Redirection in two phases
-
Hi,
One of my client want a website revamp in two phases.
The first phase would be to move the CMS from Sharepoint to Drupal keeping the same content and URLs but the page extension will change (it could become php or just the name of the page without any extension)
The second phase will be a content revamp with URL change.
The first phase will last 3 weeks and then we will push the second phase with the new content and the new URL.
Some shortcuts to make it a more readable:
- old url = OURL
- old url with new extension = OURLEX
- new URL = NURL
My problem is how can I manage the redirections. Should I:
- Phase 1: create one rule that will redirect all the OURL to the OURLEX
- Phase 2: keep the rule I created in phase 1 and add rules for OURLEX to NURL
Or
- Phase 1: create one rule that will redirect all the OURL to the OURLEX
- Phase 2: keep the rule I created in phase 1 and add redirect OURL to NURL
Or
- Phase 1: create one rule that will redirect all the OURL to the OURLEX
- Phase 2: remove the rule I created in phase 1 and add redirect OURL to NURL
Or
- Phase 1: create a rules for each OURL that will redirect all the pages to OURLEX
- Phase 2: remove the rules I created in phase 1 and redirect the OURL to NURL
Or
- Phase 1: create a rules for each OURL that will redirect all the pages to the OURLEX
- Phase 2: keep the rules I created in phase 1 and add rules to redirect the OURLEX to the NURL
Or
- something else you think is better
Difficult to explain, let me know if it's understandable.
Thanks for you help!
GaB
-
Hi Sha,
I'm changing all the file names and we do have a DB behind the site infrastructure (Drupal) but no unique ID so I guess we'll have to do many rules.
Thanks for your help Sha.
-
Hi GaB,
Sorry, I missed your reference to the URL changes in the original question.
It will depend on exactly what the changes are as to how many Rules will be needed to create the 301 redirects.
If you are retaining file names, but moving whole directories to a new location, then this can be achieved with a single Rule.For example, to 301 Redirect all filenames in Useless Folder 1 to the identical filenames in Relevant Folder 2 can be achieved with a single Rule.
For URLs where the actual filenames will change, or where only some files are relocated you would need to implement individual Rules for each URL.
However, if your site is large, there is another alternative, provided that your URL structure supports it. That would be the use of Database Rewrites to implement the 301 redirects as URL's are requested from the server.
There are some requirements for this to be a viable option:
- There must be a Database behind your site infrastructure
- There must be some identifier in the URLs that will remain constant with the change in site structure. Most commonly this would be a unique product ID number or product name
Basically what happens with Database Rewrites is that when the server receives a request for a URL, the identifier is matched against those in the Database and when the match is found the 301 Redirect is written and the new URL served.
For very large sites Database Rewrites would be the most suitable solution as very long lists of Rules in the .htaccess will eventually impact processing and load times.
Hope that helps,
Sha
-
Thanks Sha,
You are right, I will do a rewrite for phase 1 but for phase 2 I will need a lot of rewrite rules because the URL structure will change since I optimize it (removing useless folder, adding keywords, etc...) for pretty much every pages.
I don't think I have a choice here.
-
GaB, go with Sha's answer. It is a superior solution to my suggestion. I had a bit of tunnel vision and the rewrite idea did not come to mind.
-
Hi GaB,
I would suggest a completely different solution.
I would not use 301 Redirects for the Phase 1 change. Rather, I would use a Rewrite Rule to serve the file with the new extension. The Rewrite Rule is basically telling the server to serve OURLEX when a request is made for OURL. The nett result of this is that as far as the Search Engine is concerned, nothing changes.
Here is a Code example which will serve the .php when the .aspx is requested:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^(.*).aspx$ $1.php [L]Then, when Phase 2 is complete, I would implement the 301 redirects using a single Rule once again to permanently redirect all OURL's to NURL's. So, the solution I would recommend is the last one on your list.
Option 6 - Something else I think is better:
- Phase 1: Use Rewrite Rule to satisfy all requests for the OURL by serving the OURLEX
- Phase 2: create one rule that will 301 redirect all the OURL to the NURL
It is best to keep in mind that a 301 redirect should only be used when you intend the redirect to be permanent. Also while Google's stated position is that googlebot will follow multiple 301 redirects, it has also said that "daisy chaining" them is not generally a good practice. There are two reasons for this:
- Google's Matt Cutts has indicated that "at some point we will stop following them if there are a lot of them"
Should you happen to have other domains that are already 301'd to the site, the daisy chain effect is amplified. - As Ryan mentioned, the small amount of link juice that is lost with a 301 Redirect does accumulate over multiple redirects and can have a negative impact.
Hope that helps,
Sha
-
You are absolutely correct. I failed to mentioned a 3rd step required for that solution:
one rule to redirect all OURLEX to NURL
-
Thanks for your answer.
I'm trying to push a one phase approach but since I'm not sure we will be allowed to do it I prefer to have a back-up plan.
With the methode you mention woudn't it be a problem if the robot index the temporary OURLEX during the 3 weeks (my redirections will all be 301)?
-
Generally speaking, I would not recommend this two phase approach but instead completing the work in a single phase. I'll set that idea aside and presume the two-phased approach is a requirement.
the same content and URLs but the page extension will change (it could become php or just the name of the page without any extension)
I would strongly recommend using the page name without any extension. It not only looks better but it will save you work and benefit your SEO the next time you change systems.
The approach I would recommend is your 3rd option:
- Phase 1: create one rule that will redirect all the OURL to the OURLEX
- Phase 2: remove the rule I created in phase 1 and add redirect OURL to NURL
You want to redirect your site with as few rules as possible to minimize the effort, reduce errors, and minimize server overhead. Additionally, you want to redirect pages with a single redirect. It is a bad practice to allow pages to endure multiple redirects as you will lose a lot of link juice.
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 By IP location
Hi All, I have a client who operates in multiple countries with the sub directory structure. In AU for their main brand name .com site still ranks in the first position but /au ranks for most of the other terms. Current we have a 301 redirect in place for .com for anyone accessing the site from AU to /au. This is only for home pages as other .com pages don't rank in Australia. Just wondering what implication this can have on our SEO campaign. Cheers
Technical SEO | | SSP21
Thank you for your expertise and insights in advance.1 -
Old Content after 301 Redirect Success
Hi, I want to ask what need I do to the old content after my 301 redirect to the new domain with the same content success? Do I need to remove that old content? Nothing bad happen right? Thanks
Technical SEO | | matthewparkman0 -
301 redirect file question
Hi Everyone, I am creating a list of 301 redirects to give to a developer to put into Magento. I used Screaming Frog to crawl the site, but I have noticed that all of their urls 302 to another page. I am wondering if I should 301 the first URL to the url on the new site, or the second. I am thinking the first, but would love some confirmation. Thank you!
Technical SEO | | mrbobland0 -
How do I redirect the Author archive page in Wordpress?
If you do a search for my name on Google, the first result is the author archive page of my Wordpress blog. I would like to redirect the author page to my "about me" page but cannot add a 301 as the author page is created dynamically in Wordpress. Anyone know how I can do this?
Technical SEO | | richdan0 -
Penalty on two primary keywords
Hi Seomoz, I have been strugling to get www.texaspoker.dk out of what seems to be a keyword specific penalty (we are on page 5 on "poker" and "online poker"). First I thought it was Penguin related, but I'm not so sure any longer. I have removed all the bad links to my site possible (it's not easy to get other people to remove links, I can tell you), and I have reported all the links that I would like google to "ignore" (reconsideration request) ... all in all I have requested for reconsideration 5 times, and - despite some small changes - I got the same answer every time. We violate the quality guide lines and we should be looking for unnatural links pointing to our site. If any one - by having a look at our site - have any idea what could be wrong, please don't hold back, we would love to hear your point of view. Right now we are in the middle of making our partners take off their site wide links to us (the partners you'll find if you click the flags to the right in the top of the home page). On Texaspoker.dk we only link to the partners from the home page, but maybe we should consider to take of even these links? No one is really clicking on them anyway. Another thing, which is only under consideration, is to ask our partners from Betxpert.com (with whom we have exchanged our news feed - you will find their feed if you schroll down the home page) to set the feed to "no follow" and do the same our selves. What do you think of this thought? As far as I can see, there is nothing wrong with the on page optimization, but maybe some one can see what I don't see? Again - what ever thoughts you guys may have - shoot ... i'm ready to take all bulets 🙂 Thanks in advance! Nicolai, Texaspoker.dk
Technical SEO | | MPO0 -
Redirecting internal pages to another domain
Hi, I recently redirected the domain www.organic7thheaven.com to http://www.7thheavennaturals.com/ However, the internal pages of www.organic7thheaven.com such as http://www.7thheavennaturals.com/products/sensitivesouls/ are now displaying a 404 Not Found Message How can I have it so that pages such as the above automatically also redirect to http://www.7thheavennaturals.com/ Thanks!
Technical SEO | | MJMarketing0 -
Domain redirect seo
Hello, my domain www.pacomarca.com and when i start the new campaing i get this pronblem: We have detected that the domain www.pacomarca.com and the domain pacomarca.com both respond to web requests and do not redirect. Having two "twin" domains that both resolve forces them to battle for SERP positions, making your SEO efforts less effective. We suggest redirecting one, then entering the other here. my domain is in networksolutions.com. how can i resolve it? many thanks Gonzalo
Technical SEO | | Kuna0 -
301 Redirect NOT Working as Expected - HELP!
Hi! I just launched our newly coded site and just realized the installed 301 is NOT working. The URL string is the same EXCEPT for the removal of /shop/. Here is the code in .htaccess: ############################################ enable rewrites Options +FollowSymLinks RewriteEngine on #RedirectMatch 301 ^/shop?/$ http://hiphound.com/ RedirectMatch 301 ^/shop?/$ http://hiphound.com ########################################### When I go to Google and click on an old link I get a 404. No bueno!! Here is an example: http://hiphound.com/shop/rubit-dog-tag-clip I thought (and was told) that the installed 301 would send this page to: http://hiphound.com/rubit-dog-tag-clip It's not. Please HELP!! 🙂 What am I doing wrong??? Lynn
Technical SEO | | hiphound0