301 Redirect

Why It Matters

301 redirects preserve rankings and link equity when URLs change. Without proper redirects, deleted or moved pages return 404 errors, losing all accumulated SEO value and backlinks. Correct redirect implementation is critical during site migrations, restructures, or content consolidation.

How It Works

When a user or search engine requests the old URL, the server returns a 301 status code and automatically forwards them to the new URL. Search engines transfer rankings, link equity, and trust signals from the old URL to the new one. After crawling the redirect consistently, they eventually drop the old URL from the index.

Use Cases

• A company rebrand redirects old-domain.com to new-domain.com preserving all rankings and backlinks
• An e-commerce site consolidates product variations, redirecting individual SKU pages to main product pages
• A blog removes duplicate content, redirecting outdated posts to comprehensive updated articles

Best Practices

• Always use 301 (permanent) not 302 (temporary) redirects for permanent moves
• Redirect to the most relevant page possible, not just the homepage
• Implement redirects at the server level (.htaccess, nginx.conf) not JavaScript
• Avoid redirect chains (A→B→C) - redirect directly from A→C
• Monitor redirects in Google Search Console for errors or incorrect implementations
• Keep important redirects in place permanently - don't remove them after a year