how to convert static to dynamic...?

[pagetta]

having just read the previous post about dynamic Vs static site i have what is fundamentally a basic question but something i haven't until recently had to think about:

Our company's site is a static site. it isn't in pure css (yet), so when an update needs to be made site wide it takes a large chunk of time and a lot of copy & pasting. This wasn't a problem at first but like any site it has grown and grown and now I am wondering the best way to manage the site.

Hopefully it will soon be redesigned using css/xml nice tableless design which will make aesthetics easier to update, but in terms of content what is the best way forward here?

I am unsure about converting to php as our main product pages that currently do well in the 3 major SEs are all .html pages and I am worried about the effect changing to php may have on these - although i know using the htaccess i can redirect and eventually these pages would perform wel in their own right, would this be worth the short term loss of rankings (or am i totally off the mark with that assumption?)

Our main content updates come in the way of adding new product pages, adding news stories and updating product information.

Any advice here would be much appreciated - I've only before dealt with small static sites now this one is expanding and expanding i'm not sure the best way to move it forward! thankyou

[WebMasterKrames]

I think you can set up php to treat .html pages the same as .php pages.

Then they could be dynamic but look exactly the same to SE's.

[imvain2]

You can accomplish by using the htaccess file to force the server to run all html/htm files as if they were php files, so the Search Engines will never know the difference.

Stolen from this post: By Kristos

<Files *.htm>
ForceType application/x-httpd-php
</Files>
<Files *.html>
ForceType application/x-httpd-php
</Files>

[claybutler]

You can have your programmer set up your Content Management System to render out the dynamic pages with .htm or .html extension. You can even keep the same file names if you like or even have file names generated automatically by using the Title tag(example:"your-keyword-rich-title.html")With PHP and a good programmer you can pretty much have anything you want. Just need to ask as most programmers don't worry about stuff like marketing, SEO and rankings.

[langsor]

I'm not an SEO pro, but have been designing sites for ~7 years and you learn about SEO or fade away. I've recently been working on just your issue with converting my and a client's site from .html to .php

What it boils down to, is that a search engine makes a request to your server in the same manner as a web browser (visitor/client) would. So, what happens on the server is NOT revealed to the search-bot/spider, it just gets the results of that request.

If you use mod_rewrite or a similar approach to make your slight-of-hand on the server end of things there shouldn't be any impact on your SERPs, the search-bot should never know.

Please correct me if I'm mistaken, I would like to be certain on this point as well.

[DrTandem1]

Yes, I used that code in the .htaccess file of a site to allow for PHP features and kept the .htm extensions as they were. The site is and has been number #2 in Google and #1 in MSN and Yahoo for a very generic keyword term. So, it works.

If you must change a page's file name for whatever reason, be sure to use a 301 redirect to the new page.

[fred!head]

As langsor notes above, mod_rewrite has much less impact today on your search results than it used to have. I used MoveableType (which outputs static pages) then switched to a tool that used mod_rewrite and saw my numbers crater. That doesn't seem to happen as much these days.

But this experience has made me very sensitive to how CMS tools output pages. My strong preference is to have static pages. Not just to be 100% sure the pages can be spidered easily but also to ensure my clients "own" their pages on their server. If they want to get rid of me, it's no big deal for them to migrate to another web professional.

What you describe, making global changes across multiple pages, can be done with some HTML editors using regular expression search and replace. HomeSite used to be able to do this, circa 1999. But I would agree that it's ultimately limiting.

So I would look at a number of CMS tools with an eye to how they output pages and if they can output static pages with any file extension you like, for example .html pages or .php or .cfm or .asp pages. That's the holy grail. Moveable Type does this but I suspect there are others, although I have not found many after years of looking at dozens of programs and building a few lightweight ones. And some people hate the wait while the CMS publishes multiple pages.

Good luck.

[mikefromvt]

Hi.

By switching from static you can do real damage to your SEO. We publish thousands of static pages very easily and very accurately with our scripts. The scripts run on our servers, not on yours where they could potentially be a problem (security). Check us out for further information.

Mike
http://www.bestplainwebpages.com

[imvain2]

Hi.

By switching from static you can do real damage to your SEO. We publish thousands of static pages very easily and very accurately with our scripts. The scripts run on our servers, not on yours where they could potentially be a problem (security). Check us out for further information.

Mike
http://www.bestplainwebpages.com

By using my htaccess method, the search engine rankings wouldn't negatively be affected since the file names will be the exact same.

This almost sounds more like a sales pitch then anything else.

[mikefromvt]

Sorry if it sounds like a sales pitch. Having once been a Post Nuke User for more than 4 years, I have, unfortunately, had very poor luck with .htaccess files, mod_rewrite, etc and found what has resulted as a much better way for me.

Mike
http://www.bestplainwebpages.com