There are several ways to redirect users and search engines from one page (URL) to another. 301 redirects, in particular, tell browsers that a page has been permanently moved. This means that the old URL is no longer in service and that the browser can send users to the page’s new location, instead. This process can come in handy for multiple reasons, such as changing domains, website structures, content consolidation, site migrations, or just moving specific pages. But how do 301 redirects affect SEO? Are they good or bad?
What Is the Purpose of a 301 Redirect?
Sometimes, you’ll click on a link or visit a URL and end up on an entirely different page than the one you clicked on. This doesn’t mean your browser is “broken.” Rather you’re running into HTTP redirects. A redirect is a protocol that tells your browser that it should go to a different page for the content it’s looking for and then sends it to a different location.
Many understand that 301 redirects are common on the internet, and everyone – at some point – has been taken from one page to another through one. A 301 redirect is a specific code that tells the browser and search engines why you’re pointing visitors to a new URL. 301 redirects are permanent redirects (unlike 302s, which are temporary.)
Having a permanent redirect in place means that the old URL will no longer work and that it should basically be forgotten. Some examples of when to use a 301 redirect include:
- Changing domains: A 301 redirect can be used to send visitors from your old website to your new one.
- Moving a page to a new location/another page: If you change a page’s URL or you want it to redirect to a similar page with better rankings, a 301 redirect can help you avoid a 404 error (redirect error) by sending visitors to the new page.
- Deleting a page: In cases when you want to delete a page, a 301 redirect will also prevent a blank page or a 404 error. This also allows you to redirect users to a similar page or a relevant page.
The purpose of a 301 redirect is to direct users and search engines from an old URL to a new one without any 404 errors. Having a 301 redirect allows users to delete or update any existing bookmarks and links to that URL. They also help you avoid a 301 redirect SEO penalty.
Search engines like Google and Bing will factor your domain and URLs into their index, in addition to rankings. When moving a page, it’s important to tell search engines, “Forget about this old URL and pass on its rankings to this new one.” But before you can start implementing this technique, our South Florida marketing agency shares what you’ll need to understand what a 301 redirect is with SEO and how it can affect your strategy.
Are 301 Redirects Bad for SEO?
So, how do 301 redirects affect SEO, exactly? If you research more on 301 redirects (like you’re doing now), you’ll likely find a lot of contradicting information surrounding their impact on search engine optimization. That’s because, up until a few years ago, 301 redirects could lose websites a significant amount of traffic and “ranking juice.”
While we don’t know the specifics of Google algorithms (and we never will,) we do know enough about search engine ranking signals to determine if 301 redirects hurt SEO or support it. We can look at old data and see how pages, posts, and websites change in rankings over time.
For example, we know that Google uses PageRank to rank websites’ pages. PageRank scores play a major role in the 301 redirects SEO controversy. Since you can easily check the PageRank data and score for any page with this tool, it wasn’t long before people noticed a direct correlation between 301 redirects and decreased ranking scores.
For a while, particularly in 2016, it was widely accepted that 301 redirects could decrease your PageRank score by up to 15%. As a result, sites would consider a drop in search engine rankings. The debate became so heated that Google updated its algorithm so 301 redirects wouldn’t negatively impact PageRank scores.
Nowadays, 301 redirects can harm SEO in cases of chain redirects, in which each URL within the chain further harms the PageRank score. Redirect chains occur when there are multiple redirects between an initial URL and the final destination URL. These chains can increase page load time, impact link equity, and delay indexing and site crawling by search engines.
How to Use 301 Redirects for SEO: The Right Way
Individual 301 redirects do not hurt SEO anymore, and there are actually a few ways you can use them to your advantage. The following are some benefits of 301 redirects for SEO when used correctly.
Consolidate duplicate and/or poor-performing pages
As your blog grows, it’s likely that you’ll notice some posts performing better than others. These better blogs bring in more traffic, get better rankings, and are more beneficial to your site. While it’s generally believed that having multiple average posts with some gold ones sprinkled in there is effective for rankings, it’s better to consolidate or combine similar posts with high-ranking ones to improve your site’s performance.
If you notice multiple low-ranking blogs that are similar to a high-ranking blog, combine them into one longer article that will give your readers all the information they need on the subject in one place. When you do so, you can use 301 redirects to permanently redirect the old URLs to this new and improved one.
Redirect 404 Pages to Relevant Content
If you ever need to delete a page or blog on your site, it’s important to consider what happens to them afterward. Removing these pages without applying a 301 redirect will cause users to hit 404 errors indicating that the page is suddenly gone. To a user who was interested in the page they clicked on, this can be frustrating and cause them to turn to other websites, instead.
As you can imagine, multiple 404 errors can quickly deplete a site’s rankings. However, not only is it important to redirect a deleted page from your website to another one, but it’s also important to pick the right page for the redirection. For instance, if the blog you deleted was about white-hat SEO, redirecting it to a blog about pay-per-click services is likely to frustrate the user and cause them to hop off the site.
It’s best to redirect any pages to relevant content. For instance, if you delete a page that was dedicated to showing your business location, redirecting it to the “About Us” page with a 301 redirect can help you pass on domain authority (or PageRank). It’s also more likely to keep the user on your site because it fulfills the same purpose of the original page to users.
Change Your Website’s URL Structure
Another effective way to use 301 redirects for SEO is to change the permalink structure of your site or how URLs show up in search engines. It’s best to make your URLs as organized and SEO-friendly as possible. However, a lot of websites aren’t aware of this when they first launch.
If you decide to change your site’s permalink structure after it’s been running for a while, 301 redirects can help you avoid losing rankings and sustain as much domain authority as possible. Keep in mind that suddenly changing all your permalinks is the same as moving all of your URLs to a new domain.
Search engines must, therefore, re-familiarize themselves with your website in its new format. Correctly implementing 301 redirects can preserve as much of your website as possible and make it easier for search engines to crawl it. This can result in an overall smoother transition.
Finding Professional SEO Services Near Me
As you can see, something as seemingly simple as a 301 redirect can come with a lot of pros and cons when not implemented properly. For this reason, it’s important to reach out to professionals for effective SEO services to ensure that your website is receiving the best support and seeing the best results possible.
If you’re interested in boosting your website’s rankings and watching your business improve, Tandem Buzz offers a multitude of services, aside from SEO, that works together to offer you a competitive and aggressive digital marketing strategy. From social media services to PPC to public relations, our Fort Lauderdale digital marketing agency does it all.
Give Tandem a buzz today to get started!
