As a beginner in SEO, how do I do 302 redirects/ rel="canonicals"

[Gain4]

One of the things Inseem to leave undone is failure to do 302 redirects or rel="canonicals" on my site www.johannesburg.today. Please help .

[Linda-Vassily]

Why do you need 302 redirects? That is a temporary redirect--do you have some pages that have been temporarily moved?

Although many sites do put canonicals on every page (making them canonical to themselves) this is not necessary. You only really need them if you have duplicate content on your site. Do you have that? If not, you don't need canonicals either.

[RobCairns]

Hello,

For the Redirects:

You have asked about 302 redirects - do you intend to make the redirect permanent or are you transitioning sites temporarily?

If permanent, you probably want to make those 301 redirects instead of 302.

There are a lot of ways to redirect and most depend on the CMS (content management system) you're using. If you are using WordPress, each page has a redirect option at the bottom using the Yoast Plugin. Simply install it and scroll down the page you wish to redirect. There will be an area where you can fill in your new URL.

Rel=canonicals are established through Google Search Console. Here's a link that will help you with the process:

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/139066?hl=en

"To address these issues, we recommend you define a canonical URL for content (or equivalent content) available through multiple URLs. You can do this for Google Search in a number of ways: Set your preferred domain. Indicate the preferred URL with the rel="canonical" link element."

The Moz Blog also put up a pretty great rel=canonical guide (i.e. when to use them and when not to). That link is here:

https://moz.com/blog/complete-guide-to-rel-canonical-how-to-and-why-not

Hope this helps and feel free to ask any follow up questions you have.

Cheers,

Rob

[Linda-Vassily]

Canonicals can be added in Yoast too.

[TimHolmes]

Hope the below helps.

30x in .HTACCESS #PERMANENT REDIRECT
redirect 301 /url-linked-to.html /new-page-you-want-to-link-to.html

#TEMPORARY REDIRECT FOR SHORT TERM CHANGES
redirect 302 /url-linked-to.html /temporary-page-you-want-to-link-to.html

Canonical Tag

Cheers

Tim