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        4. Changing a url from .html to .com

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        Changing a url from .html to .com

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        • SEODinosaur
          SEODinosaur last edited by

          Hello,

          I have a client that has a site with a .html plugin and I have read that its best to not have this. We currently have pages ranking with this .html plug in. However If we take the plug in out will we lose rankings? would we need a 301 or something?

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • SEODinosaur
            SEODinosaur last edited by

            Yes I have read this thank you 🙂 we just did both 301 and canonical. Do you think this is fine? using both? or can it hurt our current SERP results?

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • josh-riley
              josh-riley last edited by

              And, if you are interested, here's a nice blog on it: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/301-redirect-or-relcanonical-which-one-should-you-use

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • josh-riley
                josh-riley last edited by

                The advantage of the 301, although sometimes trickier to implement (my site can't handle canonicals, so I am used to everything being trickier!) is that with the 301, it tells Google that the page content has moved permanently from the old URL. Eventually then Google will un-index the old URL and it will essentially cease to exist.

                If implemented properly you shouldn't be hurt as you're still telling Google where to go so they can follow.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • SEODinosaur
                  SEODinosaur @josh-riley last edited by

                  Sorry. I was not referring to .com... My mistake..

                  This is the current url http://www.domain.com/something**.html** would taking out the .html hurt our current rankings. For this type of change would it be best to do 301 a canonical or just leave it?

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • josh-riley
                    josh-riley last edited by

                    Any time you change a URL you need a 301 redirect. If you set it up properly and go from a .html to a .com URL as your primary there shouldn't be too much fall out.

                    SEODinosaur 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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