Moving from Typepad blog platform to Dreamhosting w/ WordPress, the Google effect

[Cassie]

Hi guys,

My Typepad blog is over two months old now and has some very high ranking in Google. However, I want to transfer the old postings in my Typepad blog to a WordPress blog with my own Dreamhosting, and then completely shut down my Typepad blog. I'm just not sure of the complications of doing this. Such as;

What affect will this have with Google? My Typepad account will disappear after one month after the move (I'll stop paying in it so it'll close out). How will this all affect how my articles appear in Google? Will they phase out under the Typepad url automatically? Will there will duplicate entries listed with search engines under my old Typepad AND under my new domain url?

What complications will I encounter during this transfer of material process, and will there be any way to avoid these difficulties?

I have no experience with this sort of thing. Thanks so much for offering any insight or suggestions.

[da1prophet]

Originally Posted by Cassie

Hi guys,

My Typepad blog is over two months old now and has some very high ranking in Google. However, I want to transfer the old postings in my Typepad blog to a WordPress blog with my own Dreamhosting, and then completely shut down my Typepad blog. I'm just not sure of the complications of doing this. Such as;

What affect will this have with Google? My Typepad account will disappear after one month after the move (I'll stop paying in it so it'll close out). How will this all affect how my articles appear in Google? Will they phase out under the Typepad url automatically? Will there will duplicate entries listed with search engines under my old Typepad AND under my new domain url?

What complications will I encounter during this transfer of material process, and will there be any way to avoid these difficulties?

I have no experience with this sort of thing. Thanks so much for offering any insight or suggestions.

That's a good question--I just did the exact same thing. Not sure about the search engine implications, but I'm thinking there probably will be *some*. I know in the past when I migrated from LiveJournal to TypePad that I'd frequently see search engine results from my old and new sites. If you've got a high Google ranking you definitely want to take whatever steps you can to maintain it. I know that WordPress has plug-ins (more about that in a minute) that allow you to crosspost your WP entries to LiveJournal--there may be a similar one that would allow you to crosspost to Typepad. That would mean you'd need to keep paying for your TP account but I'm of the opinion that a high Google rank might be worth the $10 a month or so...

As far as the actual transfer process, its pretty simple. Typepad has an export interface, and WordPress has an importer. If you have your images hosted with Typepad they won't be migrated, but besides that its pretty smooth sailing. It took me less than 5 minutes to actually transfer my content.

Even with the Dreamhost one click install, there may be more of a learning curve using the software. The upside is that IMO at least its a lot more robust platform and you can do a lot more in terms of customizing the look and performance of your blog. Once its installed, the WP admin menu is similar in a lot of ways to what you've used with Typepad. There's a lot of available themes for WordPress, and its pretty easy to customize them further. For example, here's the original theme I'm using for my blog:

Wordpress Theme Demos

and here it is after some tweaks I've made. Just a disclaimer that my blog isn't officially "up" yet so you may see some gibberish entries as I get everything working right:

Revelation

Changing themes is also a "one click" process, so you can try out a bunch of them with ease.

WordPress also offers a bunch of plugins that extend its functionality. This is the area in which it really surpasses TypePad IMO. Here's one of the plug in directories:

WordPress Plugin Database

Anyway, I really like WordPress. The only issue I see in your case might be the preservation of your high Google ranking. Hopefully someone else has experience in that regard and can give you some advice.

BTW, if you have any questions or need some input while you're switching over feel free to post or drop me an email. Having just done it myself I may be able to help...

[icesar]

There's bound to be some effects to your google rankings, because all the links are pointing to your typepad site.

In the long term, as you keep writing link-worthy content, it won't be an issue and your site will get back up there in the search rankings, especially since Wordpress is optimized from SEO.

Once you transfer, I would take a couple of steps to minimize the effect.
- Edit your template so every page has a link saying "This site has moved to ________"
- Email your biggest referrers (the sites that send you the most traffic) and ask the to please update the links to you, since your site has moved
- Maybe keep your Typepad site an extra month or two, so that it keeps referring your old traffic to your new site.

One of the biggest bloggers, Scoble, made the same move as you a while back and he's now doing just as well or better than before.

[garg]

Is it possible to create a 302 permanent redirect on typepad?

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by icesar

- Edit your template so every page has a link saying "This site has moved to ________"
- Email your biggest referrers (the sites that send you the most traffic) and ask the to please update the links to you, since your site has moved
- Maybe keep your Typepad site an extra month or two, so that it keeps referring your old traffic to your new site.

I don't have any specific Wordpress/Google-related insight to share, but I'd like to second and emphasise the points I quoted, especially the "Maybe keep your Typepad site an extra month or two, so that it keeps referring your old traffic to your new site" point. If you don't understand what happens with Google rankings (etc) when you transfer a website, focus on what you do understand such as simple strategy, the concept of leverage, general common-sense principles that play to your advantage, and/or anything else that you are farmiliar with and comfortable and competent at utilising and executing in an effective manner. In other words, work from your strengths.

So long as you keep producing quality content (as they say “content is king”), I’m sure you’ll eventually get your visitors/links back (or, at least, new visitors/links). However, I would definitely suggest you keep your old Typepad blog up as a redirect to your new Wordpress blog, if only for a month or so (or however long you feel would be needed to catch the majority of your visitors -- I'm sure you’ll have some idea of how frequently your visitors check your website).

Think of the expense (of keeping up the Typepad blog) as an investment in the future of your new blog and the page ranking associated with it, as well as a service to your more regular site audience/visitors -- an act of curtesy and gratitude. You’ve invested your time and effort in building the blog and the audience associated with it, so it makes sense to leverage that investment and make use of it for your new Wordpress blog. It's also a good notion to your visitors, and if I were one of your visitors, I'd definitely appreciate it.

I see the internet as an online community. Just like you wouldn’t move house without telling all your close friends/family where you are moving to and your new contact details, I don’t believe you should move blogs without doing your best to redirect your long-term/regular visitors (your online friends/family) to your new Wordpress blog. So long as the expense is reasonable and you are able to cover it without causing financial issues, I think it’s money well spent and a good investment in the future of your Wordpress blog.

[Cassie]

You guys are amazing. Thanks for providing so much information. I'll let you know how it progresses. I shall begin the process tomorrow. *crosses fingers*