Changing URL structure in WP

[CuMarketing]

Hi there.

Currently we have our blog (WP site) URLs setup this way:

companyname.com/post-name

However, it's hard to analyze blog's (only) content in Google Analytics now (since all posts have their own unique URL).

I want to change the structure to

companyname.com**/blog**/post-name

Question:

• Is there a way to do it safely?

• Will I have to 301 all the old links to the new structure or is there any other way to do the switch without losing any links?

• Thoughts or any (other) suggestions?

Thanks much!

`Helen

[Red_Mud_Rookie]

Hi Helen,

ironically I was jsut logging in to the QnA to ask about WP URLs and URL structures in general!

If I was you I would 301 redirect them to be safe as this is still the best way to do it according to Google themselves.

You can use a WP 301 add on like this to do it http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/simple-301-redirects/

[CuMarketing]

Yeah... I was hoping there would be a quick fix. .. I am also wondering if it's worth the hassle changing the URLs... again .. I just want to track our blog articles properly, but maybe there's a way to do so without changing the URL structure?

e.g. I was thinking of simply creating advanced reports for all URLs that include /blog/ ... but again .. if I change the URLs then I will lose all the data from the last 3 yrs ... because I'll have different URLs.... hmm ... Thoughts? (I hope I am making sense

[brycebertola]

Either way, it's going to be a pain.

1. 301 forward the old URL's and rewrite the WP URL's to inclue "/blog/"

2. Create a custom segment in google analytics, filter by "url equals" with each blog url as its' own "OR" declaration.

[KeriMorgret]

I use the Redirection plugin on my site, and you can set it so it automatically creates 301s when you update URLs. I did that when I added a directory to my site and moved some content underneath it. http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/redirection/

For URL structure that is friendly with Google Analytics, check out this post over on LunaMetrics. http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2010/09/22/designing-google-analytics-friendly-site/

[RyanKent]

Question:

**Is there a way to do it safely? **

Will I have to 301 all the old links to the new structure or is there any other way to do the switch without losing any links?

Your current URLs have the advantage of a clean look, but they don't scale well at all and this is one of the challenges you face. I would suggest having a regex expression written for your htaccess file. Any time a link does not map to a current page (i.e. 404 error) then it could try to add /blog to the URL and try to reach the page. Care would be necessary to restore the original link if another 404 error is received.

You did not mention the size of your site. The idea of writing hundreds or thousands of 301s manually is simply not reasonable when it can be avoided.

Thoughts or any (other) suggestions?

Definitely add the post id to your new URL. I understand you want the "prettiest" URL possible. That desire needs to be balanced with system performance and the user experience.

For PHP or a database to sort through text fields will definitely cause performance issues as your site grows. When a user does a search your server will not like it, especially if you are on a shared server.

I would recommend your Pemalink settings to be something along the lines of /blog/%post_id%.%postname%/

Your final URL will appear as companyname.com**/blog**/123.post-name

I know you are looking at the URL thinking you don't like the number. Most users will never notice, and it offers multiple advantages.

[CuMarketing]

Oh, I like this one that it  does 301 automatically!

GA URLs... sigh.. Agreed, too often it's an after thought, eh?

[CuMarketing]

Oh... looks like I accidentally "closed" my question thread ..

Here's our blog: http://www.cucumbermarketing.com/blog

Any other thoughts on how I could track the blog (in its current condition/ URL structure) - an "easy fix"  I think I will do the redirect though (using one of the plugins recommended below).

Sigh... that's what I was trying to avoid .. hehe... But thanks you guys for your suggestions! :))

[KeriMorgret]

Hi Helen, I opened the thread back up for you so it's not marked answered anymore.

The title tags on that site have been somewhat inconsistent, which could actually serve you well. You want to see if all of your blog posts have " | Cucumber Marketing, Vancouver" at the end. The few that I looked at (other than your blog home page) did, while your other pages had slightly different endings on your title tags. If it is unique, that's one way you can separate things out in GA.

[CuMarketing]

Ohhh... that's right! This may actually work! I will just change the title (ending) for all of my Blog posts, and create an advanced segment with that! Ha! Good thinking, Keri! Better than 301'ing the whole blog, huh! Thanks!

[KeriMorgret]

You possibly have a unique ending to your blog posts now, so if you change, you'll not be able to compare prior to now in one easy step. That said, it may be time to look at your title tags site-wide and make things more uniform and have one ending for blogs and one for non-blogs.

Glad to be able to help! If you do decide to 301, that redirection plugin is real easy. It's also handy to have anyway, since it can log 404s and let you make redirects from your 404 log. That's handy if someone links to you and types the link wrong, or hyperlinks a period at the end of things.

[CuMarketing]

Exactly! It's good time to revise all the titles! I think it's way better than 301-ing the whole blog. You never know how this may affect our ranking. It prob. would be fine, but you never know Thanks again!