Glossary
_
Redirects

Redirects

Redirects become a major topic in search engine optimization (SEO) at the latest when websites are relaunched. They refer to the redirection from one URL (Uniform Resource Locator) to another. These redirects can be created either temporarily or permanently. Redirects play a crucial role in SEO. They are used for indexing content and for "cleaning up" old URLs.

Why redirects are important in SEO

Redirects are important to ensure that users and search engines get to the right pages on a website. Here are some reasons why redirects are highly important in SEO:

  • Redirects from old to new URLs: When you update or restructure a website, page URLs often change. Redirects help redirect users accessing old URLs to the new pages without encountering "page not found" errors.
  • Avoiding duplicate content: When multiple URLs point to the same content, this can lead to duplicate content issues that negatively impact SEO. Redirects can help prevent such duplicates.
  • Maintaining SEO value: If a page has already acquired SEO rankings and backlinks, es is important to transfer this SEO value to the new page. Permanent redirects are ideal to transfer the value of the old page to the new one.

Permanent vs. temporary redirects:

Permanent redirects(HTTP status code 301) should be preferred in SEO, as they signal to search engine bots that the redirect is permanent. This transfers the SEO value and backlinks of the old page to the new one. Temporary redirects(HTTP status code 302), on the other hand, should only be used in temporary situations, as they tell the search engines that the redirect is not permanent and the SEO value should not be transferred.

Obsolete redirects and .htaccess files:

Obsolete redirects should be avoided as they can lead to users being redirected to pages that no longer exist, which affects the user experience and leads to SEO problems. In this case, it is called a redirect chain, also named as a forwarding chain. To implement redirects, .htaccess files that run on an Apache web server are often used. These files contain rewrite rules that rewrite URLs and define redirects. They are a powerful tool from an SEO point of view to control redirects and optimize the website structure.

Overall, redirects are a key element in SEO strategy that helps improve user experience, prevent duplicate content, and maintain the SEO value of web pages. Proper use of permanent and temporary redirects, as well as updating outdated redirects, are critical to a successful SEO strategy.

‍