If Google cannot trust to send their users to a new website address, they won't. That's how redirects can make or break your traffic.
In short:
- Use 301 redirects
- Check your redirects on a page-by-page level with httpstatus.io
What they are
Redirects are a server level instruction telling a user’s browser that the page has moved. This is common for redesigns or changing urls.
Examples:
- example.org/contact.php moved to example.org/contact-us.php
- wow-cool-business.net moved to holy-smokes-rad-business.biz
Redirects are a way of forwarding the page load from one url to another, and Google pays a lot of attention to them. This is because Google is trying to locate each important page on the internet, and knowing the url address is the most important factor. It's also because redirects are common used for phishing scams.
There are five different URL redirects that you can use; 301, 302, 303, 307, and 308. The numbers are the server’s status codes and how each redirect is treated.
301 Redirect
Permanent redirect.
Use this one. In SEO terms, a 301 redirect passes the most authority. You’re going to want Google to completely trust the forward and the new page as much as they should the original or old page.
302 Redirect
Found / Temporary redirect.
This is an overly common type of redirect which is not recommended by any SEOs. The fundamental reason is that when the Google crawler sees a temporary redirect, it doesn’t entirely trust the forwarding domain like in the case of a 301 redirect.
Google’s John Mueller once stated that 302 redirects are fine and that Google recognizes them, but it has always been the stance of reputable SEOs to use 301 redirects no matter what. We recommend to avoid 302 redirects.
303 Redirects
Temporary Redirect.
303 and 307 redirects were updates to the common 302. If a browser doesn’t understand a 303, a 302 can be used.
304 Redirects
Not Modified Redirect.
A 304 redirect is a Not Modified status and is rare. It’s a redirection to a previously cached result. We don’t recommend using this unless you absolutely know what you’re doing and why.
307 Redirect
Found / Temporary Redirect.
308 Redirect
Permanent Redirect.
A 308 is very similar to the 301 redirect and can be used in the same way to preserve the SEO quality of the redirect. It’s less common than a 301 redirect and the difference is that a 301 may incorrectly be changed to a GET method, whereas a 308 cannot. If you don’t know what that means or don’t care, stick with the 301.
How to Access Your Redirects
You can implement 301 redirects by writing a few lines of code on your .htaccess file (examples of that here). Getting to your .htaccess file will require FTP access. WordPress sites owners can use Yoast’s premium plugin or install a free plugin like the Simple 301 Redirects plugin.
