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Redirect from post to page

  1. lucas29
    Member

    Hi there,

    I have a post which is getting a lot of traffic in google for certain relevant keyword phrases, but in my theme it shows up as an archived post. This means that no widgets are used. I have people coming in via google, but they don't see the menu on the right hand side at all to continue browsing the site. For all pages on the site though, it shows up correctly. I've tried unarchiving the post, but this hasn't worked very well.

    I'd like to create a page with the same content, and then redirect google traffic from the post to the new page url. How is this possible?

    The blog I need help with is polishyourpolish.org.uk.

  2. 1tess
    Moderator

    Are you asking about this blog:
    http://gosiailukasz.net/

    If so, your question is not clear. Archived posts are displayed with your widgets in the sidebar.

  3. timethief
    Member

    <blockoquote>I'd like to create a page with the same content, and then redirect google traffic from the post to the new page url. How is this possible? </blockoquote>

    I do not advise you to create duplicate content. Any attempt to redirect the flow of Google traffic would be will advised.

  4. timethief
    Member

    There is no automatic way to create a page with identical content as the post has. Obviously people coming to read the post by way of search engines are coming to a specific URL. It's the one for the post.

  5. mmadfan
    Member

    Maybe this little fudge might help. Create the page that you want to have the same content as the post, then go in and edit the original post with a link at the top bringing them to the new page. If you put in some new content or otherwise spruced up the page so there'd be a good reason for the reader to click away from the post to the page, eventually, you'd get the traffic going to the page, I would think. You might eventually wish to keep the post but edit it so that there is no more content in it <i><b>except</b></i> for the link to the page. Just an idea to try to accomplish what you want -- not a perfect solution, though. But there may not be a perfect solution! It's good that the search engines are bringing in some traffic! :-)

  6. timethief
    Member

    mmadfan

    Create the page that you want to have the same content as the post, then go in and edit the original post with a link at the top bringing them to the new page.

    That would amount to deliberately creating duplicate content which only pollutes dilutes the relevancy of search engine results.

    However, in some cases, content is deliberately duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or win more traffic. Deceptive practices like this can result in a poor user experience, when a visitor sees substantially the same content repeated within a set of search results.

    http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=66359

  7. mmadfan
    Member

    That's why I think it's good to simply delete the content of the post and do a manual redirect. Eventually the search engines catch up and will only find the page because the post won't have the content that is driving it -- remove the tags and categories, as well.

    Yeah, it's not perfect and does create some other problems, but sometimes when we create something in a post we aren't foresighted enough to realize it would be better off in a page. Hindsight is 20-20, as they say. I imported a couple years' worth of posts from a different blog where there was no "page" option. As a result, there were a number of posts that really should have been pages from the start, but which was obviously impossible since they were inherited from the old blog.

  8. timethief
    Member

    Deleting the post will mean the link (URL to the post) will be broken and will produce (a 404 page not found) and it will no longer appear in the SERPS (search engine page results).

    It takes about 3 months or more for that cached broken URL form the indexed post to be cleared from Googfe's cache. One can request to have the 404 page removed sooner, but in this case that would amount to asking Google to remove the 404 that was deliberately created to game the search engines to increase traffic.

    The page is currently indexed and getting hits.. Attempting to game this situation is a bad move.

  9. raincoaster
    Member

    Deleting the post is a TERRIBLE IDEA. Seriously, terrible.

    A better idea: just change themes to one that shows the sidebar on individual post pages. The spike won't last too long, and you can always switch back later.

  10. apostrophistica
    Member

    I believe she meant keeping the post and deleting the content with a link to the new page at the top. That's the way I read it.

  11. raincoaster
    Member

    Yes. And it's a terrible idea. TT has gone over most of the reasons, but there are more. The OP will lose about 80% of the post's readers by doing that.

  12. timethief
    Member

    Yes and it's a terrible idea! I have provided the primary reasons why this is a terrible and counterproductive idea. I don't have time to chronicle all of the other reasons.

    Suffice to say that the motivation behind the "idea" is to game search engine results and garner more traffic. What part of that is ethical? What part of affecting such begahviors is a benefit to targeted readers using search engines?

    Search engines are aimed at providing the most relevant search results. How can they do that if the blogopshere is full of duplicate content posts and blogs and a trail of broken links that lead to 404's? They can't. Those who are polluting the blogosphere and diluting the relevancy of search results can be penalized by Google as well they ought to be.

  13. raincoaster
    Member

    I have no particular issue with the OP wanting to retain his/her readers. I'm just saying that instead of doing that, this method will lose them.

    Best solution: a theme with widgets in the sidebar and the Top Posts widget, or a hand-configured version of the same thing.

  14. timethief
    Member

    I don't have an issue with the OP retaining readers either and I agree that the method suggested will not solve the issue. I like the idea of placing a hand coded text widget at the top of the sidebar with a link to the post in it. I would include an image of a read star in the widget to draw attention to the link to the post.

  15. mmadfan
    Member

    No, it isn't. I don't even know about "gaming" search engine and such. It is to make the blog a coherent whole with the content in the places it should be and make it easy to find for people who go directly to the homepage, which is where the vast majority of my visitors land on my blog. They go there looking for specific info, and most of them don't come there via a search engine. I'm actually not all that concerned about getting search engine traffic, to be honest about it.

    It's my blog and I'm not going to be tied into an unworkable structure for it simply because of the vagaries of search engines. Of course, the OP did say that she was getting the hits from search engine results -- which probably makes sense given her content -- but putting a link up at the top of the post and directing them to a page that has that dated content plus some "value-added" content is not gaming, IMO. It's simply saying, "hey, if you're interested in this post [that the se sent you to], you can find the same info here, updated w/ some additional information."

    I think it's something that needs to be judged on a case-by-case basis and not judged all-or-nothing. The beauty of a website is that you are not bound by the restrictions of a printed book, newspaper, etc., and the information can grow and be rearranged and linked to in ways that add value. And a decision on where to best put a piece of information can be changed because it's not set in stone -- or printed on a page and bound in a book.

  16. 1tess
    Moderator

    Sorry to all, but am I missing something here?

    The blog linked to the original poster's name is using the theme Mistylook.
    The question about seeing widgets in the sidebar of archived posts is certainly odd:
    Mistylook does show sidebar in archived posts.

    …a post which is getting a lot of traffic in google for certain relevant keyword phrases, but in my theme it shows up as an archived post. This means that no widgets are used.

    That is the real mystery about the question. Why can't readers see this sidebar from archived posts??? On Mistylook?

  17. raincoaster
    Member

    I don't think the OP was using Mistylook before.

  18. timethief
    Member

    @Tess
    I immediately viewed the blog when I first saw this posted. i viewed it in Firefox 3.5.7 and in IE 7 and in IE8. I'm not able to access the computer with Opera installed right now but in the three browser I used I could see all the widgets very clearly. Consequently, I assumed what the OP meant was that viewers would be unlikely to look for the post in question by searching in the Archives.

    The blog is in Polish but I can read it. The widget titles are:
    Sign Up (subscriptions)
    Top Posts
    Category Cloud
    Recently they wrote (Comments)
    Archives
    Sign up to receive notification of new posts on http://www.feedblitz.com
    Latest Photos

    I do not know what "this means no widgets were used" means.

    Some posts have categories/tags and some do not. The OP has not provided the link to the post. in question. The OP has not stated that there is new information intended to be included in the existing indexed post which is in the SERPs and is resulting in traffic from search engines.

    The OP has said: "I've tried unarchiving the post, but this hasn't worked very well."

    I do not know of anyway to "unarchive" a post. Posts are immediately and automatically added to dynamic pages like Archives and Categories after we publish them. The only way I know of removing a post from the Archives display and display on other dynamic pages is to delete the post, which will produce a broken link and a 404 message for every reader who uses a search engine and tries to find it as it has already been indexed.

    The OP says: " I'd like to create a page with the same content, and then redirect google traffic from the post to the new page url. How is this possible? "
    Let's break that down into two parts.

    Part 1 " I'd like to create a page with the same content".

    That's easy enough to do. There is no automatic way to repost content from a post to a static page; the solution is copy and paste. However, unless the post is then deleted it will lead to duplicate content issues.

    Part 2 "and then redirect google traffic from the post to the new page url."

    Static pages cannot have categories and tags assigned to them and have they have very little Google juice. There is no way to redirect search engine traffic to the new static page, unless one does that from the post itself, provided it hasn't been deleted. And if it hasn't been deleted then then we have come full circle back to the duplicate content issue.

    Setting aside the redirect search engine traffic concept, any readers who so arrive on the site can be directed to the post itself as raincoaster has suggested ie. by using a text widget at the top of the sidebar. Well, that brings us back to the OP's belief that visitors cannot view the widgets in the sidebar.

  19. timethief
    Member

    I'm sorry about the unintended bold lettering above. I've been doing contracted work all night and I'm not seeing well. I apologize.

  20. timethief
    Member

    @taincoaster
    The theme has not changed. I have viewed it several times - Misty Look.

  21. 1tess
    Moderator

    Yes, it has been Mistylook from the start.

  22. 1tess
    Moderator

    At any rate, the question is still not clear in my mind. The only thing I can imagine is that he/she has another blog that does not show widgets except on the home/front page.

    I've been known to be dense sometimes, and to once in a while miss the forrest for the trees. Perhaps it is just me, that I don't "get" the question.

    I mean, why redirect traffic to a new page (or post). Makes not sense to me.

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