How can a 301 redirect possibly go to /?18cee708

I think this is incorrect and is hurting search engine rankings

[jastra]

I'm doing SEO and SEM for a client. The guy who built the client's site still hosts it. I believe he's the source of some problems I'm having with poor rankings. For the first time ever I'm having very poor results as a consequence of my work. I believe he's screwed up a 301 redirect but I don't know enough about 301s to prove it. My client is paying good money and I'm going to have to explain why things aren't going well.

First thing, I discovered duplicate web sites under two separate domains. So I asked him to 301 redirect the site under the old domain to the new one. It took 2 or 3 tries to get it, and I still don't know if it's correct.

I used a search engine friendly redirect checker tool. It first returned a result that said the redirect wasn't working. Next, the redirect works in MSIE but here's what the redirect checker tool says:

"Found redirect to /?18cee708. The Redirect is Search Engine Friendly."

In other words, domain-1.com redirects to domain-b.com/?18cee708. But after the redirect works and you look in the browser's address box, you see only domain-b.com and not the full domain-b.com/?18cee708. Also, you can tack that /?18cee708 onto the end of domain-b.com and get a home page. This can't be right.

All the other redirects I've checked and which show a successful redirect all go to the full domain name, such as domain-1.com redirects to domain-b.com.

I think the current 301 redirect is not correct and furthermore is not good for search engines. If that's right, what should I tell the guy who set this up? I don't recognize what that /?18cee708 could be-- other than an incorrect redirect. I need to be armed with the correct info because a confrontation with the client, between myself and the host guy is inevitable.

Doesn't the redirect have to go to the domain itself-- and not a file under that domain?

The site is in PHP. I can't confirm that it's on an Apache Server but I'm guessing that it is.

[g1smd]

Use the Live HTTP Headers extension for Mozilla Firefox or Mozilla Seamonkey to confirm what is going on.

Cut and Paste the results to a text file so you can keep a copy for later, email it, or print it.

But, no, you would normally redirect to www.domain.com/

[jdMorgan]

I'd suggest you use the "Live HTTP Headers" add-on for Firefox to check those headers. It is possible that the ?18cee708 query string is something added by your on-line headers checker tool. Also, Live Headers will likely show you a server header that identifies the server type itself -- Apache or IIS. The on-line tools just aren't as reliable as checking from your own client, and that's what I recommend.

As for example.com/?18cee708, if your domain's home page is static and does not require a query string, then it won't care if a query string is or isn't supplied. Note this: A query string is not part of a URL. It is data appended to a URL to be passed to the resource at that URL. While this point might seem academic, it may help you to understand what is going on here. Specifically, example.com/ and example.com/?18cee708 are the exact same URL -- That the second example has a query string appended to it does not change the fact.

Try that Live HTTP Headers add-on and let us know what you find. Be sure you're invoking it from the Firefox "Tools" menu or toolbar: You should see a separate "pop-up" window that has options to save the log, clear it, and several other functions. (The logging may come in handy while documenting your work) :)

Be sure that each page on domain-1 redirects to the same page on domain-b: That is, domain-1/ redirects to domain-b/ and domain-1/fruit/apples/red/delicious redirects to domain-b/fruit/apples/red/delicious -- and all in a single 301-Moved Permanently redirect; No 302 redirects and no "multiple steps" allowed.

Jim

[jastra]

Thanks, guys--

I downloaded the HTTPD headers tool for Firefox and ran the domain. It's correct. It shows the redirect going to domain-b.com.

And the server is running PHP on MS.

HTTP/1.x 301 Moved Permanently
Server: Microsoft-IIS/6.0
X-Powered-By:ASP.NET
etc.

So, regarding the loss in search engine rankings, something else may be going on here. The guy who built the site had every one of 100+ pages with identical <title> tags. I changed them to properly reflect on-page content. But, as you already know, others have said recently in WebmasterWorld that their significantly changing <title> tags has gotten them in trouble.

My tweaking several factors over a two month period has apparently not been good.

Thanks to both of you. The HTTPD headers tool is now indidispensible for me.

[jastra]

And jdMorgan,

Each internal page also redirects properly. Thanks for the education on all this.