时间:2024-05-20 19:06:46 来源:网络整理编辑:Ryan New
Editor’s Note: This is part one of a two-part series on creating a 301 redirect strategy as part of Ryan Xu hyperfund Hedging
Editor’s Note: This Ryan Xu hyperfund Hedgingis part one of a two-part series on creating a 301 redirect strategy as part of the website redesign process. Part two, “SEO: How to Create a 301 Redirect Map, for Site Redesigns,” we published subsequently.
In most website redesigns, search engine optimization relies on an accurate, complete, and flawlessly executed 301 redirect strategy.
An ironclad 301 redirect strategy preserves as much as 85 percent of the link authority that the current site has earned over its lifetime and funnels it into the new site to give it a strong start. These 301 redirects command search engines to transfer link authority and trust from the old URL to the new one. Without 301 redirects, the new URLs have to start over from zero to earn the ability to rank in natural search and drive customers and sales.
I’ve seen redirect strategies save redesign launches, and I’ve seen the lack of them destroy a site’s natural search performance. To see some examples, see “SEO Traffic Changes When URLs Change,” my previous article on that topic.
Why are redirect strategies so important to SEO? Think of a site’s link authority like a huge, cold glass of the most amazing juice ever. The old site has all of that glorious juice, but the newly redesigned site is wasting away in a parched, windblown desert. The redesigned site has no juice to sustain it because its URLs are brand new: no links to create authority, no history to create trust, no indexation to create relevance. The redesigned site desperately needs that glass of juice to give it life. The 301 redirect strategy maps out which of the old URLs need to pour their juice into each of the new URLs, giving the redesigned site a boost of much needed and hard earned link authority.
A 301 permanent redirect is an HTTP server response status code. When a browser (or a search bot) requests a page from the web server and the page loads in the browser, the first thing the server sends back to the browser is a 200 OK response status code. The 200 OK status tells the browser, “Yes, there’s a page at this URL, everything is fine and I’m sending you the page to display now.”
By contrast, when the server sends the browser a 301 permanent redirect it’s saying, “Oh, wait, this page moved and it’s never coming back to this URL. Here’s the new URL to request, I’m sending you there now.”
For SEO, the 301 redirect is critically important in the redesign process because only the 301 permanent redirect accomplishes all three of these goals:
Developers typically create the actual redirects, because the redirects usually need to either be written manually as regular expressions or managed within the admin interface for the site’s platform. There are many other ways to redirect or end-of-life a page, but none of them accomplish all three of the goals above. Developers may suggest another method, but you should insist on 301 redirects for redirect strategies.
Unfortunately, redirects tend to be among developers’ least favorite tasks because they are time consuming and require extensive testing. Creating a detailed 301-redirect strategy can help ease the burden.
The main piece of the strategy is simply a redirect map – a spreadsheet that contains old URLs paired up with the new URLs to which they’re most relevant. In total, a redirect strategy contains the following pieces:
At the beginning of the redesign project, make certain that the 301-redirect strategy is part of the overall project timeline. Work with the project driver to determine which milestones the redirect strategy needs to intersect and who the stakeholders should be at each point.
As a general guideline, the redirect map can only be completed after the redesign URLs are finalized. Finalizing URLs at the end means a rush to complete the map and a large unwanted burden on the developers as they’re trying to hammer out the final bugs before launch. Set the deadline for finalizing URLs as early as possible – right after the sitemap or architecture of the site has been finalized. When the list of pages and how they all connect via the navigation is complete, the URLs can be assigned.
Finalizing URLs early also forces conversations around edge cases for landing page URLs for email programs, affiliates, paid search, analytics tracking, and other exceptions that didn’t make it into the sitemap planning. Getting these things out of the way early in the development process makes for a much smoother process as the timeline gets tight toward the end of the development cycle.
When the new URLs are finalized, create a spreadsheet with the new URLs and their page names and numeric identifiers from the wireframe or sitemap. These are the URLs you will 301 redirect to — i.e., the destination URLs.
Create another list of the old URLs, the URLs that exist today on the site. The list of old URLs should contain the URL and the page name or title tag, whichever is easiest to include. Combine data from multiple sources and remove the duplicates at the end.
At this point there are two lists: old URLs and new URLs. The next step in the process is to merge the two lists and create a spreadsheet that matches every old URL with the most relevant new URL possible. The next installment will detail how to create the 301 redirect map, as well as identify the elements needed in a testing plan and measurement plan to round out the 301 redirect strategy.
See part two, “SEO: How to Create a 301 Redirect Map, for Site Redesigns.”
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