? How serious is this? Thanks in advancing.
-
I'm in the same boat, and even tried the DRIVERS GARAGE solution (which is also posted on quite a few other blog sites). Unfortunately, that did not work for me. Neither did the REDIRECTION WP plugin, nor did editing my .htaccess a zillion different ways. Heck, I even tried creating directories and html files with embedded java.
Here is the only redirection that DID WORK for me (as indicated it would by Peter):
JAVASCRIPT
(1) Create a Javascript file with this code:
var hashesarr = { "#!old-news/chi3":'/new-page/',
"#!another-news/dkc8":'/another-new-page/',
"#!something-old/eckje8":'/something-new/' };
for (var hash in hashesarr) {
var patt = new RegExp(hash);
if (window.location.hash.match(patt) !== null) {
window.location.href = hashesarr[hash];
}
}(2) Save that file to your theme's child folder (so it doesn't get overwritten in the future by theme or Wordpress updates.
I saved my file here: \wp-content\themes\aweseometheme-child\(3) In your SEO Plugin, or wherever you can edit the home page's HEAD file, add this code:
(4) Test, make changes, try again and PRESTO!
As a disclaimer, I have not yet tested to see how this will affect SEO Pagerank or Google redirects. I'm guessing I will still have to implement the Sitemap with the UGLY url's per the DRIVERS GARAGE. But all my client really cared about was that the client's who bookmarked specific pages, or had links pointing to deep pages would be redirected properly.
MY AHA ANSWER WAS FOUND HERE:
http://www.simosh.com/article/cbgaifec-301-redirect-from-wix-to-wordpress.html
(Alex Nikitenko is a genious!)AND JAVASCRIPT INSTRUCTION HERE:
https://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Javascript -
Tuff situation. Why? Browser didn't sent # and everything behind it to the server.
So if you trying to get url as http://www.example.com/#!my-super-duper-url
Browser will sent to the server request for http://www.example.com/ and server will process it. But full url that browser want is also included #! fragment. This mean that you can't make .htaccess redirect, nor some server side redirects for the moment.So same hurt also all bot and crawlers (Including Moz Roger!). And there was solution:
https://developers.google.com/webmasters/ajax-crawling/docs/specification?hl=en
but later this solution was deprecated:
https://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.bg/2015/10/deprecating-our-ajax-crawling-scheme.htmlAnd this make things complicated. For now they still support old solution so will be OK for bots. Probably for some users that comes from bookmarks, emails and/or other traffic sources can have hard times. Because will be redirected to "homepage". So maybe combination of both methods (JS redirector + your actual method) can save the day for humans and bots.
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
-
WordPress Category page title h1 or h2
Hi friends, I know this is a minor technical change, but we are in an extremely competitive market and I don't want to have any points against us. On our WordPress Category pages i.e. http://www.domain.com/category/�tegory-title%/ I looked at the code behind the the Title of the category page, which is "Browsing: %Category Title%" The code is an h2. I look at the posts in the category archive below, and those are also h2's. The theme preview is here and you can click on Entertainment - Reviews to see exactly what I'm referring to - http://themeforest.net/item/smartmag-responsive-retina-wordpress-magazine/full_screen_preview/6652608 I changed the code for the "Browsing: %Category Title%" to h1, which I believe is more consistent and standard formatting. 1. Is this a correct technical on-page optimization? 2. Would it be beneficial to remove "Browsing"?
Web Design | | JustinMurray0 -
URL & Link Hierarchy - juice flow direction from backlinks?
Our site is very regional, so we focus all of our seo efforts on each of these region landing pages. For Example: domain.com/toys/us/ca/san-francisco We added an informational page (ex. reviews) and gave it a url like this: domain.com/toys/us/ca/san-francisco/reviews Question: Will external backlinks to domain.com/toys/.../reviews provide any link juice value to it's hierarchical parent page: domain.com/toys/us/ca/san-francisco?
Web Design | | 42Floors0 -
Old site to new WordPress site - Client concerned about Yahoo Ranking
Hello, Back Story I have a client (law firm) who has a large .html website. He has been doing his own SEO for years and it shows. I think the only reason he reached out to a professional is because he got a huge penalty from Google last fall and fell very far down in rankings. Although, he still retains a #1 spot in Yahoo for his site for the keyword phrase he wants. I have been creating a new WordPress theme for the client and creating all new pages and updating the formatting/SEO. From the beginning I have told the client that when we delete the old site and install a new WordPress site (same domain name, but different page hierarchy) he will take a bump in the search engines until all the 301 redirects get sorted out. I told him I can't guarantee any time frame of how long the dip in SEO will last. Some sites bounce right back while others take longer. Last week, during a discussion, he tells me that if he loses his #1 ranking on Yahoo for any length of time he thinks he will go out of business. Needless to say I was a little taken back. When it comes to SEO I use best practice techniques, do my research, stay on top of trends but I never guarantee rankings when moving to a new site. I'm thinking of ways I can help elevate any type of huge SEO drop off and help the client. Here is what I was thinking of suggesting to the client and I would love some feedback. Main Question He has another domain he isn't doing anything with. It's pretty much his domain name with pc added. I was thinking about using that domain to create a simple 1-2 page WordPress website with brand new content (no duplicate content) aimed at attracting his keyword phrase. I would do as much SEO as I could with a 1-2 page site and give it a month or so to see if this smaller site can get into the top #10 in Yahoo, or higher. Then, when we move the site he will still have a website on the first page of Yahoo for his keyword phrase. I hope I explained it clearly 🙂 I would be open to any suggestions anyone may have. Thanks
Web Design | | Bill_K0 -
Switching from HTML Static to WordPress Platform - SEO
Hi All, Hope everyone is doing well. I am currentyl in the process of having a re-design to myu HTML Static Site, I am switching to WordPress. My site is still running now until the new one is prepared. My question is: I do rank pretty well for some of our strong local keywords, we also have a FEW links pointing to inner pages with an extension of .HTML, should I set the the WordPress URL's to reflect .HTML or will the Search Enginesfigure out that http://www.domain/innerpage.html is the same as http://www.domain/innerpage/ or is it NOT the same. Should I switch or not? Thanks for your input Jimmy
Web Design | | jimmy02250 -
Best way to develop a WordPress version of your site and then move it?
I have two websites that generate hundreds of organic hits each day. I want to switch both of them to WordPress. What is the best way to go about developing these sites then making them live while still keeping the current ones up?
Web Design | | C-Style0 -
How to set up Wordpress on our Germany Host?
Correct me if I am wrong, but for SEO purposes, it is best to host your website in the correct country? I set up hosting in Germany for our new website, but now I am concerned on how to set up our wordpress website through our german host and setting up the database. Or would I be safe to host it in the US? Can I set it all up in English and then translate it to German and then upload it that way?
Web Design | | hfranz0