What is the best way to execute a geo redirect?
-
Based on what I've read, it seems like everyone agrees an IP-based, server side redirect is fine for SEO if you have content that is "geo" in nature. What I don't understand is how to actually do this. It seems like after a bit of research there are 3 options:
-
You can do a 301 which it seems like most sites do, but that basically means if google crawls you in different US areas (which it may or may not) it essentially thinks you have multiple homepages. Does google only crawl from SF-based IPs?
-
302 passes no juice, so probably don't want to do that.
-
Yelp does a 303 redirect, which it seems like nobody else does, but Yelp is obviously very SEO-savvy. Is this perhaps a better way that solves for the above issues?
Thoughts on what is best approach here?
-
-
You are welcome.
Hmmmm.. don't know about Yelp, I've seen others using 303 too, but still 302 seems to be the way to go.
-
Thanks Federico. Any insight as to why Yelp, who is very seo savvy, uses a 303?
-
Well, personally I would go with a 302.
The reasons are:
301: the browser "remembers" that 301, so next time the user request that page, their browser will automatically redirect as the last time it accessed the page. However, the 302, as a temporary redirect will let the browser know that it should re-request the page.
Say your website www.example.com holds an english version in the root, and then a german version in www.example.com/de. If a german user accesses the site for the first time, you do the geolocation check and redirect to german version while saving a session/cookie of the chosen version. Then if the user chooses to switch to the english version you update that cookie/session to save the one that the user chose to navigate and make a 302 redirection. Next time the user accesses, having the cookie will automatically show/redirect to the appropriate language.
Using the same example, if you did a 301, then even if the user changed the language, as the browser already has a 301-permanent redirect, he will be redirected to the "first version served".
SEOwise, if we take a quick look on Google, they use 302 to redirect users to the "appropriate" version, so I guess that should be ok as long as you use rel="alternate" to point to the other versions of your site:
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/189077?hl=en
EDIT: link juice flows to the page that the link is pointing. Say a link points to www.example.com then the juice goes to www.example.com, even if that page has a redirection to the german version (when accessed from germany). Anyway, it is said that 302s also pass some pagerank.
Hope that helped.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Redirect issue
http://www.themorrisagency.co.uk/wedding-band redirects to http://www.themorrisagency.co.uk/wedding-band-cost-much-hire/ NO canonical in place. Nothing in Htaccess. I cant think where else to look to find it. If I amend it to http://www.themorrisagency.co.uk/we it still redirects. Any ideas? I have spent way too long on it now
On-Page Optimization | | agentmorris10 -
Best Tool for Retrieving Multiple URL Word Counts in Bulk?
I am doing some content analysis with over 200 URLs to go through! Does anybody know of, or can recommend any bulk on-page word count checkers which would help with the heavy lifting? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | NickG-1230 -
My home page URL http://seadwellers.com/ redirects to http://www.seadwellers.com/. Is this a problem?
"The URL http://seadwellers.com/ redirects to http://www.seadwellers.com/. Do you want to crawl http://www.seadwellers.com/ instead?" I was given this when I tried to crawl my home page using MOZ software. I was not aware of this, do not know if it could be a problem concerning any aspect of SEO, etc? :
On-Page Optimization | | sdwellers0 -
Best category page structure on MY ecommerce site? Advice please
Hi all, I run the site: http://goo.gl/YATL2i I have had this category set up like this for a while now - but wonder if its confusing to google, and potentially my users... let me start by saying my products are available in 3 formats (soon to be 4), so for example i have 3 pages for cctv systems: Analogue / SD cctv systems: http://goo.gl/SPkdYW hd sdi systems: http://goo.gl/uksRAD ip systems: http://goo.gl/UMHBd0 each of the above sub categories then have a further sub category of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 16 camera kit page... I am trying to figure out if it would be better to just have one "cctv systems" page, and use filters in the left menu so users can filter by format, number of cameras etc etc... but these filters would not navigate to other pages but simply limit the view on the one "cctv systems" page. If you think 1 page with filters is best - can you then advise what should i do with all the sub category pages i no longer need? 301 rediret to the main cctv systems page? Basically i currently have my site set up so cctv products are categorised by the format i,e SD, HD-SDI or IP... Which i thought was very important the user doesnt mix formats as it can not work - but am thinking maybe i should catorgorize by type i.e CCTV Camera, CCTV Recorders or CCTV Systems, and then use filters to drill further down in the categories. Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated. thanks
On-Page Optimization | | isntworkdull0 -
Yoast Sitemap Best Practices
I'm using the Yoast SEO plugin and I've never really known the correct answer to this question or which factors you should consider when choosing, but can someone give me some advice on which post types and taxonomies to exclude when generating the sitemap using this plugin. I know this is probably unique to each site, but can someone share what criteria they weigh when choosing which ones to exclude for their own site?
On-Page Optimization | | atstickel120 -
What is the best way to optimise a site that wants to target one service in multiple locations?
Hello! I would like to get some opinions about the best way to optimise a site/pages/URL's for a client that offers one service in multiple locations. The client has done work in various areas of the UK and wants to be found for these locations. They don't have addresses in these locations. What would be the best way to set up the pages/URLs for each location? Is there any reason why I can't have, for example, a main Portfolio page which has content about the service and a link to each portfolio in the different locations, e.g. /portfolio/london, /portfolio/hampstead, portfolio/kensington. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks Kerry
On-Page Optimization | | Kerry_Jones1 -
Best Layout for Product Page SEO
Hi I am looking to revamp my website and would like to know your views on the best product layout for SEO - in particular if it better to have tabulated content like play.com http://goo.gl/4xdqp or non tabulated content like Amazon. http://goo.gl/cojKj Are there any pros or cons to each approach? I believe tabulated looks better and is easier to navigate but do the engines see this as hidden text? I have been told this is an issue with expandable divs. Many thanks David
On-Page Optimization | | DavidLenehan0