Should I set 301 Redirects or keep old permalinks?

[glassh0use]

I just built a new site for a client and the new site has pretty links like domain.com/about-us. The old site has been around for a VERY long time and had links like domain.com/aboutus. I want to do 301 redirects because from my understanding, it minimizes the negative SEO impact. But the client wants to keep the permalinks without the hyphens to match the old links. What is the best route, considering SEO? BTW, the site is still on the same domain.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Neik

[moon-boots]

Hello Neik,

It is considered best practice to optimise the link structure as you propose, about-us as opposed to aboutus. But that is only a minor change and may not have all too much of an effect in terms of SEO. There is a wonderful Moz guide on URL best practice here: https://moz.com/learn/seo/url

It is also worth considering that 301 redirects in the htaccess file can potentially slow down the load speed of your website, albeit by a small amount, but this may negate any positive effect from the changes you're suggesting.

I hope that helps.

Richard

[TimHolmes]

As per Moon Boot, I would certainly offer a 301 redirect to the new page, otherwise visitors will be potentially getting a 404 and thus have a negative experience upon arrival to the site.

In your .htaccess - **redirect 301 /aboutus /about-us **

Cheers
Tim