Should I use 301 or not?

301

[johnlim9988]

Hi,

We have two pages, page1 and page2,
Then we integrate page2 into page 1.

Which of the following way is the best?

Method 1) delete page2 but redirect page2 to page1.

Method 2) delete page2 and redirect page2 to page1 and after one month, stop the redirect, in this way, to let the robots know that page2 no exist any more and will not have dupicate issue.

Metrhod 3) Keep page 2 but redirect page2 to page1

Which way is the best?

Thanks.

[roodle]

Not sure which is "the best" but I'd go with 3) just because of bookmarking. Aren't 1) and 3) effectively the same thing anyway? Whether the page file "exists" is irrelevant surely?

[new_seo]

Don't delete anything.Just do a simple 301 redirection from page 2 to page 1.
Keep few things in mind:
1. Do a 301 redirection.The value of your old url will transferred to new one,but it will take some time.
2. Don't do anything with your content.redirect it as it is right now.Once google recognize your new URL do what ever changes you want with content.Otherwise ranking can be effected.
3. Be careful about the code.A small mistake can take your site out of the internet.:)
Take help from any professional.

[Robert Charlton]

Not sure which is "the best" but I'd go with 3) just because of bookmarking. Aren't 1) and 3) effectively the same thing anyway?

Yes, 1 and 3 are effectively the same thing. This is a concept that can be difficult to understand.

The 301 is done on your web server, and any requests... either by bots or by humans... for the old page will be redirected to the new page, so the old page effectively ceases to exist.

Don't do method #2. As long as there are any links to the old page on the web, it's necessary to keep your 301 in place, both for Google and for visitors.

[johnlim9988]

Be careful about the code? 301 redirect code should be very simple...
Like to use as:

RewriteRule ^(.*)-matchwords.html$ $1.html [R=permanent,L]

at htacess file, right?

Is it wrong? Thanks.

[johnlim9988]

Will the 301 redirect decrease the traffic....

We found after we integrate the pages, the traffic from google decrease a little,

But traffic from yahoo, msn decrease a lot....

Will the traffic come back?

How to let the traffic come back?

Thanks.

[new_seo]

Will the 301 redirect decrease the traffic....
We found after we integrate the pages, the traffic from google decrease a little,
But traffic from yahoo, msn decrease a lot....
Will the traffic come back?
How to let the traffic come back?

In the short term,traffic can be effected,as the Search Engine Ranking can change bit at the initial stage of 301 redirection.
That will come back when all the values of old domain will transfer to new one.
Keep those things in mind what I said in my previous post on this topic,traffic will come back.

[johnlim9988]

Hi,

1) I am not redirect pages from old domain to new domain.
I am redirect pages in the same domain.
As I integrate page2 into page1, so I redirect page2 to page1.

2) I believe the google traffic will recover.
Will the yahoo, msn traffic also recover?
Anybody has any idea regarding the difference about traffic recover after 301 redirect?

Now we are worried as we saw that traffic decrease a lot.

As we have over 400 sets of page1 and pages. (all did at the same way. before have 800 pages, after integration, we only have 400 pages, and traffic decrease a lot, especially traffic from yahoo, msn decrease a lot.)

Thanks.

[new_seo]

1) I am not redirect pages from old domain to new domain.
I am redirect pages in the same domain.
As I integrate page2 into page1, so I redirect page2 to page1.

Same process.It's my fault,I should say "old pages" and "new pages".:)

2) I believe the google traffic will recover.
Will the yahoo, msn traffic also recover?
Anybody has any idea regarding the difference about traffic recover after 301 redirect?

Yahoo and MSN react slowly than Google,so it might take more time to recover yahoo and msn traffic.
When you had done the 301-redirection?

[johnlim9988]

We started 301 redirection about one month ago....
Traffic still not recover....

[new_seo]

We started 301 redirection about one month ago....
Traffic still not recover....

From my experience I can say you need another 2 months.When ever I have done any redirection,I got the position back by 2-3 months.