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My website uses static service pages alongside a WordPress blog. That arrangement creates more than one place where navigation can be stored. A review found that clean service addresses and older .html links needed to be brought into agreement.
Choose one preferred route
The service address /solutions/services is the preferred public route. The older /solutions/services.html address redirects to it. Internal links should use the preferred route directly rather than making visitors pass through a redirect on every visit.
The important decision was consistency across the homepage, service templates, blog navigation, canonical tags and sitemap entries. Changing only the homepage would have left the mismatch elsewhere.
Preserve old links while improving new ones
Older links may still exist in bookmarks, messages and external pages. Keeping an appropriate redirect preserves their purpose. The redirect needs to lead to the equivalent content, not an unrelated homepage.
The live check confirmed that the old services.html route returns a redirect and the clean destination returns the service page. That verifies this specific mapping; every future URL change still needs its own review.
Make the maintenance lesson explicit
When a site combines platforms, document which component owns each navigation area. After changing a route, inspect the blog as well as the static pages. Search source files where appropriate, then verify the rendered result rather than relying on the edit alone.
Explore the service page, SEO support and my portfolio. Send a link or migration concern if your site has a similar mismatch. Read Should my website use clean URLs or links ending in .html? for choosing a convention and Does submitting a sitemap make my website rank on Google? for keeping the URL inventory coherent.
This case is about dependable navigation and clear preferred addresses. It does not claim a ranking increase from removing .html. The measurable technical result is that the old link and current site now lead visitors consistently to the intended page.