Tech Tip Tuesday: What is a Redirect, would I need to implement Redirects for my site?
“What is a Redirect, would I need to implement Redirects for my site?”
Last week we spoke about sitemaps, this week we will be explaining about redirections.
Benefits of redirections and what redirects are for…
A redirection is a process or action of forwarding a URL into another different destination URL. For SEO’s it is a common practice to forward URL’s either for your client sites or your very own. Redirections can have a huge take on the impact of your SEO. Here is an example of the different redirections. Let’s dig deeper for the more frequent and important occurring redirects.
There are a number of reasons why redirections might occur, for example:
– A broken URL
– For UI purposes, A/B testing of a newly designed webpage
– The webpage is no longer functioning and serving its purpose
– The existing page has a newer or improved version
– Current webpage is under construction, being fixed or updated
301
301 redirect means moving the location URL to a new URL permanently. This tells search engine bots that your destination URL has changed permanently as well as the content. The link equity you have gained from the current redirected page will pass to the new URL. This eliminates losing all the credit and juice you have collected from the previous page, which is a beneficial point for SEO although it does take some time for search engine bots to revalue and gain the likes of the new page.
302
302 redirect refers to as a temporary redirect. This is similar to ‘Be Right Back’ and should be used as a temporary function, not for prolong periods of use. The existing page of a 302 redirect will retain all of its qualities, but in comparison to the destination URL none of the juicy qualities will be passed on. Extra caution should be taken on board when using 302 redirects as it can seriously damage your search engine rankings.
404
A 404 redirect is a page that is missing or no longer available. It is probably one of the worst things that can happen when browsing a site. A visitor would expect to arrive on a page full of engaging content, lovely pictures and amazing products. Soon to appear being hit on the face against a wall of a 404 page, “Ouch!”
Redirects performed correctly could make a beneficial impact and increase your search visibility. Redirecting previous sites link juice to new sites and is a positive point to mention, so don’t underestimate the worthiness of redirection on your pages. Performed well, you’ll be on the good side of search engine spiders.
Ahoy fellow passengers! Follow us & stay tuned in every Tuesday for more technical issues reviewed by Tug.
Why not like us on Facebook too?
404-error-panda
