Weird… I’ve changed the title of many WordPress pages and the permalink has never changed on me. Typically you’d have to manually do that. So for that, I have no answer. What you could do is go back into that page and physically change the permalink back to what it was. This will correct the problem in Google. You can have a title that is different from it’s permalink.
If you wait long enough, Google will purge the http://purchase.ie/chimney-balloon-inflation-tube-2 and forget it ever existed. It will also index http://purchase.ie/chimney-balloons and the world will be in harmony once again.
Except… any and all SEO associated with http://purchase.ie/chimney-balloon-inflation-tube-2 will be gone and you’d have to start all over again! Since you claimed the page ranked pretty high on Google, this is not a good thing for you.
So two options to save your SEO: a) manually change the permalink on that page to what it was or b) set up a 301 redirect to move all traffic pointing to http://purchase.ie/chimney-balloon-inflation-tube-2 to http://purchase.ie/chimney-balloons. If you need info on how to do that, I can shoot you a few links. I just helped another fellow out with 301 redirects not 20 minutes ago!
Good luck and I hope I answered your question.
Really appreciate your reply thanks.
Never thought of the first option to be honest. Page itself wouldn’t have a load of off page seo and I already changed the most important on site links.
I think the new url might be better in the long run so the second option regarding 301 redirects would be the best option I think.
Already looked into it but didn’t have a clue what to do. If you can help I would be very greatful.
Thanks Again,
Colm
No problem… you can check out this tutorial:
http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/2007/03/how-to-properly-implement-a-301-redirect/
It has some humor in it, but it’s right on the money. You basically need to open your .htaccess file in the root of your website and add something like:
Redirect 301 /chimney-balloon-inflation-tube-2/ http://purchase.ie/chimney-balloons
to it. Keep it all on one line though… spaced appropriately. That’s all there is. Now, anyone linked to the old page will get redirected to the new page. And Google will re-index while keeping your ranking!
The only thing to pay attention to is the .htaccess file. I don’t know how much experience you have with them, but I’ll assume none 🙂
WordPress will already have a .htaccess file in your root folder. It’s done by default. So you can just edit that one and not worry about creating a new one. However, if you FTP and don’t see one, then it’s probably hidden. Any file that starts with a period (.) is hidden. Since .htaccess starts with a period, it’s hidden 🙂 Your FTP program will have an option somewhere to “show hidden files”. Make sure it’s checked and you should be in business.
BACKUP THIS FILE FIRST… in case you make a mistake. And DON’T play with anything in the .htaccess file unless you know what you are doing… just add the above code to the end of the file, and leave a blank line below it.
Thanks Wpismypuppet
Have logged into the FTP but can’t find anything call a .thaccess file in the root folder.
Can’t find an option to “show hidden files” either so Im a bit perplexed??
Cheers,
Colm
What FTP program are you using?
Not sure how do I check. Does Plesk Panel 9.5 mean anything?
Also read the blog you linked and am wondering can I definitely do this 301 direct on one page on the site without affecting the whole site?
Plesk Panel means you are using the hosting company’s control panel to access your site through FTP. You would want to download an use a real FTP program, like FileZilla.
However, it seems like you are becoming uncomfortable with this process and if you don’t know what you are doing, you should probably find someone who can help you. It’s not entirely complicated, but you don’t want to mess with anything already in the .htaccess file or things can break.
Also read the blog you linked and am wondering can I definitely do this 301 direct on one page on the site without affecting the whole site?
Absolutely… this is exactly what a 301 redirect is for. You would use the example I gave:
Redirect 301 /chimney-balloon-inflation-tube-2/ http://purchase.ie/chimney-balloons
What that says, is anywho who types in the first URL will now be redirected to the second link. There is nothing there that will affect anything BUT the first link, so the rest of the site is safe.
I finally think I done what I was supposed to do. I added the redirect code as recommended above. I added this at the bottom of the page after WordPress Ends.
Have tested it on google but still getting the Oops broken link message. Does it take some time to kick in or have I done something wrong? Should I also being doing something on Webmaster Tools?
Cheers,
Colm
Well, it should be instant. If you type in http://purchase.ie/chimney-balloon-inflation-tube-2/ you should be immediately redirected. Maybe try to remove the end slash?
Redirect 301 /chimney-balloon-inflation-tube-2 http://purchase.ie/chimney-balloons
Keep playing with it until it works. Again, a quicker test is when you type the old URL immediately in. Also, make sure you save and upload the .htaccess file after you’ve made the changes.
Thanks wpismypuppet.
Removed the / and all is in order.
Really appreciate your patience.
Colm
Any time… Glad I could be of some help. Please be sure to mark this resolved so others know.
