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What is a 301 Redirect & How To Set Up it (2 methods explained)

What Is 301 Redirect?

301 Redirect is used to guide search engines and your site visitors to a different URL which isn’t the one which they choose from a search engine results page and neither the one that they initially typed into their browsers.

301 redirects

Image Source: netdna-ssl

In order to set up 301 redirect properly (technically) on your website, you can hire an experienced web development company who has a wealth of experience in preparing seamless redirecting maps and implementing them in the best possible way.

But in spite of hiring a professional, it’s equally important for you to gain an idea of how these redirects work and for which reasons you should use them?

When do I need to setup the redirection?

  1. You have a brand new website and you want a permanent redirect
  2. Broken pages or URL
  3. When moving to HTTPS
  4. Overhauling your web portal (redesigning)
  5. Altering URLs for any reason
  6. When removing content or fixing some content related issues
  7. Resolving dynamic URL problems
  8. Changing or merging domains
  9. Maximizing domain authority by linking web conversions with one URL

How the redirection works?

Basically, a 301 redirect command let the site visitors and search engines know that a particular page has been moved to a different page permanently. While 302 redirect indicates the page has bee moved temporarily.

The entire process can be divided into the following three steps:

  • A user or search engine arrives on an original URL
  • The 301 redirect command takes them to the new URL which is not the one which they have typed in the browser.
  • Rewriting URL process starts all over again

Let’s explore an image showcased on Moz in order to understand the entire process in which 301 redirects actually work:

301 redirects working

How Redirection Impacts SEO & Rankings?

Page rankings or SEO performance of a website gets directly influenced by 301 redirects. It can have either a negative or positive impact on the page rank of your web portal.

Having experience in implementing 301 redirects properly can be an integral tool to optimize your website for increased conversions.

301 redirects are also known as permanent redirects and hence all the qualities of the redirected page such as MozRank, page authority, traffic value, PageRank, etc. will get attributed to the detour page.

This makes the detour page represents the redirected one completely.

As a result of 301 redirects, the old page gets eliminated from Google’s index and the new one take its place.

Gradually, Google, as well as the other major search engines, starts giving your new domain preference over the old one in terms of SEO rankings.

Let’s understand it with the help of a flowchart:

301 redirection

Image Source: Hostinger

With the help of 301 redirects, it becomes easier to repurpose old content and make website redesign seamless. Also, it helps in the smooth transfer of authority and proper redirecting set up boost the SEO performance of your website.

Let’s look at a few key benefits of implementing precise 301 redirects:

  • There is no chance of duplicated content as search engines will consider the redirected page as a separate entity.
  • Your daily site visitors will not reduce and they won’t land on a page with a “404 page not found error”.
  • Your page rankings will remain intact and you can easily transfer the authority of the old URL to the new one which will help you in retaining your followers by redirecting them to the detour page.

How To Set Up 301 Redirect?

Well, there are a couple of ways which web experts can use for setting up 301 redirects. These redirects can be easily set up for both a single web page or an entire domain.

Method 1. Editing the .htaccess File

You can set up a 301 redirect by editing your .htaccess file and for doing this you have to sign in to your Account Control Center (ACC) and go to the left sidebar and click on Domains.

Select the “Manage Your Domains” feature from the drop-down list and choose the one that you would like to redirect.

Now you have to go to “Manage Web Settings” which you can find from the drop-down list of the Web Settings section.

You need to click on the “View or Edit Your .htaccess File” option in case you already have a .htaccess file.

But if you have never created such a file you can click on “Create a .htaccess File” option. Let’s understand this process with the help of a screenshot:

htaccess

Image Source: Pair

Finally, to set up 301 redirects you need to include a few lines into your .htaccess file which can be further divided into two main categories:

  • Redirect 301 / http://www.new-domain.com/ (Setting up a redirect for a single web page)
  • Redirect 301 /old-file.html http://www.domain.com/new-file.html (Setting up a redirect for an entire domain)

After finishing this step you only need to click Save Changes if you already had a .htaccess file. Or, tap on Create File for adding new .htaccess files.

Method 2. Using WordPress Plugins

WordPress redirection plugin can also help webmasters in setting up 301 redirects. Also, this plugin can help in keeping a track of 404 errors.

You can find this plugin in WordPress plugin directory.

Redirection WordPress Plugin

Image Source: Inbound Now

For doing this first you need to install and activate the plugin. After completing the activation process you have to visit the “Tools” section and click on “Redirection” to set up your redirects.

Here you can pop in the old URL as well as the new destination URL. After inserting both of these you just have to tap on “add redirection” in order to complete the setup process of 301 redirects.

You can look at the image given below and understand how to execute the entire process.

Setting up new redirection

Image Source: WPBeginner

301 redirect can help your web portals perform better in terms of SEO and retain its visitor base if executed properly.

But an inappropriate approach towards setting up these redirects can hurt your page rankings and can make you lose your precious customers.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, a 301 redirect can be easily set-up by following the above-mentioned best practices. Moreover, it can be one of the best tools to optimize your website for maximum visibility.

Also, through 301 redirects you can make sure that the online traffic is guided towards the most updated version of your URL.

But, for ensuring that these redirects would not have an adverse impact on your rankings and organic traffic, having an appropriate approach towards setting them up is mandatory.

So, we wish you good luck with your next web portal redirect strategy and may it gives you an opportunity to reap rich rewards in the future.