If you move, you can have your mail redirected to your new address to make sure you do not miss any important communications. But what happens when you move your website? You can think of a 301 redirects as a similar type of tool. These will redirect traffic to a different URL you’ve set up in a forwarding system.
A 301 redirect is not only for when you move your website to a new page, but it is also used to associate pages under the same organization. Professional web design services use 301 redirects all the time.
When Would You Use 301 Redirect?
There are some forwarding tools that are used on a temporary basis. But this type of redirect is permanent. It is typically used to indicate a permanent move of the web page from one location to another. But that is not the only time you would use the 301 redirects. The simplest explanation is to say that this command tells the search engines that this webpage has moved to this new location and that there are no plans to move it back.
Why do this? This tactic is often used to increase SEO rankings. It can be used to boost organic traffic from one webpage to another. Back before 2006, using the 301 redirect would mean losing up to 15% of the ranking you had already earned. But today, there is no loss of ranking except maybe a very small percentage. It is estimated that 90%-95% of the ranking forwards on to the new page from the original page.
Be sure that you are NOT using a 301 redirect to a temporary page. Once the page is gone, so is all the “juice” that came with it. If you need to set up a short-term option, use the temporary 302 redirect instead.
It is important that the redirect is set up correctly so that the user never encounters the dreaded 404 error. There are services for web maintenance North Carolina business owners trust who know how to avoid this scenario. Making sure users are not relayed to the error page instead of the new page is vital to the user experience.
Roughly 48% of users surveyed said that if they arrive on a business website and the page does not seem to be working, that influences how they feel about the business. You’ll want your users’ experience to be a positive one in order to secure and even improve your company’s reputation.
Benefits of 301 Redirects
There are several benefits you can gain from becoming more familiar with this process. First is the “help” you’ll provide to search engines in indexing pages. The redirect command tells search engines where to find the new page and to not waste time crawling around the old page. It helps to make your webpages more search engine friendly, which can allow your site to improve its rankings over time.
Besides enhancing user experience, there is nothing more important than maintaining your domain. A 301 redirect allows you to maintain your domain authority and all your links. It also helps to rebrand a website.
It’s easier than you think to set up the redirect. Once you have conquered the process, it can help your pages to rank higher, improve visitor experience, and deliver the impression you want to deliver about your business.
