SEO Training - Lesson Four

SEO Technical Issues

Some of the most common technical issues surrounding SEO.

What is the best way to preserve rank when I move a page?

When you are redesigning a site, it usually involves moving and renaming pages. The best way to retain any existing rank is to pass that rank onto the new page by using a "301 Redirect". There are other methods to redirect users, but, using a 301 redirect is the search engine friendly method to also redirect spiders.

This works for moving domains as well. When the new site is live, place a permanent redirect (using a "301" code in HTTP headers) on your old site to inform visitors and search engines that your site has moved."

Multiple Domain names? Use a 301 redirect on your "extra" domains and point to the "real" domain to escape from having a duplicate content penalty.

How do I do a 301 redirect?

The 301 redirect code goes inside a .htaccess file either at the root level or in a local level. If none exists you can create one with notepad.

Open the .htaccess file and start a new line. Type the following:

redirect 301 /olddirectory/oldpage.html http://www.yourdomain.com/newpage.html

OR

Redirect permanent /olddirectory/oldpage.html http://www.yourdomain.com/newpage.html

Using Microsoft IIS you normally open the control panel, select "Home Directory", and select "Redirection to a url".

Double check your implementation with a server header check. Make sure the old page URL returns a 301 Redirect to the new page.

More technical issues are answered in our member's area.