Redirects 301

[PedroM]

Hello,

I need to reedirect a URL of a page that I have in my site (http://digitaldiscovery.com.pt/servicos-de-marketing-digital/publicidade-online/) to a new URL with SEO porpuses. Whats the best way to this?

I use Wordpress btw.

Tks in advance!

PP

[Matthew_Edgar]

The best way to do this is by adjusting the .htaccess file. The htaccess file directs traffic to the correct page very quickly and efficiently. (An alternative would be to go through WordPress but typically this isn't an efficient alternative.)

The htaccess file is located in the root directory - /httpdocs, /public_html, etc.

At the very end of the htaccess file, add a new line and on that line, you will want to use a line like this. Update the URLs to match whatever you want to redirect from and to.

redirect 301 /servicos-de-marketing-digital/publicidade-online/ http://digitaldiscovery.com.pt/new-page-url-here

The first URL (after redirect 301) is the old URL you are redirecting from. This needs to be a relative URL back to the root directory of the website. The second URL (after the space) is the URL to the new page you are redirecting to. This needs to be an absolute URL (even if it is on the same site).

A couple words of warning on the htaccess file:

First, make sure your URLs do not have any special characters and if they do, make sure you escape them. (Space becomes %20, for example.)

Second, before making any changes to your htaccess file definitely create a backup of what the current htaccess file is. If you make a mistake in the htaccess file it can return an internal server error for your entire site. So, be prepared to roll back if something doesn't go quite right!

There is a good resource on htaccess 301 redirects here. It also talks about a meta refresh option but I'd avoid that as it isn't as good for search engine purposes.

http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles3/spiders-301-redirect.htm

[ChaseFleming]

An htaccess file is one way to do it as a previous response suggested, but there are some easier options. If you're already using an SEO plugin on your Wordpress site, check to see if it has a 301 redirect field and then go enter the new url you'd like it redirected to on the post or page. If you don't have an SEO plugin or one with that option you can easily install a new redirect plugin. I've used "Quick Page/Post Redirect DEV" and I'd recommend it. This also allows you to copy and paste the new url in a field on the post or page and choose the type of redirect you'd like. Make sure to do a 301 if this is a permanent change.

[PeterMeadiT]

Hi Pedro,

I agree with the replies so far. 301 is the best for SEO.

If you already have a .htaccess file then just put one more line into it, similar to the following

redirect 301 ./my-page.html http://www.mysite.com.au/my-new-page.html

If you don't then just make a plain text file and name it .htaccess, put this code into it, and then ftp it to the root of your site.

It will all just work like magic if you have an Apache server or similar. If you have a windows server or something else, then you may in for some more legwork to get the redirect to work.

This is the best approach for non cms websites. For websites like Wordpress you have many more options available through plugins... Yay...!

HTH

[PedroM]

Awesome guys. I think I can manage from here. Tks alot for sharing the knowledge