301 redirect

[Paul78]

Hi there,

I have some good links pointing to one of my web pages at the moment, however we are just about to launch a new design with new URL structure and I am clear that I need to do a 301 redirect on the URL to the new URL.

However, do I keep the old URL live forever? or can I remove it after a while?

Kind Regards

[Matt-Williamson]

You should keep it forever because once you turn off the old url the links that point to it won't resolve to your new URLs and so you will loose the link juice that is flowing through them. Remember a 301 is permanent so I would keep it in place if I were you.

[Paul78]

Thanks for the quick reply Matt.

Ok, this makes total sense.

What about if one of the URLs has no backlinks but has a high PR, should I do a 301 on that?

[Matt-Williamson]

Hmm no backlinks but a high PR. I would be interested to see an opensite explorer review of that page. However if you have a page which is of high authority then it would be sensible to use a 301 redirect on that, as you want search engines and visitors to know that the information on this valuable page is still available just at its new location. I hope this makes sense.

[Paul78]

Well I say a high PR, it had a PR of 4

I have quite a few pages where there has been no active link building and has got a PR of 1 & 2, should I use a 301 on these? if so, again should I keep these up forever?

Kind Regards

[Matt-Williamson]

Well when I was in the same situation as you and had loads of pages that were part of an archive that were all indexed in Google - numerous with low PR - I used a 301 redirect on all of them to tell search engines of their new home. I did this in 2009 and they are all still indexed and bringing traffic into the site today - I am leaving the redirects there forever.

If I was in your situation and it makes sense to put a 301 redirect on a page as it still exists just under a new URL then I would do it. 301 redirects don't cause issues with search engines when they are used properly to move a whole site from one location to another - content relocation this is their purpose.

Hope this helps Gary and answers your question..