Experts should use 301 redirects regularly. 301 redirects are very useful but these can affect indexing if not used properly in an SEO strategy. The permanent redirect from one URL to another is termed as '301 Redirection'. There are several status codes such as 500 HTTP status code: means an internal server error, 404 error: indicates that a resource does not exist and 200 status code: defines a successful request. If a visitor tries to access Page X and automatically lands on Page Y then this indicates that page X is 301 redirected to Page Y.
Users visiting web pages with a 404 error will surely leave your website. Several 404 pages in a website are bad for any SEO process and can result in loss of link equity. Avoid losing your domain authority by implementing 301 redirects for 404 web pages. You have to fix all the broken links on your website and then utilize 301 redirects wherever required. 301 is always recommended by search engines but this does not mean that you should start redirecting every page. Be careful while using 301 otherwise things will mess up and outcomes will be devastating. Digital Marketing Boy suggests you hire an SEO specialist if you are not confident of doing things yourself. 301 Redirects are used in the following cases:
A. Developing a New Website: You should know that there are four versions of your website: https://yourwebsite.com, https://www.yourwebsite.com, https://www.yourwebsite.com and https://yourwebsite.com. Here is it important for you to 301 redirect all the versions to the preferred version.
B. Moving to HTTPs: It becomes risky for many websites that deal with personal data on HTTP connections. You must be very careful when you are using 301 redirects during your website migration from HTTP to HTTPs. If this transition is not done properly then you can observe a drop in your search rankings.
C. Fixing of Broken Links: There is a possibility that the user misspells a URL and lands on the 404 error page. You should regularly check broken links on your website. Here Digital Marketing Boy suggests you to 301 redirect all 404 web pages to the most relevant web page (or customized 404 pages) and this will help you to avoid losing your domain authority.
D. Deleting Content: Consider a case where a web page is indexed by search engines and no longer required for your business. You have to apply 301 redirections once you remove this web page from the server. Thus the users visiting this page will be automatically redirected to the relevant web page or customized 404 pages.
E. Change in URLs: For instance, your website might have old pages and you want to change URLs of these pages. 301 redirect the old URLs to new ones and this will notify Google search engine that each old URL has just moved its address.
F. Redesigning of Website: This process includes several changes and you can often end up in content modification, deletion of web pages and more. You would require 301 redirects for your visitors to access your error free website.
G. Merger and Rebranding: 301 redirection is the solution if you are planning to change your domain. The redirection must be considered for each URL to point its new location on the new domain.
Different ways to set up 301 redirects are: CMS plugins consist of the current URL and desired URL fields. You can add Redirect 301 /old-URL/ /new-URL/ in your .htaccess file to set up 301 redirects. It is pretty easy to use the Redirects section in cPanel to implement 301 redirections. The last option is the Domain Level Redirect. Always keep 301 redirects running forever and never remove them. Be sure that you do not implement redirect loops or chain redirects in your SEO strategy.
We have built an interactive checklist to help you handle your website migration.
In-depth information about crawling and indexing for SEO Experts.
