Changing Name of the Page (What does it Do to Page Rank and SERP)

Changing the name of the page title

[bastardino]

I have recently changed the name of my page from widgets.asp to Widgets_Widgets.asp on one of my main content pages. Everything else remains exactly the same. Now, it appears google has yet to index that page, which is what I am waiting for, however, my question is will the bot assign the old PR to that page and give it its old power, or do I need to wait for months for that to happen? Also, should I change the name back to what it was?

Thanks,

[BillyS]

bastdardino (interesting name...)

The best approach would be to use a redirect (a 301 - Moved Permanently) from the old page name to the new page name.

This helps redirect traffic from external links, avoids issues with duplicate content and should minimize any PR "downtime."

[bastardino]

BillyS, thanks for your reply. I really appreciate it. I am sorry to sound like a complete newbie, but how do I execute this 301 re-direct? Please give me very brief instructions if you can, I am a quick learner!

Thanks in advance,

[bastardino]

my pages are in asp, so i have found this instructions:
Redirect in ASP
<%@ Language=VBScript %>
<%
Response.Status="301 Moved Permanently" Response.AddHeader "Location", " [new-url.com"...]
>

where should I put this code?