Thread: new design and ranking issue?

Hello,

I "accidentally" got hold of a few german websites. now I want to change the design. they are .php , where I have no clue of.

if I make the new site in html, are the old pages losing their ranking which is very decent and many pages have PR 2 and 3? What could be done to avoid that.

Hope it sounds understandable. Apologies if I use wrong terms, I am a beginner and try to get my head around that all since a few month

cheers

Rhoody

There must be a way to change the way the websites look, isn't there a 'template' folder in one of the sites' directories?

The old pages should not lose their PR and rankings if you do not change the URLs in any way, and do not change the textual content and HTML title tags.

You can create static HTML pages and name them with the PHP extension. They will get run through the PHP parser on your server, but there doesn't have to be any PHP code to execute.

As Aquarezz pointed out, there may be a folder with a design template. If not, then just use View > Source in your browser and cut-and-paste the code into a new page in your HTML editor. You have to do that manually for every page in the site. Just make sure that the URL structure is exactly the same when you set up the new site.

Another alternative is to buy a couple of books and learn some basic PHP. It is a relatively easy language to learn.

Guys, first of all thanks a lot. I found a template-folder, but the old site is just (can't explain) that I start from scratch.

I spend since my OP almost sleepless on tutorials and played around. I think I get there, and as many times a very small hint (like from you 2 above) help that much !!!

same with the encouragement from TopDogger. not sure if I am allowed to post a link here so you guys see the difference. It might also just the excitement that I already created a alpha-template, where I never thought I would ever do and my "design is total crap... hahaha

with that php template, it is easy to copy paste the content and keep the URL exactly the same. I will kick some links off the front-page, as the old is overloaded, but will of course link to the good ranking pages. Also need to adjust the link-structure of the inner pages. So a lot of time to spend, but I enjoy "playing around" and learning.

cheers

Rhoody

@Rhoody, go ahead and post a link to the site if you want to do so. That way you can get some opinions about your new design.

this is the direction it should go:
http://philippinen-tauchen.com

The most of the sub-pages won't have the big block on top. I will use that for different regional sub-pages where appropriate, but in general I will have content right away. The Forum part is not done yet either

the adsense and hotel affiliate is at present more a practice to learn how to include stuff with php, but will be also part of the new page to make a few peso, probably in another spot. No content pages created up to now, still "playing around" before copy paste the content of 100+ pages and upload to the root

so don't take me too much apart

Rhoody

I cannot really judge the effect until your 100+ pages get spidered. The design should not be an issue. Right now, there is low content, so Google doesn't have a lot to look for. Once a lot of content gets created, you will probably shoot up for a lot of terms you may not have expected to rank for which are usually targeted or semi targeted. I would focus on the content now and get something up that you can stand behind and expect people to find interesting if they find your site. Then focus on the promotion process.

I have had many surprises lately meaning sites I didn't expect anything from ranking well and those I put lots of work into not ranking at all.

Again: Upload your content once you are happy with it and then go from there.

Originally Posted by Rhoody

this is the direction it should go:
http://philippinen-tauchen.com

The most of the sub-pages won't have the big block on top. I will use that for different regional sub-pages where appropriate, but in general I will have content right away. The Forum part is not done yet either

the adsense and hotel affiliate is at present more a practice to learn how to include stuff with php, but will be also part of the new page to make a few peso, probably in another spot. No content pages created up to now, still "playing around" before copy paste the content of 100+ pages and upload to the root

so don't take me too much apart

Rhoody

Thanks for your reply, the other 100 plus are still online, I just change them after my regular work bit by bit, keep the URL and Meta stuff identical and adjust/ add content add H2 and H3 tags and new pictures. That might keep the value somehow...

here is an example of the old one: Tauchen in Moalboal

Thanks for any kind of reply and suggestions.

Rhoody