Redirect 301: Benefits and How to Use It

There are several reasons why a website address is moved to another address. One way to redirect it is Redirect 301. What is Redirect and Redirect 301, as mentioned earlier, Redirect 301 is a way to redirect a web page to another page without reducing website performance.

To get to know Redirect 301 more clearly, here are some reviews about Redirect 301 that you should know.

What is Redirect and Redirect 301?

When entering a website address in the address bar in a browser, sometimes the URL will change when the site page is loaded. For example, you want to access a website with the address blog.punyaku.com, but the URL changes to punyaku.com/blog. This example is what is meant by redirect.

So, a redirect is a redirection of site visitors from a URL owned by the website to another address. Basically, a redirect is a redirection of website visitors from a URL to another address. There are various types of redirects. One of them is Redirect 301.

Redirect 301 is a permanent transfer of a website or page owned by a site from one address to another. Redirect 301 is generally used for a number of things, such as wanting to create a new website and move old content in it.

When this is done, you may have given an announcement of the transfer of the old site to all visitors. However, there are many people who do not know about it. By using Redirect 301, visitors who access the old address will be able to enter your new website.

Benefits of Redirect 301 in SEO

Of course, this Redirect 301 technique has a number of benefits in SEO, including:

Convincing Search Engines to Display the New URL

One of the benefits of doing a Redirect 301 is to tell search engines that you are not using the old URL. So, search engines will later replace the old website address with the new website address.

Ensuring the Website Can Be Accessed

Usually, a blank page and the text "404 error" appear if someone accesses a website whose URL has been changed or deleted. Although this does not affect the site's ranking in search engines, this can affect the motivation of visitors to return to the site.

Especially if the website is a company profile. Of course, this can reduce its credibility. To ensure that the error page does not reappear, and visitors can visit the page they want, a 301 Redirect must be done.

Maintaining Site Ranking

Another benefit of doing a 301 Redirect is maintaining the website ranking. In fact, doing this 301 Redirect is said to be very effective up to 99%.

When is the Right Time to Use a 301 Redirect?

So, when is the time to do a 301 Redirect? A 301 Redirect is done when:

Redesigning a Website

When overhauling or redesigning a website, you must use a 301 Redirect. This is because a number of URLs will change.

Content Expiration Date Has Expired

Another time to do a 301 Redirect is when the content has expired.

Merging More Than 1 Website

As a website owner, it may cross your mind to merge 2 websites into one. If you want to do this, you can use a 301 Redirect.

Changing the Permalink

Not infrequently, website owners want to change the permalink. A permalink is a URL that follows the domain name and has additions such as title, year, category and others. to change the permalink, a 301 Redirect can be done.

Switch to HTTPS

You also have to do a 301 Redirect when you want to change the website protocol, for example from not using HTTPS to using HTTPS.

Changing to a New CMS

If you previously used another CMS, then want to use WordPress, you can do a 301 Redirect.

How to Do a 301 Redirect

When doing a 301 Redirect, search engines need time to detect the redirection. Therefore, when Redirecting 301, make sure to choose the right time, so that you don't lose potential visitors who come.

For example, a 301 Redirect is done before the website is busy, so that when the website is busy with visitors, the redirection process has been completed. Here are some ways to Redirect 301 that you can do, including:

Change Settings in .htaccess

You can activate a 301 Redirect by changing the settings in the .htaccess file. This file can be found in the root directory of the website. However, this file is only done when the web hosting server uses Apache.

If you are using Nginx or other software, you can create a file with a text editor application such as Atom or notepad. Then, you can save it with the name .htaccess and then put it in the root directory.

Using the Redirection Plugin

If you are a WordPress user, actually an easy way to Redirect 301 is to use a redirection plugin. By using this plugin, users will not need to code.

You only need to enter the new and old URLs then click Add Redirect. However, one thing to note is that this plugin only allows Redirect 301 per website page on the same domain name.

If you want to add the entire web from the old URL to the new one, you must change the .htaccess file settings. If the hosting control panel already uses cPanel, you can do Redirect 301 according to the available menu.

Mistakes to Avoid When Doing 301 Redirects

Although 301 Redirects are a must, there are a number of mistakes to avoid when doing 301 Redirects, including:

Setting Up 301 Redirects After Creating a New Page

Avoid doing 301 Redirects after creating a new page. Because, Google will detect the page as a new domain so that it can cause the site to crash. It would be better if you did a 301 Redirect and then created a new page.

Using 302 Redirects

In addition to 301 Redirects, there are also 302 Redirects. Because later you will do 301 Redirects, it is better to avoid using 302 Redirects while migrating content. Use 301 Redirects to maintain your website's links and search rankings while making changes to the domain.

Redirecting Different Pages from the Destination Page

Make sure you redirect the page correctly according to the destination. This smooth transition can contribute to the accuracy of SEO, resulting in more website visitors.

Even though you already know the above things well, of course doing a 301 Redirect is not as easy as it seems. In fact, if you accidentally make mistakes that must be avoided in doing a 301 Redirect, it can have a negative effect on the SEO technique being carried out. 

To avoid these mistakes, WEBARQ can be used as the best solution, WEBARQ is a leading digital marketing with more than 10 years of experience. With WEBARQ, the 301 Redirect process and a number of other marketing techniques can be done smoothly.