Your Guide to URL Redirection & How To Implement Them
Learn the Difference Between a 301, 302, and 303 URL Redirect and How to Implement it in an SEO-friendly Way
The internet is an expansive place with endless information and opportunities to explore. But, how much of that content do users consume? When visiting a site, users typically have a goal in mind, whether it be looking up a specific article or viewing a video, which means that the URL plays an essential role in directing the user to their desired destination.
URL redirects signal users and search engines what part of the website to move to next. They are predominantly used when migrating web pages to a different domain or purging existing web pages.
This blog post details everything you need to know about URL redirects, including why you should use them, the different redirect types, and how you can implement them on your website.
TL;DR: URL Redirection Explained
A URL redirect is simply the process of directing one URL to another location with different content through an intermediary link. The most common reason you would use a URL redirect is to redirect a page to another page on a different URL.
You use URL redirection to redirect a single URL (or a series of single URLs) to a new location or redirect an entire directory of URLs in the case of a domain migration. URL redirects are set up to improve user experience and guide search engine bots on how to crawl the content.
There are 3 main types of URL Redirects: 301, 302, and 303. There are also 2 lesser-known URL Redirects: 307 and 308. Making 5 in total. Jump straight to the section on Different Types of URL Redirects.
When implementing URL Redirection, you should follow SEO Best Practices to avoid adverse effects on search engine rankings and user experience.
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What Is A URL Redirect?
A URL redirect is simply the process of directing one URL to another location with different content through an intermediary link. A redirection can also be used for security purposes as well as for maintaining permanent links even if the content changes over time.
A redirection must be put in place if a page has been moved or deleted, or someone who lands on one of those pages would see an error.
The redirection can be either temporary or permanent.
The most common reason you would use a URL redirect is to redirect a page to a different page on a different URL. In other words, they are “pointers” to your website that guide users to the correct pages when URL structures change.
Why Is URL Redirection So Important?
URL redirects are set up to improve user experience and guide search engine bots on how to crawl the content. However, when users land on a web page and find an error notice, they may quickly abandon the website. Thus an error page can result in a substantial drop in valuable leads and conversions.
When we click a link, we expect to be taken to the relevant page, not served an error because it has been either moved or removed. This is where redirection comes into place.
URL redirects inform visitors about the URL change by redirecting them to the correct destination.
They also inform search engines about the URL change by sending them to the correct URL. If a visitor arrives at a different URL than the one they wanted, they'll still end up where they wanted to go because you set up a redirect to send them there. This way, you take the user exactly where they want to go, ensuring a good user experience.
It is vitally important to implement redirects, or you might lose search engine rankings and upset your users. So let us now understand when you should use them and how to implement URL redirection.
How Are URL Redirects & SEO Related?
URL Redirects and SEO are interconnected in website optimization. Here are the top ways in which URL redirects and SEO are interconnected:
1. Website Structure: URL redirects are often used to reorganize the structure of a website, such as when updating or redesigning a website. Properly implementing them during website restructuring can help maintain the SEO value of the original URLs. It ensures that search engines can still understand the new website structure and index the content correctly.
2. Broken Links: When a page URL changes or is deleted, redirecting the old URL to a new, relevant URL ensures that users are directed to the correct content. It will save them time encountering broken links that can harm their browsing experience and SEO.
3. URL Changes: Proper redirects are essential to maintain SERP rankings if a website changes its domain name or moves to a new URL. Search engines must be directed to the new URL to preserve rankings and traffic.
4. Canonicalization: URL redirects are also used to address canonicalization issues, which occur when multiple URLs lead to similar or duplicate content. Implementing redirects to consolidate duplicate URLs and specify the preferred URL can help prevent duplicate content issues and ensure that search engines index the correct version of the content, avoiding dilution of SEO efforts.
5. User Experience: Redirects help users find the right content quickly and seamlessly without encountering any issues. A smooth user experience leads to increased dwell time and better user satisfaction, which can indirectly impact SEO rankings.
When To Setup A URL Redirect?
URL redirects can be used for several reasons.
1. Moving URL from A to B: Changing a web page's URL from A to B involves setting up redirects to ensure users and search engines are directed to the new URL. It prevents broken links and loss of traffic.
2. Removing a web page: Deleting a web page from your website can affect search engine rankings and user experience. It is essential to handle it correctly through redirects or custom error pages.
3. Consolidating URLs: If you have multiple pages with similar content, it is best to consolidate them into one page and set up redirects from the old URLs to the new ones. It helps to prevent duplicate content and improves website structure.
4. Rebranding: When rebranding a website, setting up redirects from old URLs to new ones is crucial to ensure users and search engines can still access the content.
5. Migrating from HTTP to HTTPS: It will enhance your website security and SEO rankings. Ensuring proper redirects and updating internal links and resources to ensure all traffic is redirected to the secure HTTPS version.
You use URL redirection to redirect a single URL (or a series of single URLs) to a new location or redirect an entire directory of URLs in case of a domain migration. Based on your specific situation and end goal, different URL redirects can be implemented.
Different Types Of Redirects
In this blog, we will discuss server-side redirects, more commonly referred to as HTTP Redirects. The other type is client-side redirects, which are not advisable for SEO purposes. For example, meta-refresh and Javascript redirects are two client-side redirects, and it is strongly advised not to use them.
Server-side redirects are the ones that are most commonly used. They can be further classified into permanent or temporary redirects based on the nature of the redirection. For example, all 3xx redirects fall under HTTP server-side redirects.
301 Redirect Explained
A 301 is a permanent redirect used when you move a page to a new URL. They are used when
1. You are purging an old page.
2. You want to redirect an existing page to a new page permanently.
3. Redirect an old page to your homepage.
4. When several URLs are used to access your site, utilize your 301 redirects to redirect traffic to the preferred or new URL by selecting one URL as a canonical and preferred destination.
5. You are moving your website to a new domain name and want to transition between your old and new website as seamlessly as possible.
6. You are conducting an HTTP-to-HTTPS migration.
A 301 redirect informs search engines that a change has occurred.
This change usually occurs due to a website migration. If you want to redirect one URL to another permanently, use a 301 redirect.
301 Redirect & SEO
The 301 redirect is a tool used in SEO that tells the search engine to permanently redirect a URL to another URL. The 301 redirect tells the search engine that the page has been permanently moved and that the old URL should no longer be indexed.
A 301 redirect is the most commonly used redirect. From an SEO standpoint, setting up a 301 redirect passes the authority of the old page to the new page. Since Google and other search engines follow 301 redirects, keeping your website’s authority intact after a site migration is possible.
301 redirects are important for SEO because they help maintain the authority of a website's links when changes are made to the website's structure or content. When a 301 redirect is implemented, the old URL is redirected to the new URL, which helps keep the ranking of the old URL intact. This is important because it can help preserve the ranking of a website's pages when changes are made, such as when a page is deleted or moved.
302 Redirect Explained
A 302 is a temporary redirect often used during website maintenance. Use this redirect when:
1. You want the old page to be accessed temporarily.
2. You are updating a page or adding a new page.
3. You are running A/B testing of a webpage for functionality or design.
4. You are getting feedback on a new page.
5. You want to use it for a broken webpage and maintain a good user experience in the meantime.
A 302 redirect informs search engines that the old URL is temporarily unavailable. It tells them that the new URL is the correct one to use.
302 Redirect SEO Implications
A 302 redirect is a temporary redirect from one URL to another. A temporary redirect does not pass on any authority from one page to another, unlike a permanent 301 redirect. This means that if your website has many pages with temporary redirection, it might negatively affect its ranking in search results until Google recognizes all of these pages as having permanently moved to their new location(s).
If a 302 redirect is in place for a long time, it will affect SEO as it will be seen as a permanent redirect. Over time search engines will "forget" about the old URL, and the site's ranking will suffer as a result. Thus, you should use a 302 redirect should only be used when there's a temporary change in URLs, such as when a site moves to a new domain. It should not be used for long-term redirects, as this will negatively impact the site's SEO.
303 Redirect Explained
When visitors use the back button on their browser, a 303 redirect ensures that they will not be able to resubmit forms. This is because a 303 redirect indicates that subsequent requests should be made using the GET HTTP protocol. Therefore, only form submissions should be handled using 303 redirects.
303 Redirect & SEO
Search engines don't perform POST requests, so the 303 redirect is irrelevant to SEO. Furthermore, the purpose of the 303 redirects is not to redirect URLs after content has moved, so don't use it that way.
307 Temporary Redirect
In the same way as a 302, a 307 redirect is an HTTP 1.1 equivalent that can be used when temporary redirecting URLs are needed.
307 Redirect SEO Implications
Similar to a 302, a 307 URL redirect is a way of telling a search engine that a page has been moved, but the new page is still available. This can be helpful if you have a page that is no longer live, but you don't want the search engine to remove it from their index. However, if the new URL is not accessible, the search engines may drop the ranking power of the old URL. A 307 redirect is temporary and often not seen as good for SEO as it can confuse users and can be a waste of time if the page is not accessible.
308 Permanent Redirect
A 308 redirect is the permanent version of a 307 redirect. Just like a 301, a 308 redirect is an HTTP 1.1 equivalent that can be used when temporary redirecting URLs are needed.
308 Redirect SEO Implications
Similar to a 301, a 308 redirect tells search engines that the content has been permanently moved and that they should update their search index to reflect the change. A 308 redirect impacts rankings as positively as a 301 and is a signal to search engines that you value your site’s content and want to ensure that users can find it.
Hopefully now you are clear with what each of the URL redirects mean and the types of redirects. Wile these 5 are the most common redirects, there are more status codes in the 3xx redirect class. Read all about them in our blog on HTTP Status Codes.
How To Implement URL Redirects?
The most common ways to implement a URL redirect are either in your web server configuration or using your content management system (CMS).
Setting Up URL Redirects In Your Web Server Configuration
Implementing URL redirects in your web server is done through a .htaccess file, which runs on Apache servers, or adding a server block to your Nginx. conf file.
Web server configuration requires engineering support. If you do not have that, then skip to understanding how to implement redirects directly in your CMS.
URL Redirects with .htaccess file (when your server runs on Apache)
You can set up a redirect in Apache using the RedirectMatch and Redirect directives. The RedirectMatch directive defines which regular expressions to match, while the Redirect directive specifies which URL to redirect.
You can also use a 301 redirect in Apache by adding a trailing slash to the end of your URL when you use the Redirect directive. For example, if you want to redirect from http://example.com/foo/bar to http://example.com/foo/bar/, then you would use Redirect /foo/bar http://example.com/foo/bar/.
For more information on how to implement redirects using .htaccess, read here.
URL Redirects by Adding Server Blocks (when your server runs on Nginx)
For Nginx, you can set up server blocks for different domains or subdomains that contain unique configurations for each one as needed. You can also use an ‘if statement’ with Nginx's location directive to determine whether a page should be redirected based on its content type or other factors as needed.
For more information about how to configure redirection in Nginx, read here.
Using Your CMS to Implement URL Redirects
If you have access to your website's source code and your CMS allows it, then you can add redirection rules directly into your site's code using an ‘if statement’ or a function.
This is probably the best way to do it because your redirects will be located within your site's code and won't be set up in your web server configuration.
Alternatively, you can use a plugin or a third-party tool to help you implement redirects.
One thing to note with third-party tools and plugins is to check their compatibility with your CMS. Read the documentation before using them on your site. Also, ensure that you follow their instructions carefully when configuring redirection rules for your site so that they work correctly without breaking anything else on your website.
SEO Best Practices To Follow During URL Redirect Implementation
Redirects are an essential component of search engine optimization. However, incorrectly implementing them can adversely affect SEO and user experience. Therefore, follow these best practices when setting up URL redirects.
1. Use redirects sparsely and wisely
Redirects take up load time and waste crawl budget. Therefore, you only set up a redirect if absolutely necessary. Remember, a redirect should be used to inform visitors about the URL change by redirecting them to the correct destination.
2. Choose the right type of redirect
You should consider your specific needs when deciding which type of redirect to use. You should also consider your website structure. You need to use either a 301 or 302 HTTP status code if you're setting up a permanent or temporary redirect for your site. The other codes may not work correctly in all cases, so it's best to stick with these two options if possible. Decide if you want a permanent or temporary redirect. A 303 redirect should only be used for form submission pages.
3. Redirect to a page that closely matches the content
If you are redirecting a page to a new URL, try to redirect it to a page that closely matches the old page's content. This way, search engines can understand your redirects better, which is a critical step to maximizing the SEO authority.
4. Use a 301 over a 302
If you are redirecting one page to another page on your site, you should use a 301 instead of a 302. This will help search engines better understand your website and may also positively impact your rankings. This is because a 301 redirect passes the link equity, whereas a 302 does not. You should avoid using temporary redirects when possible. Google can easily detect these types of redirects, and they won't be as effective as permanent ones in most cases. Only use 302 when your website is under maintenance. If you wish to permanently remove a webpage with a 302 redirect, then update it to a 301. This will ensure that search engine ranking factors do not negatively impact your website.
5. Avoid redirect chains or loops
A redirect chain is created when there is more than one URL between the source and destination URL. Redirect chains are too long to follow and can take up a lot of time to redirect to the destination URL. This frustrates users who may abandon your site and negatively impacts your search performance. Keep redirects simple and straightforward. This will make it easier for search engines to understand them. Also, ensure there are no broken links if you redirect a page to a new URL. Otherwise, Google may mark your website as broken.
6. Perform Correct Mobile Page-Specific Redirects
Regarding mobile page-specific redirects, getting them right is essential to avoid any negative impact on your website's SEO. If you have different URLs for your desktop and mobile websites, then it is crucial to redirect users to the appropriate version of the page.
Similarly, if a desktop page returns a 404 error, ensuring that the corresponding mobile version also returns a 404 error is essential. Consistency between desktop and mobile versions is vital to maintaining a seamless user experience and avoiding confusion or frustration.
URL Redirection & Types of Redirects Summarized
URL redirects signal users and search engines what part of the website to move next to.
It is crucial to redirect users and search engines to the new URL of a website page if its location is changed. If you don’t, users will abandon your site leading to high bounce rates and low conversions. In addition, setting up the correct URL ensures a seamless user experience journey and high rankings on search engines.
Thus, it is crucial to understand how redirects function, learn about the different types of redirects and conduct some testing to ensure you're prepared to utilize them to avoid common mistakes.
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What is URL Redirection?
URL redirection is a technique used to redirect a web page's visitors to a different web address than the one they initially requested. This technique is commonly used to ensure visitors are taken to the correct web page and is also used as a method to track clicks on outgoing links.
What are SEO Redirects? What is the difference between SEO & URL Redirects?
SEO redirects optimize a web page's search engine ranking by creating permanent redirects between the old URL and the new domain. URL redirects redirect web page visitors to a different web address than they initially requested.
What are the Types of Redirects?
There are three main types of redirects: 301 redirects, 302 redirects, and meta refresh redirects. 301 redirects are used when a website permanently moves from the old URL to the new URL, and search engine bots are instructed to update their index to the new URL. 302 redirects are used when a website temporarily moves from the old URL to the new URL, and search engine bots are instructed to keep the old URL indexed. Meta refresh redirects are used when a web page is to be redirected to a different URL without any interaction from the user. These redirects are generally used for a short period until the old URL is no longer needed.
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