Do I need to 301 EVERY page?

[BrianJGomez]

I have a client who is consolidating multiple EMD domains into a single domain for SEO reasons and for practical reason, like not having to produce content and perform SEO for 20 domains.

My question is this:

Do I need to 301 every single page from these old EMD domains?

I bill this client hourly and while I could take the time to write 301s for literally thousands of pages I feel that this might not be the best use of his money, that I could strategically 301 the landing pages that get traffic and then route everything else to the new root domain...thoughts? I've researched this and have not been able to hear a really strong opinion yet.

[Brian-H]

You can 301 folders or even parameters. It can get quite complicated an easy to mess up as you can do folders but not subfolders etc. This type of work is easier to subcontract out to a programmer who does this all the time.

Here is a good squidoo on it http://www.squidoo.com/301

and here a htaccess generator 

[TommyTan]

Hi,

Using 301 redirect on every page will be the best to help keep all the visitors from the old EMD domains to your new website.  If you don't 301 them, they will land on a 404 page of the old domain and you will lose those visitors.

Furthermore, 301-ing everypage will also help with SEO by transfering all their link juice and etc to the new site.  I see more benefit in 301 every site than not.

[EvolveCreative]

Well Google prefers relevant page-by-page level redirects....  Do what Google wants and you will be rewarded. Your client is investing in SEO so he/she should understand that the work you're doing, no matter how costly, is an investment in his or her business. Sometimes the 'right' decision isn't always the most cost-effective, but it's still the right thing to do.