Moved from wp.org to wp.com ~ how to preserve post links?

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  tnitsupport · Member · Oct 14, 2016 at 2:07 pm

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  How may I preserve post URL’s (for SEO purposes)?

  Example of wp.org URL: http://blog.domain.com/?p=1660
  Same post’s URL after import to wp.com: https://blog.domain.com/2016/10/14/title-of-blog-post/

  I would like the new link to be identical to old link.

  If 301 redirect is the only answer, how is that achieved at wp.com?

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

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  supernovia · Staff · Oct 29, 2016 at 11:25 pm

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  Hi @tnitsupport, with that particular case, the /?p=1660 should 301 redirect to the correct address.

  If you had /some/very/strange/url/structure it might not work, but as long as the posts are /?p=XXXXX you’ll be just fine.

  Let us know if you need help!

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  supernovia · Staff · Oct 29, 2016 at 11:27 pm

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  Actually, I’ve just changed from “will” to “should” only because I am not 100% positive whether the posts will keep the same post IDs.

  I am guessing if you upload into a blank site you’ll be alright. Let us know if you need help testing.

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  tnitsupport · Member · Oct 31, 2016 at 1:56 pm

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  Good morning!

  Thanks very much for your reply.

  I did import the XML file to an empty wordpress.com blog.

  I do need help testing, if possible. My Marketing department wants to be absolutely sure the existing SEO will remain intact after switching over.

  What can I do to test it?

  Thanks again,

  Scott

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  supernovia · Staff · Oct 31, 2016 at 6:24 pm

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  Try testing the paths, like so:

  https://example.wordpress.com/?p=1660 (with your own WordPress address of course). Make sure that link takes you to the correct article, and maybe test a few more like it.

  If they take you to the right articles, then when you add your domain in as primary, the links will work the same way they did with the example.wordpress.com address.

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  tnitsupport · Member · Oct 31, 2016 at 7:35 pm

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  Great, that works! NOW – will this still work when I add a cname record to my non-wordpress-managed DNS? I imagine it should. It will function as a double-redirect, right?

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  supernovia · Staff · Nov 1, 2016 at 7:01 pm

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  Yup, it will work with the cname record. You can watch the headers to see how all of it works, if you’d like, but essentially we’ll just 301 redirect to the correct article.

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  tnitsupport · Member · Nov 1, 2016 at 7:12 pm

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  Ok, problem solved! Thank you very, very much.

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  supernovia · Staff · Nov 1, 2016 at 9:10 pm

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  You’re very welcome. Cheers!