Difference between URL Rewrites and 301 Redirects for Rankings

[rcarll]

What is the difference between URL rewriting and 301 redirects? Specifically if my home page is rewriting the www. version and the /index.html version rather than 301 redirecting them is this equivalent? Does it still pass the link juice on those alternate variations the same way a 301 redirect will?

[Gaveltek-173238]

Hey Chris,

that is an excellent question. However, it is one with a lot of answers... in short:

1. A 301 should only be used when a page has been moved or deleted.

2. A url redirect should be used in the case of multiple instances, like your homepage. The only thing it does is rewrite your url to make it nice to read And gives the search engines a nice hint that the version you are re-writing to is the one you want associated with your domain.

I know this answer is short, but I hope it suffices.

[rcarll]

Thanks Todd,

This doesn't quite answer my question though when it comes to passing the link juice from my alternate home pages to the version I would like to use

[Gaveltek-173238]

301 will pass link juice all day long my friend. URL rewrite... not so much.