How to Redirect Old URL – Retain Link Juice and Ranking
URL redirection is confusing and problematic for most common bloggers. It requires you to add rules in your ‘htaccess’ files. I won’t be surprised if you say “What is this htaccess”?
Just FYI,
.htaccess is a configuration file for use on web servers running the Apache Web Server software. When a .htaccess file is placed in a directory which is in turn ‘loaded via the Apache Web Server’, then the .htaccess file is detected and executed by the Apache Web Server software. These .htaccess files can be used to alter the configuration of the Apache Web Server software to enable/disable additional functionality and features that the Apache Web Server software has to offer. These facilities include basic redirect functionality, for instance if a 404 file not found error occurs, or for more advanced functions such as content password protection or image hot link prevention.
I’m not comfortable with these codes in .htaccess file though! But necessities arises not only for those big heads!
I am required to redirect many old URLs into current one so that the users from search engines and bookmarks are not lost. Why was I needed to redirect?
Changed the blogging platform from Blogger into WordPress
For anybody who is not sturdy enough in coding, the best way is to look for suitable plugin.
Redirection Plugin for WordPress (Recommended)
Redirection is a WordPress plugin to manage 301 redirections, keep track of 404 errors, and generally tidy up any loose ends your site may have. This is particularly useful if you are migrating pages from an old website, or are changing the directory of your WordPress installation.
This is what they said.
I found the plugin great for my need. Exactly matching.
Installed the pluggin.
It will take some time though, to configure all the broken links back to my posts, but I have found the tool that will monitor and list the URLs for me. I can just change them with correct URLs. What can be easier than this?
Following are the features the plugin author listed:
Supports both WordPress-based and Apache-based redirections
.htaccessfiles
.htaccesfiles
My life is saved! Hope this information will save you as well if ever fall into same ditch!
Happy Bloging!
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12 Responses to “How to Redirect Old URL – Retain Link Juice and Ranking”
Vote on this article at blogengage.com on March 30, 2010
How to Redirect Old URL – Retain Link Juice and Ranking | ICT Trends…
URL redirection is confusing and problematic for most common bloggers. It requires you to add rules in your ‘htaccess’ files. I won’t be surprised if you say “What is this htaccess”?…
Jayce on March 30, 2010
Plan to try out the plugin that remove the date from the blog link. Hopefully, it can retain the link juice.
.-= Jayce´s last blog ..Top 10 T-Mobile HTC HD2 Tweaks and Hacks =-.
shkhanal
Twitter: icttrends
on March 30, 2010
Yes Jayce, changing url structure is very painful job indeed.
Cyprus Resales
Twitter: cyprusresale
on March 31, 2010
It can be such a pain to do, but the rewards are well worth doing if done right… There is nothing worse than going to an old bookmark only to be greeted by a 404
Sourish | Wordpress Install Guide
Twitter: http://www.wordpressinstall.org
on April 6, 2010
ALl in one seo is pretty old now. i have installed platinum seo , seems good with 301 redirection automatically for changed urls
.-= Sourish | WordPress Install Guide´s last undefined ..Response cached until Wed 7 @ 10:42 GMT (Refreshes in 23.98 Hours) =-.
shkhanal
Twitter: icttrends
on April 6, 2010
I am not using Platinum SEO yet. It must be better since you have used both and recommending platinum seo. Will certainly look for more information on Platinum SEO plugin.
Amy
Twitter: None
on April 19, 2010
ALl in one seo is pretty old now. i have installed platinum seo , seems good with 301 redirection automatically for changed urls
.-= Sourish | WordPress Install Guide´s last undefined ..Response cached until Wed 7 @ 10:42 GMT (Refreshes in 23.98 Hours) =-.
Connie @MurrayNewlands.com
Twitter: MurrayNewlands
on April 23, 2010
I’ve wanted to change the permalinks on my blogs but have been worried about losing link juice. Coding is not something I want to bother with so thanks for the plugin info.
.-= Connie @MurrayNewlands.com´s last blog ..Visibility magazine an interview =-.
Ian
Twitter: None
on April 27, 2010
Yes Jayce, changing url structure is very painful job indeed.
Melodia on November 20, 2010
Hello,
Do you think that the year/month part in URLs is really a problem for the search engine rankings? I would think since Google use them in their blog platform they should be ok…
Suresh Khanal
Twitter: icttrends
on November 21, 2010
I don’t think they are problem but what I believe is they have nothing to add value to your SEO. People will hardly search for year or month numbers. Good practice is to include the words in url that will be searched.
But there is one advantage of using year and month number in URL. They will make it faster to fetch your post from database because searching on numbers is lot more faster than in strings. So it will be good for the sites that have larger number of posts every time. For the blogs of moderate size, I prefer not to use year and month.
Melodia on November 21, 2010
Yes, I would agree the year and month do not add much value to the URL. Maybe in some particular cases when somebody is searching for something in a particular year they could give a little bonus for the search engine rankings but in general I would agree they just make the URLs longer.