301 redirection - how can I know Google noticed this?

still trying to solve Google semi-penalty

[konrad]

Hello again.

My site is still at n page when searching for my own domain name ("mydomain.com") (it's been so since April 26).

I removed 80% of outbound links, rechecked the code twice, and implemented 301 redirection (from non-www to www version)

Google still visits my pages as it used to be. One question though - how can I ensure Google noticed my 301? I know it needs time, but at least my main page is already cached with a date _after_ the redirection was made.

site:mydomain.com -inurl:www doesn't seem to work, it brings www version too.

So, is there a way to do this?

[Stefan]

You could look in your logs to see if Gbot is hitting the new URL versions, or still only looking at the old ones. I believe that should tell you if it knows about them. You'd definitely see it with a regular 301, but I'm not positive about the mod rewrite. Maybe someone else knows if I'm wrong on this.

[konrad]

Unfortunatelly my logs show only the part _after_ the domain, like:
...IP,DATE etc.. "GET /index.htm HTTP/1.0" ....

my domain isn't included.

Any other ideas? :)

[TerrCan123]

I used a server header checker tool to make sure all pages were doing a 301, that seems to work.

[Stefan]

Yeah, man, of course... sorry about that.

The header checker is a good idea.

Anyway, if it's working when you check it by typing in the domain without a www, and it redirects, it's the same for Gbot's. It will likely just take time for it to filter through Google's bloated system, before you see positive results.

[konrad]

Actually I assume the redirection is OK, and that it works. I just want to know - did Google noticed this already or not. Because if it did - then considering the fact that Google still penalizes me (well, sort of) - I need to continue searching for possible reasons (other than: missing 301 redirection). And if Google didn't notice my 301 then I'll just wait, maybe that was the reason of penalty.

So I don't know if I should wait or should I start doing something else with my website - because I'm not sure how to check if Google found and understood my redirection....

[tedster]

It takes Google a while to sort out all the particulars surrounding a 301 redirect. I wish I had some easy check to offer, but until you see an old url vanish and a new version of the url show up in searches, I think you must be in waiting mode.

[konrad]

Then indeed I'll just wait.

Thanks everybody for the answers!

[encyclo]

Unfortunatelly my logs show only the part _after_ the domain, like:
...IP,DATE etc.. "GET /index.htm HTTP/1.0" ....

my domain isn't included.

This doesn't mean you can't see the redirect in your logs, for example the GET request for /index.htm will show either a 200 code or a 301 dependent on whether or not the www or non-www version is requested. So if a file you know exists shows as a 301, then your redirect is working.