What is 301 Redirect?

There are many ways to optimize your website so that more people see it. One of the oldest and simplest is also one of the more overlooked methods, the 301 redirect. While simple in concept, this can help augment your site in various ways.

When you consider that all your efforts may be saved from negative impacts by such a simple, it’s certainly worth having on your site.

What is a 301 Redirect?

Put simply, this is a permanent redirect that causes one URL to be put in place of another when directed. Both search engines and users are redirected to another URL. In other words, if you have left your original page, the 301 redirects will take search engines and visitors to the new page.

Is the SEO Affected?

The 301 redirect provides a positive impact to your SEO efforts if you employ it properly. The redirect will point users to the pages where you want them to go. Plus, the 301 is the type of redirect method that can have a positive impact on your search engine optimization. The reasons why you want to use them include the following.

• Changing the Site’s Domain Name 
• Pages that are No Longer Relevant 
• Locating a Broken Link or URL

Of course, you’ll want to use this properly. Otherwise, it might have a negative effect on your efforts.

Other Redirects

There are other types of redirects known as 302 and 307. They are also quite useful, but there is an important difference. The 301 redirect is permanent while the 302 and 307 are temporary. The downside of the 302 and 307 is that once Google reads it a few times for search results, it will try to establish a link with the original URL which may be gone. That will negatively affect your SEO efforts.

The 301-redirect should be used for at least a year. And while the others may work for a short period of time, the 301 is easily the preferred choice when you need a solution that lasts more than just a few days or perhaps a few weeks at best.

On and Off-Site Redirects

You can employ a 301 to redirect to a new URL or page either on or off your site. An on-site redirect is within the domain and will take visitors from one page to another on your website. An off-site redirect does the same thing, but to a page that is not in your domain or on your website.

On-site redirects are simple. Just locate the old URL and the new one, copy and paste the redirection within the CMS using the proper redirection tool. Then click “Save Changes” or “Add Redirect” and you are done. Just be sure to test it out before leaving.

Off-Site redirects usually occur when a business is moving from one site to another. Be careful not to do a bulk transfer that might put your whole site onto a single web page. Instead, redirect each page starting with the home page and do so one at a time to ensure that everything fits properly.

And that is a 301 redirect, a powerful tool that can make eliminating old URLs easy and preserve your SEO efforts as well.