Is a custom URL possible with .php extension in Umbraco?
We have a website redesign to do. It's currently in .php we would like to build it in Umbraco, but for SEO purposes we do not want to do any URl redirects.
Is it possible to have Umbraco create a www.mywebsite.com/about.php type urls?
Thanks in advance!
My hope here is not spark an SEO debate but to know if creating custom page extension names, in particular .php is possible and hopefully how to do it.
URL redirects kill the rank juice you had for a page, even with 301 redirect. If you do need to redirect, yes 301 is the way to go, but you loose the juice.
My hope here is not spark an SEO debate but to know if creating custom page extension names, in particular .php is possible and hopefully how to do it.
When Google sees a 301, it basically takes the SEO juice it had assigned to the first one, and moves it over to the second one.
We do 301 redirects all the time at the company I work for. The main reasons are to ensure users don't encounter a 404 page, and to ensure the "SEO juice" is transferred to the new page.
My hope here is not spark an SEO debate but to know if creating custom page extension names, in particular .php is possible and hopefully how to do it.
Like I said, I don't want to spark an SEO debate. People have their opinions and that's fine. We have ours based on experience, research, and partnerships with SEO specialists.
We would prefer to use Umbraco, so hopefully this is possible and hopefully someone can shed some light before our estimate is due.
SEO debate aside, you can create a custom URL provider and a custom content finder to ensure each page has a "PHP" extension. You may also have to tinker with IIS so it doesn't get confused when it comes across a page like this (e.g., if you want / to resolve to /index.php).
However, I urge you to reconsider, as this is something that is unlikely to have any advantage over 301 redirects.
Moz has done research that showed an average of a 15% drop on one page url with each 301 redirect and advise: "While 301-redirecting a dead or changed page to the new location is still good practice, the best practice of all is not to change your URL in the first place."
There is at least one downside to doing so. Umbraco 7.5 added the ability to automatically create redirects when pages are renamed. However, I do not think it works if you create custom URL's with custom URL providers and content finders.
Is a custom URL possible with .php extension in Umbraco?
We have a website redesign to do. It's currently in .php we would like to build it in Umbraco, but for SEO purposes we do not want to do any URl redirects.
Is it possible to have Umbraco create a www.mywebsite.com/about.php type urls?
Thanks in advance!
My hope here is not spark an SEO debate but to know if creating custom page extension names, in particular .php is possible and hopefully how to do it.
It should be possible, but for SEO purposes redirects should be a perfectly suitable solution.
From what I understand, creating a 301 (permanent) redirect should essentially tell the search engine that the same content can be found at a new URL.
Could you go into detail about why you don't think redirects are a suitable solution for SEO purposes?
URL redirects kill the rank juice you had for a page, even with 301 redirect. If you do need to redirect, yes 301 is the way to go, but you loose the juice.
My hope here is not spark an SEO debate but to know if creating custom page extension names, in particular .php is possible and hopefully how to do it.
I believe that is incorrect. See here: http://forty.co/how-to-keep-your-seo-juice-while-overhauling-your-website
We do 301 redirects all the time at the company I work for. The main reasons are to ensure users don't encounter a 404 page, and to ensure the "SEO juice" is transferred to the new page.
Oops :-)
Like I said, I don't want to spark an SEO debate. People have their opinions and that's fine. We have ours based on experience, research, and partnerships with SEO specialists.
We would prefer to use Umbraco, so hopefully this is possible and hopefully someone can shed some light before our estimate is due.
Thanks!
I am actually very much interested in a debate, as I'm curious to know if there is in fact a cost to properly implementing 301 redirects, as indicated by the article you previously linked to: https://moz.com/blog/accidental-seo-tests-how-301-redirects-are-likely-impacting-your-brand
I have run this by the SEO team where I work. Perhaps they can shed some light on this. Thank you for the article.
SEO debate aside, you can create a custom URL provider and a custom content finder to ensure each page has a "PHP" extension. You may also have to tinker with IIS so it doesn't get confused when it comes across a page like this (e.g., if you want
/to resolve to/index.php).However, I urge you to reconsider, as this is something that is unlikely to have any advantage over 301 redirects.
Thanks! Good to know it's possible.
Moz has done research that showed an average of a 15% drop on one page url with each 301 redirect and advise: "While 301-redirecting a dead or changed page to the new location is still good practice, the best practice of all is not to change your URL in the first place."
https://moz.com/blog/accidental-seo-tests-how-301-redirects-are-likely-impacting-your-brand
I stand corrected. The SEO experts where I work confirmed that some authority is lost when performing redirects.
Still looking for a how to go about creating custom URL's in Umbraco with a .php extension.
Thanks in advance!
Here's an article on custom URL providers and content finders: http://24days.in/umbraco/2014/urlprovider-and-contentfinder/
There is at least one downside to doing so. Umbraco 7.5 added the ability to automatically create redirects when pages are renamed. However, I do not think it works if you create custom URL's with custom URL providers and content finders.
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