URL Redirect

A note left at an old web address that sends every visitor, and every search engine, to the page's new home.

Also known as 301 redirect page forwarding web address redirect

Definition

A URL redirect is a note left at an old web address that tells the browser where the page lives now. A visitor clicks the old link, the server answers that the page has moved, and the reader lands on the new page without noticing. The old address keeps working even though nothing sits there now.

Two kinds matter. A 301 says the move is permanent. A 302 says the page is away for a while and will come back. Search engines treat them very differently. After a 301 they slowly drop the old address and hand the new one the trust the old page had earned. After a 302 they keep the old address on file and wait. So use 301 when you rebuild a site, rename a page or change your domain name. Keep 302 for a page that really is coming back, like a seasonal product.

Keeping your rankings during a move is mostly patient bookkeeping. List every old address, match each one to the closest new page, and send them across one by one. A page about winter tyres should land on the new page about winter tyres. Then test the links other websites point at you, because those links are the reason the page ranked in the first place.

Two mistakes cost businesses traffic every year. The first is the chain. Page A sends you to B, B sends you to C, and C finally sends you to D. Each hop is slower and a little value leaks away. Point A straight at D. The second mistake is worse. Sending every old address to the homepage looks tidy and wipes out the lot, because a search engine reads it as a page that no longer exists. Ten thousand old pages aimed at a homepage are ten thousand pages deleted.

Before Linkysoft moves a site to a new address, we crawl the old one and build the map first. It is dull work, and it is the difference between a quiet launch and three months of lost sales. Ask for that map by name when you order a website design and build. If your site is really a system with logins and saved links inside it, the same care applies to every one of those links, which is why Linkysoft plans redirects in the first week of a web application project.

Questions about URL Redirect

What is the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?
A 301 says the move is permanent, so search engines pass the old page's standing to the new address. A 302 says the page will come back, so they keep the old address and wait.
Will I lose my Google rankings if I change my web address?
Not if every old address points permanently at the closest matching new page. Expect a small dip for a few weeks while search engines catch up, then a return to normal.
Can I send all my old pages to the homepage?
You can, and it throws the work away. Search engines read a homepage redirect as a page that no longer exists, so the old page drops out and its links stop counting.
How long should I keep a redirect in place?
At least a year, and preferably for good. Old links live on in emails, printed leaflets and other people's websites long after you have forgotten the old address.
Do redirects slow my website down?
One redirect costs a fraction of a second and nobody notices. A chain of four is a different matter, especially on a phone, so point the first address straight at the final page.

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