Main page redirect affecting search results?
-
Question.... A recent change was made to our page www.BGU.edu by a marketing person. So now when you type in www.BGU.edu it actually redirects to a different page www.BGU.edu/inquiry
This is a really bad idea isn't it? I do not know enough about SEO to know a lot, and just joined SEOmoz but do I need to tell the admin to change it back?
-
Thank-you!
-
Ah that's ok I'm newbie myself..
When you go to a webpage the website returns a code to let the browser or Google, or who ever is browsing what the current status of the webpage is. Normally you go to a webpage and you are returned a 200, meaning everything is ok, but you dont need to know it all the time so the browser hides it.
If you try and find a page that is not there the server returns a 404 code, often people designing websites try and redirect you to a customised 404 code/error page, so that they can try and retain you, but in the background the server is returning a 404 code to tell the browser it couldn't find the page it wanted.
With a 301 redirect, what we do is force who ever is trying to access that page to go to another page and tell them that its permanent by telling the server to issue a 301 code.
This tells Google that the page is moved to a new location and should be considered the same page for future purposes. Its kinda like going to the post office to tell them you have moved address and to forward all your mail on.
Now you normally do a 301 redirect using a .htaccess file, but that's a whole other can of worms
Although saying all that I'd assumed it was a 301 but I wanted to give you a tool to check them out yourself and tested it. The website is showing a 302 code which is a temporary redirect. Very bad... but then you new you that
Use this http://web-sniffer.net/ and look mid way down under the yellow bar..
Adam
-
Very, very bad idea. To make matters even worse, they've used a 302-redirect, which further compromises the ability of the home page to hold it's rank.
Yes, you need to have the admin change it back, as there doesn't seem to have been any compelling reason for the change. The one bright side is that, because the 302 redirect was used, it will be easier to change it back.
Paul
-
What is the 301? Sorry for being a newbie!
-
Agreed very bad, looks really odd too.
What if you don't have an inquiry but to gain an overall impression of the site?
You could do the same thing with a jquery overlay or just a box for inquiries, but I always think the home page should encapsulate the business in an instant then give you direction for more resources. Why not have a prominent link to the inquiry, or generate lead pages on some of you keywords etc....
Adam
p.s. also all your links to the home page are going to leak link juice with the 301 in place.
-
Thank-you! This is a very small Christian grad school, who is ministry focused not tech focused. I am working with them in social media (which is my area of expertise) but the webpage is such a mess I have to find some solutions there to to make the social media pay off...
Thank-you for making my case clearly.
Fortunatly the IT person is very responsive to my suggestions, even though they do not appear to have much SEO or page management experience.
I have always understood that not only is it rude, but that now they are not getting the main index page indexed... A massive Faux Pas!
-
This is a really bad idea isn't it? In my opinion, it is a very bad idea.
It's best to keep the site locked up so that the marketing people can't monkey with it.
Universities are really bad about managing websites. They change department URLs from egol.edu/chemistry to chemistry.egol.edu and then to chem.egol.edu and then to egol.edu/chem
Somebody gets the idea that they need to change the URLs so they then run wild with it.
Then, thousands of high schools, other universities and other webmasters have linked to these various URLs, which have been changed at whim without redirects. It is really rude to the people who have linked to you and it shows that the university webteam do not plan and don't know what they are doing and are inconsiderate about the people who are willing to send them traffic.
I have a website that links to lots of university resources and we have to check those links every year because university marketing monkeys keep changing them. I am betting that 20 to 30% of the URLs must be edited every year.
Sorry for the rant.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Index Page Redirect to Home Page? Best Practices...
Hi, I am wondering what the best practice is when a site has an index page and a home page? I have two pages, listed below, and want to know if I should 301 redirect my "index" page to my standard home page. The home page is where I would like all traffic to fall on for our website. Additionally, I used the rel=canonical tag years ago on the index page to indicate that the home page is the main content. Home Page - https://www.1099pro.com/ (PA 45) Home Page Canonical: rel="canonical" href="https://www.1099pro.com/"/> Index Page - https://www.1099pro.com/index.asp (PA - 33) Index Page Canonical: rel="canonical" href="https://www.1099pro.com/"/> It seems to me that there is some extra juice that could be passed to my home page (which is the page that ranks highly for our major keywords) by 301 redirecting the index page. Is there any reason why I should not do that? Really appreciate any help - especially with extra explanations - for the simple minded like me ;)! -Michael
Web Design | | Stew2220 -
404 errors & old unused pages
I am using shopify and I need to delete some old pages which are coming up as 404 errors (product no longer available!) does anyone know where you go to delete these pages which are no longer needed?
Web Design | | carleyb0 -
On-page SEO opinion on this Wordpress theme
Hi everyone. As an SEO agency we've been moving more toward genesis themes, however we have a client who really wants to redesign his website using the following theme: http://themeforest.net/item/this-way-wp-full-videoimage-background-with-audio/943634 - the theme would be images with no audio on the homepage. He is a remodeling contractor and likes the design and functionality of the theme. I'd like to get others feedback and opinions on what you think about the on-page SEO of this theme? Thanks.
Web Design | | WillWatrous0 -
Website Home page suddenly disappeared after changing Hosting
HI All, My site was ranking very well and was in 1st page of google for most of my keywords. Last week we did some update to the site and moved it to new hosting and from then onwards I dont see my site home page in Google ranking . My Website Name is : royalevents.com.au. We used to be in 1st of Google for keywords like wedding Mandaps, Indian Wedding Mandaps etc, Would be great if some one helps us to figure out whats gone wrong .. I also did Webmaster Fetch as Google but nothing happened. Thanks
Web Design | | Verve-Innovation0 -
Does using role="heading" instead of H1 in HTML code affects SEO?
Does using role="heading" instead of affect SEO? http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/wiki/Headings_using_role%3Dheading
Web Design | | LNEseo0 -
Is it possible to redirect the main www. domain - but keep a subdomain active?
Hi Mozzers, Quick question, which I hope one of you can answer... Let's say I have a website (i) www.example.com and on that a subdomain exists, (ii) subdomain.example.com. Let's say I want to change my main domain from www.example.com to www.newwebsite.com. I'd 301 all content, use GWT to notify Google of a change of address etc etc. Having done that, is it still possible to keep the original subdomain active? So, even though www.example.com has been redirected / transferred to www.newwebsite.com, subdomain.example.com would still exist. If that is possible, what is the implication for Domain Authority? On the one hand, I have transferred the main site (so DA from that will transfer to the new site); but part of that root domain is still active. Make sense? Any answers? Thanks everyone...
Web Design | | edlondon0 -
Mobile Site Pages: Word Count Help
Hi there I am doing a mobile website for a client and they asked me what the dieal word count would be per page. They are SEO conciosu but we are not doing SEO on this site. I would just like to know a general rule of thumb. Regards Stef
Web Design | | stefanok0 -
Does listing my customer's address, phone number, and a contact form on "every page" count as duplicate content that they'd be penalized for?
I work with small local businesses (like Tree Farms, Feed Stores, Counselors, etc) doing web design, seo, etc. I encourage them to have their contact information visible at all times on their websites. I'm also delving into the world of contact forms. I want to have this info on every page - is this detrimental? Here's an example: http://www.trinityescape.net/marriage-couples-counselors-therapy-clermont-florida/ Thank you!
Web Design | | mikjgens1