fast server-side redirect

a problem?

[needhelp]

A year ago, my website's index page was www.widgets.com/widgethome. This URL was indexed by Google and ODP.

A few months ago, I improved my site's directories, and was able to drop the /widgethome. However, ODP and thus the Google Directory still lists my site with /widgethome. I contacted ODP quite a few times (over 20 times) requesting that my URL be updated so the /widgethome is removed.

ODP is the only place where the /widgethome URL still exists.

I have not been able to get this changed in ODP. Thus, the old URL still appears in Google's directory. Since this is true, I asked my web host to do a server-side redirect (fast redirect) from /widgethome to /index(my current homepage) so that the URL indexed by Google does not return an error page.

I recently dropped big time in the SERPS. PR is still 5, all backlinks still show. Allinanchor great, allintext/title terrible.

Could this fast redirect be the problem, is Google assuming I have duplicate pages? Should I make the /widgethome return an error page and would that force Google to drop this from their index and put my page back to #1 where it was for so long? Or will it make it worse since Google will still see the old URL in ODP? Thanks in advance!

[lazerzubb]

If you are using a 301 redirect it should be fine, no problems there.

[tschild]

Not with reference to Google's algorithm, but one way to get the URL changed in the ODP would be:

- delete the 301 redirect (as the Open Directory's link checker ignores redirects - too many false alarms by browser-dependent redirections otherwise)

- institute an URL-specific 404 error page for the URL www.widgets.com/widgethome (it must be a real error page returning a 404 code, not a normal page (200 code) saying that it's an error page). This error page should say something to the effect "our home page is at www.widgets.com [with link], please adjust your links".

Now the next time Robozilla, the ODP's link checker, comes along (probably no earlier than end of July and very probably only in August or even September, due to ongoing system upgrades) it will internally flag the URL as an 404, and in due course an editor will come along to check those flags for the respective category hierarchy, read the custom error page and adjust the listed URL accordingly.

The downside to this is that it will take time.

Alternative: leave the 301 redirect until such time as an ODP editor gets around to process your update submission (you did use the "update URL" link on the top of the ODP category page?)