I changed my URL some time ago and the search enginges have now indexed my new URL. Is it safe to 404 anyone who visits the old site now? Maybe with the new URL and a meta refresh?
Receptional
4:16 pm on Jan 22, 2004 (gmt 0)
If you took the trouble to set up 301s - why not leave them there forever (or as long as you can)?
ganderla
4:20 pm on Jan 22, 2004 (gmt 0)
Well, the 301's are pretty much transparent to the user. (the smart ones look at the address bar) I want the users still going to the old URL to update their bookmarks. Oh yea, I do not want to renew the hosting on the old site.
Receptional
5:24 pm on Jan 22, 2004 (gmt 0)
But a 404 error is just as easy to spot as the 301. But anyway, I guess you can measure your exposure by seeing in your log files how many people are trying to request old filenames. That would give you a good idea of whether it is OK to 404 the old pages.
