Existing post URLs when mapping domain to WP?

  • Unknown's avatar
    meagenda · Member ·

    I’ve checked the Help files and searched the forum but cannot find the answers and I wish that this was set out in the Help information for the Mapping Domain Upgrade.

    I have recently registered a .org domain (not with WordPress) and am considering paying the upgrade to map the domain to an existing WP blog that I’ve maintained since mid 2007.

    When mapping a domain across to a WP hosted blog, what happens to the URLs for my existing posts and media files?

    Do existing posts URLs change to reflect the new URL? If they don’t change, will links to my posts on other sites continue to locate my posts and files?

    Will links on sites that are already linking to my home page URL still locate my home page?

    Is it correct that if I map a domain to my WP blog, I should anticipate an initial fall in page rank?

    Thanks.

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • Unknown's avatar
    airodyssey · Member ·

    Hi. I believe you will find the answers to your questions on this recent thread:
    https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/question-about-the-whole-com-thing

  • Unknown's avatar
    meagenda · Member ·

    Thanks airodyssey, I had not spotted that thread. It has answered some of my questions but not all.

    It’s still not clear to me what happens to the URLs of existing posts once a domain has been mapped across to a WP blog, that is, will links to my posts on other people’s sites still point to those posts?

    Will the URLs of existing posts look the same on my site postings or are they masked with the domain name for the duration of the life of the upgrade?

    Also, if I renew my domain registration in a year or so’s time (which wasn’t registered with WordPress) but I decided not to renew the domain mapping to my WP blog because I wanted to use the domain for a website, what happens to the URLs for posts that have been published since the domain mapping was implemented?

    Do they revert back and would links on other people’s sites that have the domain string continue to locate them?

  • Unknown's avatar
    thesacredpath · Member ·

    As long as you set up the new self-hosted blog with the same permalink structure, “Day and name,” then all those existing URLs from your old blog will map across to the like URLs on the new blog. The key is to have the permalink structure the same on the new blog.

    After a year of permanent 301 redirects from your old blog to the new one, all the URLs for the old blog will have vanished from the search engines, and all that should be showing up are the new URLs. Of course if there are a lot of links to specific posts and such on your old blog from other blogs, then those will return 404 errors if you do not renew.

  • Unknown's avatar
    meagenda · Member ·

    thesacredpath, I think we might be at “cross porpoises” here.

    I won’t be self-hosting but paying for the domain mapping upgrade on an existing WordPress hosted blog.

    So my questions relate to what happens to the URLs of existing posts when mapping a registered (currently unused) domain name to an existing WP hosted blog.

  • Unknown's avatar
    airodyssey · Member ·

    @meagenda: You have an existing website using that .org domain and you want to have a WP.com at that particular domain instead?

    Just wanted you to confirm before I start explaining how I did just that two months ago.

  • Unknown's avatar
    raincoaster · Member ·

    All the old URLs will still work, and accrue their googlejuice to the whatever.wordpress.com address. The new whatever.com address starts, essentially, from zero in terms of SEO but in a few weeks or months search engines realize the domains refer to the same blog and they even out.

    The old posts will have two URLs (just like new ones) One that is whatever.wordpress.com/date/title and one that is whatever.com/date/title. They both work.

  • Unknown's avatar
    meagenda · Member ·

    @airodyssey

    “I have recently registered a .org domain (not with WordPress) and am considering paying the upgrade to map the domain to an existing WP blog that I’ve maintained since mid 2007.”

    Currently, the recently registered domain is not in use and is parked with the registration company.

    I am considering paying the upgrade to map this domain onto an existing WordPress hosted blog but needed to know what effect this would have on existing post URLs and what would happen to the URLs of posts published after domain mapping had been implemented if I later decided to use the domain for a website, allowing my WP blog to “revert back” as it were.

    @raincoaster Thank you, that is exactly what I needed to establish, before I pay for the upgrade and make the change.

    Many thanks to all three of you for your prompt responses.

    Maybe WordPress might consider including information about post URLs in the Domain Mapping Help information?

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