Interesting 302 redirect situation - could they be a good idea??

[OddDog]

Just started with a new SEO client. The site is built on Sharepoint Server 2007 running Windows Server 2003 R2 on IIS 6.5 (I know, fun times for me).

Being a standard crappy Windows setup, URLs and canonicalization is a huge issue: first and foremost, we get a 302 redirect from the root www.example.com to www.example.com/Pages/default.aspx

Now standard SEO best practices dictate that we rewrite and redirect these pages so they're clean URLs. However that may or may not be possible in the current environment - so is the next best thing to change those to 301s so at least link authority is passed better between pages?

Here's the tricky thing - the 302s seem to be preventing Google from indexing the /Pages/default.aspx part of the URL, but the primary URL is being indexed, with the page content accurately cached, etc.

So,

www.example.com 302 redirects to www.example.com/Pages/default.aspx but the indexed page in Google is www.example.com

www.example.com/sample-page/ 302 redirects www.example.com/sample-page/Pages/default.aspx but the indexed page in Google is www.example.com/sample-page/

I know Matt Cutts has said that in this case Google will most likely index the shorter version of the URL, so I could leave it, but I just want to make sure that link authority is being appropriately consolidated.

Perhaps a rel=canonical on each page of the source URL? i.e. the www.example.com/sample-page/ - however is rel=canonical to a 302 really acceptable?

Same goes for sitemaps? I know they always say end-state URLs only, but as the source URLs are being indexed, I don't really want Google getting all the /Pages/default.aspx crap.

Looking for thoughts/ideas/experiences in similar situations?

[AlanMosley]

i dont think the 302 to /pages/default.aspx has anything to do with windows or asp.net, why not just just remove the 302?

What does "/" and pages/default.aspx render? the same page? then yes use a canonical, but one has to ask why have the 302 at all?

[OddDog]

Obviously the 302 is not a preference - it's the way the system has been set up by IT staff who don't know any better. Removing it might not be as simple as flicking a switch as it is how Sharepoint displays content by default.

"/" doesn't render - it 302 redirects to /Pages/default.aspx - sorry I don't quite get what you're asking here?

As the website was built on Sharepoint and hacked to pieces with custom code, we're still trying to figure out what's actually possible from a URL rewrite perspective. Sharepoint is not a natively SEO-friendly system. Rewrites are possible in IIS7, but more difficult in IIS6

[AlanMosley]

Well share point is really for intranets not a internet website, if it is on iis6 then i was proaoably setup before much was known about SEO.

You can do the rewrites in iis6 uising a httpmoedel, i have an a example in both c# and VB on my website

http://thatsit.com.au/seo/tutorials/using-ihttpmodule-visual-basic

[OddDog]

Thanks! Yeah site was set up not that long ago, but is a great example of why IT Departments should never be trusted to build websites.

I'm just trying to figure out what's even possible on the current platform.

[BedeFahey]

I'm super super late on this, but, did you ever decide on a solution to this issue? Sharepoint 2010 runs into the same problems, and even though it looks to be solved in 2013, the install base of 2010 is still pretty large.

[OddDog]

Unfortunately no - client is finally moving to 2013 which is on IIS7 and have proper rewrite facility.

There doesn't appear to be any decent way to accomplish it on 2010/IIS6.