301 Redirects: SEO Benefits and Best Practices
Google loves fresh content. This is something you have heard repeatedly. But you could endanger the search engine SEO or page authority you have worked so hard on. These are where 301 redirects can come in handy.
Just like other technical SEO updates that you make to your site’s website, redirects could be detrimental if they aren’t appropriately implemented or not followed up on. Here are some tips to help avoid problems like slow loading times, reduced page authority and poor user experience.
301 Redirects are essential for any website owner looking to preserve their search engine optimization (SEO). This redirect tells search engines that a page has been permanently moved to a new location. This is important because it ensures that search engines continue to index the correct page, and that users are directed to the new correct page when they click on a link. 301 Redirects can also be used to redirect traffic from an old domain to a new domain.
This is especially important when changing domain names, as it helps to preserve existing SEO value and this one of the benefits of 301 Redirects. When used correctly, 301 Redirects can be a potent tool for protecting and improving your website’s SEO.
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Common Types of Redirects
To redirect means to send someone/something to a different location. This is precisely what 301 links do for web pages, which direct users and search engine crawlers to one URL from another.
Redirects will help you keep your website pages relevant.
Consider it the mail that arrives at your house. Your physical mail is your page’s traffic and authority, and your house is that page. When you’re not at your house (e.g. Temporarily moving, on vacation etc. It is essential not to lose your important mail so use redirects instead.
301 Redirects – Permanent Redirects
One of the most typical sorts of redirects is the 301 redirect. They are employed to transfer a page to a new URL permanently. Because they assist search engines in recognizing that a page has moved to a new site, 301 redirects are crucial. This is particularly crucial if the old URL is well-known and has several incoming connections. Your search engine rankings are also preserved by using 301 redirects.
A 301 redirect lets you know when a page has permanently changed URLs. Permanent redirects allow the original URL to transmit all of its page authority and link equity to a new page. Search engines prefer to use 301 redirects because they offer the best chance of maintaining SEO advantages.
A search engine crawler will notice a page with a redirect URL (from PageA to PageB) and interpret it as Page B. It will then delete Page A from its index and begin using Page B.
Think of 301 URL redirects as moving. You move to House B from House A. This is permanent, and you won’t return to your old home. Once you fill out the forwarding address form, the postal service will know that your current residence is not in House A. Then they will send all your mail instead to House B.
It’s crucial to keep in mind that 301 redirects have an irrevocable effect and that you cannot undo their effects.Before creating a page redirect, you should ensure you do not need it anymore.
302 Redirects – Temporary Redirects
The 302 redirect is another typical style of redirect. 301 redirects are only transitory, as opposed to 302 redirects. They are frequently used when a page is temporarily moved, such as when performing maintenance or building.
Therefore the difference among the two is that: A 302 redirect indicates a temporary page move, while a 301 signifies a permanent switch to a new page.
Three hundred two redirects signal a temporary site move. This redirect type can temporarily move a page or make changes to an existing page.
Users and search engines can be permanently redirected from one URL to another via 301 redirects. On the other hand, 302 redirects are momentary, and they should, therefore, only be utilized when a temporary redirection is required. For instance, a 302 redirect would be the best option if a website is undergoing maintenance and wants to direct viewers to a holding page.
The 302 redirects can then be removed after the maintenance is finished and the website is back online. A 302 redirect would again be the best option if a website wanted to temporarily lead customers to a landing page while launching a new product or service.
Google recently confirmed that 302 URL redirects can now pass along link equity or page authority. They couldn’t do it previously, so avoid using 302 redirects too often.
Use 302 redirects only if you plan to return the original page very shortly. Otherwise, it is better to use a permanent 301 redirect.
The 302 redirects are like going on vacation. You leave your house and spend a few days in a hotel. You ask your neighbor to take your mail while you are away. All the mail will be returned to you after you return, and your mail is temporarily routed to your neighbor.
Wildcard Redirects
The Wildcard redirect moves multiple pages towards a new destination using variable rules.
To maintain a website, 301 redirects are crucial. They are employed to reroute visitors from an outdated page to a more recent one. This is extremely helpful when a website is upgraded, and its URL structure is modified. Even if users have the old URLs bookmarked, 301 redirects make it more likely that they will be able to access the new pages.
When a complete website is being transferred to a new domain, wildcard redirects, a sort of 301 redirect, may be used. A wildcard redirect will transfer all traffic from the old part to the new environment instead of requiring a unique redirect for each page.
By doing so, relocating a website can be made more straightforward, and the danger of something going wrong can be decreased.
Instead of creating 301 redirects for each blog post in a subdomain, you can set up a wildcard 301 redirect to move all content from blog.bluefrogdm.com/blog.
Wildcard redirects work by focusing on a single variable, like a subdomain or category.
You could redirect dmarketingagency.com/blog/local-SEO-series to dmarketingagency.com/blog/seo-tips, and the wildcard redirect will only affect the URLs with “local-SEO” in the path and leave all other URLs (such as bluefrogdm.com/blog/graphic-design) as is.
Wildcard redirects could be described as merging office spaces. One example is that you have your sales team in a different building. But now you want them to move to the headquarters. You would redirect an entire department to a new location, including all associated mail, people, and equipment.
Although search engines won’t index a redirected page, taking those pages out of your XML sitemap is essential. This will ensure you do not waste your crawl budget on pages which are not necessary.
How to Create a Redirect
There are several options to create redirects. You can use Apache’s.htaccess and Nginx.conf files or WordPress plugins. No matter which platform, there is a commonality in syntax writing.
For website owners trying to maintain their traffic and search engine rankings, 301 redirects are a crucial tool. A 301 redirect is a URL change that takes place permanently. Search engines will update their records to reflect the new URL once a 301 redirect is implemented. All traffic traveling to the old URL will be sent to the new one—server-side applications like Apache or IIS.
Access files on Linux systems can both be used to produce 301 redirects.
Additionally, control panels for web hosting can be used to establish redirects. A 301 redirect should be tested after implementation to ensure it is operating correctly. Online testing is an option.
You can see an example of this:
Apache. access might look something like these:
Nginx. conf may look something like the following:
No matter the method used, the commands inform the server of the redirect status code and the action.
Status code: “301” and permanent
Action: “ RedirectMatch” and ”rewrite “
There are Regular Expressions, or RegExps, that can be used to indicate additional actions, such:
* matches zero characters or more
- matches one, or more, of the preceding characters
. matches Anything
? It matches zero or one time
^ Start of string
I OR operand a or b
These expressions indicate different versions of the redirected link. Example:
Apache:
Nginx:
The URL that begins with “/oldpage” is indicated by the “”, and “(/? *)$” Anything after the “//old-page//” must be redirected also to “/new_page/”. These expressions would redirect the URLs below:
From: To:
/old-page /new-page/
/old-page/ /new-page/
/old-page/?utm_source= /new-page/?utm_source=
/old-page/child-page/ /new-page/child-page/
Without regular expressions, any variations to the URL would end up being 404 pages.
SEO Best Practices For Redirects
Google (and the other search engines) also continue to focus on providing a better user interface. This means they aim to provide users with more reliable, relevant, high-quality results.
This shift brings about a greater focus on content. Previously, shorter pieces would have been preferred. The user now chooses longer, more specific content, and this is because it offers more information.
What happens to all those pages that you’ve worked hard to make rank, authority, backlinks, etc.
Suppose you rewrite pages from an older topic to present a more comprehensive view. In that case, you can use 301 redirects to transfer authority and link equity between the pages. Here are some SEO benefits associated with 301 redirects.
- Google prefers new content. This means that a new page will rank faster than an older one.
- Redirected pages have page authority, link equity, SEO and other relevant information.
- A single page covering a topic in greater detail is likely to rank higher on keywords.
Redirects have some significant SEO benefits when they are used to improve the content on your website. Redirecting has many SEO benefits, which can help improve your site’s user interface.
Any SEO strategy should include 301 redirects, but doing so correctly can be challenging. 301 redirects might lower your website’s search engine rating if they are not carried out correctly. So what are the ideal 301 redirect practices?
It’s crucial to employ 301 redirects only when they are necessary. A 301 redirect is unnecessary if you are altering a page’s URL. This will only increase the needless code on your website and may lower its search engine ranking.
When a 301 redirect is necessary, make sure you’re going straight from the old URL to the new URL. In other words, avoid changing the previous URL to a different website.
Modifying URL
There are many reasons to change the URL on a page. You might do this if the product name has changed or added a category. Or you are optimizing all your website URLs.
Redirect: dmarketingagency.sg/blog/everything-about-301-redirects-you-should-know
To: dmarketingagency.sg/blog/301-redirects-best-practice
Whatever the reason, search engines will use a redirect to tell them where the URL is located. However, the old URL’s page authority, link equity, rankings, and ranking will not be affected.
When it comes to changing their URL structure, website owners can make use of 301 redirects. Website owners can avoid broken links and guarantee visitors are taken to the right page by 301 redirecting old URLs to new ones. Additionally, by informing search engines that a URL has been permanently updated, 301 redirects can help increase search engine exposure.
They must, however, be used with prudence because, if not done so, they may lead to problems. However, 301 redirects may be a handy tool for website owners when appropriately implemented.
How to Delete Pages
When trying to delete pages from a website, you should be aware of these things.
- Is it possible to redirect it to a similar page?
- What should the page be?
It is a good idea to redirect a page deleted from your site to another similar article. If it’s not possible, you should think again before deleting the page.
If the page has good backlinks and traffic, it could be detrimental to your search engine optimization. It might be worth optimizing the page.
If there is no similar page, it is not worth optimizing or maintaining.
Site Structure Modification
SEO improvements can include a site restructuring that will improve search engine understanding and performance.
You can use the 301 redirects to modify the name for a category or subfolder as follows:
Redirect: digitalmarketingagency.sg/marketing-services/inbound-marketing
To: digitalmarketingagency.sg/services/inbound-marketing
This will preserve the page authority and link equity that has been established and transfer it to this new category.
Site owners who wish to keep their search engine position while making modifications to their website should consider using 301 redirects as a critical tool. The 301 HTTP status code notifies search engines that a page has been relocated permanently to a new location. An automatic redirect to the new page occurs when a user tries to view the old page.
This is a crucial technique to maintain your traffic and rating when making modifications to your website. A website’s complete contents or specific pages can be redirected using 301 redirects. They are a valuable strategy for website owners who want to modify their content without losing their place in the search engine results pages.
HTTP to HTTPS
Secure websites are vital for privacy and trust for users and search engines. To install the HTTPS protocol, redirect all pages from the HTTP to the HTTPS version. This will ensure search engines and users are not directed to unsecure pages.
Redirect: https://digitalmarketingagency.sg
To: https://digitalmarketingagency.sg
Merging Pages
The Cake Technique, or merging pages, is a common way to clean up old blog posts to create better, more detailed content. This involves identifying pages within your site with the exact keywords and making the same content.
These pages can harm your traffic because they compete for the same ranking position. They end up hurting each other, and your rankings stagnate.
Update one of the pages with the information from both, and you can redirect one (or both!) to the newly created or updated page.
Redirect: digitalmarketingagency.sg/blog/selling-online-with-social-media
And redirect: digitalmarketingagency.sg/blog/4-ways-to-use-social-media-to-sell
To: digitalmarketingagency.sg/blog/sell-with-social-media
Some benefits of merging web pages include:
- Higher Word Count — By combining the pages, it is possible to increase the word count, which has been linked to higher rankings.
Google does not have to choose between identical pages because Google has already resolved the cannibalisation issue.
- Preserved Authority: Using the 301 redirects, all the existing page authority (link equity) and SEO rankings will be transferred to the new web page. This will make it more powerful.
Migration of Subdomains
SEO specialists argue over whether blogs should live under domains or subfolders. It doesn’t matter if you move a subdomain. You will want to preserve all your pre-built SEO rankings, page authority, and links equity.
Redirect: blog.digitalmarketingagency.sg
To: digitalmarketingagency.sg/blog
Using a wildcard, all subdomain pages can be moved to a separate subfolder. This makes it quick and easy.
Trailing Slash Issues and Upper-Case Questions
Search engines can be particular about duplicate content. They will consider variations in a URL to be two pages. Same content issues can be caused by trailing and upper-case letters.
Use redirects to make sure that only one version is visible, which will resolve the duplicate content issue.
Redirect: digitalmarketingagency.sg/blog/local-seo-series/
To: digitalmarketingagency.sg/blog/local-seo-series
Redirect: digitalmarketingagency.sg/blog/Local-SEO-Series
To: digitalmarketingagency.sg/blog/local-seo-series
You have many options to use redirects to improve your website’s SEO performance. However, it’s important to recognize common redirect mistakes and how they can be fixed. These mistakes can lead to a poor user experience and authority for your site.
Redirecting URLs to Homepage
A user’s experience with 404 pages is significantly affected. It is unacceptable for search engines or visitors to click links that point to dead pages. However, if the page is to be redirected, it should go to a related and relevant page.
Redirecting all 404 pages to the homepage is a common mistake. Search engines may look for redirects linking to pages with similar content and relevancy and will report this behavior as spammy or manipulative behavior. This means that your homepage will not be shown in search results.
It is better to optimize the 404 display to avoid redirecting to irrelevant or similar pages.
Redirecting to An Inadvertent Page
Like above, search engines can penalize pages you have set up with irrelevant redirects. Let’s take this example as an example.
Redirect: digitalmarketingagency.sg/blog/navigation-menu-tips
To: digitalmarketingagency.sg/blog/graphic-design-logos
Because the page content is not aligned with search engines, this would be considered an irrelevant redirect. It would be treated like a soft404 page, and both would be removed from search engines’ databases.
Redirect Chains & Loops
Redirect loops, chains and loops significantly affect user experience and increase page load speed. Your website’s authority and accessibility to search engines are also affected by the errors they face when crawling through the loops and chains.
Redirect Chain: refers to when a web page is redirected onto another page, which is also redirected onto a third page.
Redirect Loop : When a page’s URL is redirected from within a redirected network to another page.
Search engines will display an error message similar to this if a page is redirected more than once or a search crawler is caught up in a redirect loop.
Users that encounter error messages are likely to abandon the site immediately and not return. It is crucial to identify and fix these errors immediately.
Redirects offer many benefits to your website. These redirects can have many benefits if you use them correctly. These tips can correct redirect errors and preserve SEO on your website.
Common Redirect Mistakes
Keeping track of all the redirects on your website might be challenging. Screaming Frog offers free resources such as Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool that will help you identify pages containing 301, 302 or 404 status codes. These pages are easy to locate so that you can avoid the following errors.
Redirects with a 301 are a valuable tool for website owners, but they are frequently abused. One standard error is to switch over to a new website from an old one without first setting up 301 redirects for each page. As a result, users may be forwarded to unrelated pages, and search engines may mistakenly index the new website. Setting up 301 redirects without considering user experience is another typical error.
For instance, users may become confused and quit the website if all 404 errors are redirected to the main page. Take the time to properly consider and steer clear of these typical blunders while putting up 301 redirects.
Contact D’Marketing Agency
Contact D’Marketing Agency if you need assistance with Search Engine Optimization. To raise your website’s search engine position and increase traffic, we can assist you set up 301 redirects. In addition, we provide other services like:
- Web design
- Copywriting
- Social media marketing that can help your website perform better.
To know more about our services and how we can assist you with expanding your internet business, contact us right away!
Conclusion
301 redirects are essential to SEO and can provide several benefits for your website. By using 301 redirect, you can improve the user experience on your website, ensure that users are directed to the correct page, and preserve your search engine rankings.
We hope this article has helped you understand how 301 redirects work and how you can use them to improve your website’s SEO.
