Thousands of 301 redirections - .htaccess alternatives?

[esiow2013]

Hi guys,

I just want to ask if there are other possible issues/problems (other than server load) once we implement 301 redirections for 10,000+ URLs using .htaccess. Are there other alternatives?

[KevinBudzynski]

Do you have access to the httpd main server config file? If so, please read Apache HTTP Server Tutorial: .htaccess files.

".htaccess files should be used in a case where the content providers need to make configuration changes to the server on a per-directory basis, but do not have root access on the server system. In the event that the server administrator is not willing to make frequent configuration changes, it might be desirable to permit individual users to make these changes in .htaccess files for themselves. This is particularly true, for example, in cases where ISPs are hosting multiple user sites on a single machine, and want their users to be able to alter their configuration.

However, in general, use of .htaccess files should be avoided when possible. Any configuration that you would consider putting in a .htaccess file, can just as effectively be made in a <directory>section in your main server configuration file."</directory>

[joseph.chambers]

Well, if you're on a VPS/Dedicated Machine. - I would take a look at http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/rewrite/rewritemap.html

RewriteMap has 0 effect on the load time like if you were to have the same in .htaccess it will eat those redirect rules. Remember 301s cache in the browser so when you're testing have them all 302s until you're happy and then watch your rewrite log when you launch. If you need help let us know.

This does take some knowhow and learning but you should be able to get this done in a few days. ( testing, reading documentation )

[esiow2013]

Do you guys have a step-by-step guide in implementing 301 redirection using this httpd main server config file?

[esiow2013]

Hi Kevin,

What's the difference of this method to the standard 301 redirection using .htaccess?

[Tom-Anthony]

The main benefit of this would be in reducing server load / response time, and potentially in maintainability of the server config.

The most important aspect of this side of thing would be based on how many separate rules you have in your .htaccess file for those 10,000 redirects.

[Tom-Anthony]

Putting aside server load / config issues, and from the pure SEO point of view.

No, you shouldn't have any major issues with that many 301s. However, what you might find is that depending on the size of your site and the frequency of Googlebots visits that some of these pages take a long time (months) to drop out of the index and be replaced by their newer alternatives. This normally isn't cause for alarm.

In some instances you might end up with pages that now have now links to them (as their parent categories were all redirected also) and so seem to get stuck and never get recrawled by Google to update. In a couple of instances I have had success using XML sitemap files that just include these 'blocked' pages (the old URLs still in the index) to prompt Google to recrawl them.

Also there is Google Webmaster Tools feature to 'crawl as Googlebot' which then prompts you to 'submit to index' which you can use to prompt recrawls on a per-page basis (but you have credits here, so should only be for the more important pages).

Best of luck!

[jfmonfette]

Hi guys, I have a similar problem, but on IIS7. Our IT department says our 301 redirections file is at it's max size in the webconfig. They could increase the limit, but says it will impact page load speed negatively. What's the impact on page speed of having 5000 to 10000 urls in the rewrite map ?

Also, they're also looking at a solution to look at the redirections only when the site gives a 404, so it would hit 404, then 301, then 200. I am a little scared of this SEO wize. Would it be a problem?

Thanks !

[KingRosales]

Why don't you just have a VPS server with NGINX the stream handler/reverse proxy for your IIS web server?

• https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-set-up-nginx-load-balancing
• http://www.iborgelt.com/windows-home-server-behind-nginx-reverse-proxy/

You're just using the VPS as an interface to handle your redirects and for $5 a month. You can't beat it. Im sure if your IT department googles: nginx reverse proxy iis they will get the idea.

[jfmonfette]

Thank you for your answer ! I will share it with our IT team.