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Thread: Rewriting URLs for already established website?

  1. #1
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    Talking Rewriting URLs for already established website?

    Hi,

    What do you think about mod_rewritten URLs? I'm considering rewriting all the URLs for my already well-established website.

    The current link structure for the content is:
    view-{content}.php?id={number}

    None of the content pages has a high rank on any SE, only the index page does.

    Do you think it's worth a shot? I would of course 301 redirect all the old pages to the new URL.

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Administrator Chris's Avatar
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    If you do not have good rankings or incoming links on the current URLs, you have nothing to lose.
    Chris Beasley - My Guide to Building a Successful Website[size=1]
    Content Sites: ABCDFGHIJKLMNOP|Forums: ABCD EF|Ecommerce: Swords Knives

  3. #3
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    Well, I have a lot of incoming links for the current URLs.

    The category pages (which are mod_rewritten) rank well but the individual content pages do not.

    Some pages have thousands of incoming links.

  4. #4
    Administrator Chris's Avatar
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    If you've gotten so many incoming links already, I wouldn't rewrite the URLs. Maybe for new content, but not the old stuff.
    Chris Beasley - My Guide to Building a Successful Website[size=1]
    Content Sites: ABCDFGHIJKLMNOP|Forums: ABCD EF|Ecommerce: Swords Knives

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    You don't think a 301 would take care of that?

    Hmm...I hate these type of decisions.

  6. #6
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    301 redirect; will just give hint to spiders and visitor about the change in path but you will lose all the link popularity for that page.

  7. #7
    Administrator Chris's Avatar
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    I wouldn't risk the redirect messing up. It may work, it may not, and if it doesn't you're screwed.
    Chris Beasley - My Guide to Building a Successful Website[size=1]
    Content Sites: ABCDFGHIJKLMNOP|Forums: ABCD EF|Ecommerce: Swords Knives

  8. #8
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    If none of the content pages with a query string are ranking at all and its not just temporary, it may be worth it to try rewriting them. I know for a while Google had problems indexing ?id=#### since this was a common fingerprint for session ids. I don't think this should be an issue anymore though but its something to keep in mind.

    If there are other on page changes you could make first I would try those, but if all else fails, a url rewrite might be a good last resort.
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    BOSS 302 ENGINE
    Last edited by rpanella; 03-17-2011 at 10:29 AM.

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