Redirects: How crucial are they for ranking?
Perfectly used redirects: a digital relay race | photo pixabay
In the age of search engine optimization, anyone who wants to bring their services, products and information to the right target group likes to focus on textual criteria. In the SEO analysis it becomes clear: For the website ranking, especially in relaunches, the worst mistakes lurk in completely different places, namely the redirects and the associated server status messages.
301 redirects & other redirects - benefits and pitfalls
In the web context, a redirect is a re-addressing to another url address. The user can automatically navigate to the desired target page in the browser even without knowledge of a current url. Search engines receive information about new addresses, the status of a page and its SEO value via redirects. These values, which are relevant for the website ranking, can be determined via an SEO analysis. Es has network-side, server-side and client-side redirects.
Network-side forwarding concerns the domain entry on a DNS server, which is usually performed by authorized providers who are happy to provide customers with convenient form interfaces for this purpose.
Server-side redirects are the real construction site in the field of SEO, as they directly influence the website ranking. Redirects are realized by corresponding HTTP responses of a server. Search engines are informed via status code which type of redirect is present. Suitable SEO analysis tools can determine and clearly display the respective server codes.
Redirects such as the important 301 redirects can already be set up on the server by entering them in the htaccess file, for example.
301 redirects - "Moved Permanently" - transfer with the linkjuice namely also the strength and the properties of a page to linked pages. For the website ranking, 301 redirects determine Pagerank, Trustrank and the content context, especially if the page contains only a few links. This is also the reason why 301 redirects should be used whenever possible with regard to site restructuring. If a document has been moved permanently, the protocol is changed permanently (e.g. from http to https) or a complete site structure is changed, 301 redirects should exist. 301 redirects are problematic for any application where caching has page effects, such as geo or device targeting. Whether 301 redirects make sense can be determined by an SEO analysis.
The 302 redirect reports "Found" or "Moved Temporarily". This status code tells the search engines that the content is temporarily accessed under a different url. These redirects are not cached. With HTTP/1.1 the 302 code was renamed to "Found" and es additionally the codes 303 and 307 were installed to have possibilities to distinguish regarding the desired request method (GET/POST). In contrast to 301 redirects, search engines usually do not transfer the website ranking of a page redirected via 302 redirect to the new page.
Since HTTP/1.1, es also provides the 303 code: "See another". It is also intended for temporary redirects. The request method here is always set to GET and the redirect is not cached. As a rule, a 303 redirect is treated by browsers like a 302 redirect. It is especially useful for temporarily undefined redirects or redirects where the new destination url changes occasionally. Here, the website ranking is also not passed on.
If es is necessary to use POST instead of GET, 303 redirect cannot be used. For example, you have to use a 307 or 308 redirect for forms.
307 - "Moved Temporarily"
is also not cached and is suitable for applications where the client must receive the original call, for example POST for forms.
308 - "Moved permanently"
also forces the client to keep the original method (GET/POST), but can be cached. The 308 redirect can thus be used to forward form data with POST to a new address. An SEO analysis can help to determine the appropriate status code.
The right redirection ensures the best ranking | photo pixabay
With client-side redirection, the page is redirected to another page on the basis of corresponding information in the meta data or, for example, via JavaScript. To forward client-side, the corresponding page must be called by the client.
However, a forwarding by a so-called meta refresh has mainly disadvantages: The page is loaded, the back function of the browser no longer works and es gives negative influences on the website ranking, because no server status code is passed.
Better is es, to use Javascript, because you can pass so also the server status code. However, es also has risks here, because without Javascript at the client the forwarding does not work. So for most use cases: It is better to use server-side redirects and check exactly what you are doing by SEO analysis and consult the expert if necessary!
Keeping track of redirects
Different usage scenarios require SEO analysis and the use of different redirects. The use of the right redirect is highly relevant, especially for Google. A wrong server code can be accompanied by strong losses in the website ranking. Es is worthwhile to select the redirect carefully, to document it in a suitable form and to check it regularly. For this purpose, it is worth using professional SEO analysis tools that provide an overview of redirects for all pages of a website.