Redirects: Everything You Need to Know about URL Redirection

When content is relocated to a new place, a page is deleted from a site, or the domain name is changed, redirects are used to redirect both website users and search engines from one page to another.

They’re important from both an SEO and a user experience standpoint, because neither users nor search engines want to land on a page that doesn’t exist.

However, there are several distinct sorts of redirects, as well as a variety of situations in which each should and should not be utilised.

In this post, I’ll go over all you need to know about redirects, clear up some of the most often asked questions, and help you figure out which kind to utilise in certain cases.

What is a Redirect?

A redirect is a way of establishing a link between an old, maybe defunct URL and its live version. A webmaster may declare such a connection and redirect everyone seeking to access the old URL to the new website using a simple line of code – more on that in a bit.

A normal redirect appears like a command provided to the browser (or a server) to transfer a visitor to another website in its most basic form.

This redirect code, for example, permanently redirects users seeking to access page A on a domain to page B:

301 Redirect – https://www.mydomain.com/pageA.html to https://www.mydomain.com/pageB.html

With such a redirect command in place, anyone trying to access the /pageA.html file through their browser will be automatically forwarded and will see, /pageB.html instead.

When to Use Redirects

When you need to employ redirects, you should:

• You change a web page’s URL (from URL A to URL B).
• You get rid of a page that gets a lot of traffic or has a lot of backlinks pointing to it.
• The structure of your website evolves as you redesign it.
• You change the domain name of your website.
• You combine two or more websites into one.
• You make the switch from HTTP to HTTPS.
• Duplicate material on trailing-slash or non-www URLs must be avoided.

The Different Types of Redirects

The sort of redirect you use is mostly determined by the cause for the change and whether it is temporary or permanent.

Knowing the many redirect choices allows you to select the best one for each situation and avoid SEO or user experience difficulties.

However, be warned that employing the incorrect sort of redirect, as well as not using redirects at all, may result in a loss of search engine rankings in certain situations. If you have a complicated scenario and are unclear which redirect type to employ to avoid difficulties, or whether you even need to utilise redirects at all, you should get guidance from an expert SEO.

1) HTTP Redirects

HTTP redirects are perhaps the most prevalent sort of redirect.

“A HTTP Redirect is a richer way to redirect because it gives the User-Agent more information than just the new address,” according to the W3C, “because the server also gives some information about the purpose and type of redirection, which allows the User-Agent to behave differently depending on the type of redirect.”

And it is this information about the redirect’s purpose and nature that makes it so popular, since it allows you to offer alternative directions based on the scenario.

a) 301 Redirects

A 301 redirect signifies that the content of the old URL has been permanently relocated to a new URL.

When you need to lead users and search engines to a new page address and the original URL won’t be returning, use this form of redirect.

These are by far the most prevalent and discussed redirects, and they are one of the most basic SEO concepts, as they may not only forward people but also pass on PageRank.

This implies that, in most cases, backlink authority is passed on to the new page, as long as the new page’s topic closely matches the old.

b) 302 Redirections

A 302 redirect sends a user from page A to page B while also indicating that this is simply a temporary redirect and that the original URL will be restored.

302 redirects did not previously pass PageRank and were thus known to cause SEO difficulties.

This form of redirect should only be used in situations when the change is only temporary, such as when A/B testing a new page template or redirecting visitors to a different URL based on their location or device.

URLs will be consolidated in Google’s index once a 301 redirect is in place. With 302s, however, the original is still indexed and will continue to rank. Before deploying 301s or 302s, take cautious to consider if the change is permanent.

c) Redirects 303

303 redirects can be used to signal that the redirects don’t connect to the freshly uploaded resources, but to another page. They’re seldom discussed in the context of SEO (for the simple reason that this form of redirect has nothing to do with it… at all) (such as a confirmation page or an upload progress page).

These can be used to prevent the contents of a form from being resubmitted when a user presses the back button on their browser, for example.

d) Redirects: 307 (Moved Temporarily)

A 307 redirect is the HTTP 1.1 counterpart of a 302, and it can be used when a URL needs to be temporarily redirected.

e) Redirects: 308 (Moved Permanently)

308 redirects, like 301 redirects, signify a permanent change. You may use any of these sorts of redirects because they are equivalent.

2) JavaScript Redirects

Users and search engines can be redirected from one page to another using JavaScript. For a long time, Google couldn’t tell the difference between them and server-side HTML redirection.

“We accept JavaScript redirects of various forms and follow them similarly to how we’d handle server-side redirects,” John Mueller affirmed in 2019.

Because Google has grown quite proficient at rendering JavaScript, the worries about these types of redirection should no longer exist, and there is evidence that they now pass PageRank.

3) Meta Refresh Redirects

It is possible to redirect one page to another client-side, unlike HTML redirects, which are handled server-side (in the browser).

A meta refresh redirect occurs when a meta tag in a website’s head>/head> section directs the browser to navigate to another page after a certain amount of time has passed.

This style of redirect is frequently used in conjunction with a countdown that alerts the user that they will be redirected in a certain number of seconds.

Google has stated that they are treated in the same manner as any other redirect. However, because to the time it takes to process and the fact that the original page is saved in the browser’s history, these still provide a poor user experience.

SEO Redirects Best Practices

Finally, we’ll go through some of the best practises for creating SEO redirects. If you follow these steps, you’re unlikely to have any issues with your redirects.

1. Redirect to the Website’s Preferred Version URL.

Always use the most appropriate and recommended version of the destination URL when creating redirects. This is especially significant when the website produces URLs dynamically and the same page might have numerous URLs.

2. Redirect to a Relevant Alternate URL

This topic has previously been discussed. However, considering its significance, it’s worth repeating. To maintain topical relevance, always redirect to the most appropriate alternative to the original URL.

3. Stay away from Redirect Chains

Set up no more than two redirects at the same time. Reevaluate and combine your redirects if feasible to break the chain.

4. Remove Redirects

You frequently establish redirects and then forget about them. However, the site is continually changing, so previous redirection may need to be re-evaluated. Some temporary redirects may no longer be required and can be removed or converted to permanent to finally forward link equity between the two URLs.

5: Update Internal Links/Remove Redirects URL From Sitemap

Redirected material should not be included in the sitemap as a rule. Instead, just the final, target URLs for each redirect should be included. Examine your sitemap on a regular basis, especially if it’s generated automatically by your CMS system, for redirects that should be removed and replaced with live URLs.

Redirecting to Recover Lost Link Authority and Fix Linked 404 Errors

Did you aware that backlinks pointing to a 404 page are ignored by Google?

To find 404 sites with links leading to them, utilise the Semrush backlink analytics tool.

Simply go to your finished report’s Indexed Pages page and check the Target URL Error box. You’ll be presented with a list of 404’d URLs with links pointing to them, which you can now ignore and 301 redirect to a near match page to recoup lost link authority.