Many top-ranking websites on search engines may include links that lack the .html and.php extensions. In most cases, adding them to your new URLs is not necessary from an SEO standpoint.
Although this is a general rule, there are certain situations when it may be beneficial. This article may be particularly useful if you just migrated from Magento to WordPress or intend to do so in the near future.
Although there are a variety of ways to add html to a WordPress URL, Permalink Manager seems to be the fastest and most straightforward, particularly if you are not familiar with programming.
Is it beneficial for SEO to end URLs with ".html"?
If you are asking the same topic, there is a good chance you have previously seen it on StackOverflow and Quora. Although SEO is a complex topic in and of itself, the solution is straightforward in this situation. URL file extensions, such as .html, .php, .aspx, and so on, do not seem to have a direct impact on the search engine ranking of your website.
In general, the file extension of your URLs is not a factor that you need to consider when it comes to optimizing your website for search engines. Search engines do not pay attention to the file extension when ranking pages, so adding a .html or .php extension to your URLs will not have any impact on your search engine rankings.
However, there is one situation where it may be beneficial to include the file extension in your URLs: if you are migrating from another content management system (CMS) to WordPress, and you want to maintain the original URL structure of your pages.
For example, if you are migrating from Magento to WordPress and your store URLs ended with .html, you may want to recreate this structure in WordPress after the migration to preserve the original URLs. This can be especially useful if you want to maintain the existing links to your pages and avoid any disruptions to your website's traffic and search engine rankings.
Is it necessary to include the '.html' extension in new permalinks?
It is generally not necessary to include the ".html" file extension at the end of your permalinks (also known as URLs). In fact, many modern content management systems (CMSs), including WordPress, do not use the ".html" extension by default.
Using permalinks without the ".html" extension is considered a best practice because it can make the URLs more user-friendly and easier to read. It can also help to improve the readability and SEO of your website, as search engines generally prefer shorter, cleaner URLs.
What does Google recommend regarding the use of '.html' in URLs?
If this is not enough to persuade you, read on. This subject has been already addressed in one of the videos on the Google Search Central YouTube channel. According to John Mueller in the video, Google does not care whether URLs terminate in .html, .php, .asp, or have no file extensions at all.
However, if your Google ranking is strong, keeping the URLs the same after the Magento to WooCommerce migration is a good idea from both an SEO and UX standpoint. Therefore, keeping the .html extension in your shop permalinks after migrating makes sense.
How to add html to WordPress permalink?
Permalink Manager gives you complete control over your permalinks. You may use this in a variety of ways to improve your SEO score. For example, you can use it to quickly add .html to your WordPress permalinks.
Edit Permastructures settings
The instructions below apply to WooCommerce permalinks, but you may do the same with other content types in a similar manner. If you want to append the file extension to your URL addresses, go to the "Permastructures" section and use the permalink format editor.
The procedure is quite simple. Find the content type where the file extension should be added to the permalinks and enter it at the end of the input field.
Apply the new settings
To apply the new format to existing content and append the extension to the old URLs, use the "Regenerate/reset" tool. More information on how to regenerate custom permalinks may be found in a separate article.
From now on, all new permalinks will end with .html file extension. If needed, you can individually tweak each of them using "URI Editor".
How to restore Magento permalinks in WordPress?
Increasing numbers of businesses are making the switch from Magento to WooCommerce. There are many articles on the internet that outline the overall migration procedure. If you use Magento, you have surely noticed that the platform automatically appends a .html suffix to the end of your product and category URLs.
After moving to WooCommerce, it is a good idea to maintain your existing store URLs intact for SEO reasons. It may be difficult, however, to maintain your original permalink structure using simply WordPress's built-in features. Permalink Manager may be the most straightforward answer to this issue.
You can use the plugin to recreate the original permalink structure of your Magento shop by removing the WooCommerce rewrite bases added to native permalinks. Simultaneously, you may add .html to the URLs of products and product categories.