How do I redirect a page that no longer exists?
-
I changed the name of a blog article I wrote and the original name is giving a 404 error. I am not sure why it isn't being directed like the other articles I renamed to improve SEO.
Since the webpage no longer exists, I don't know how to redirect it.
I use Wordpress and Thesis.
Thanks!
-
I see. Yes the 301s are just within my own site. Whew that makes me feel better.
Ok since I said I was using Wordpress in the OP, I figured CMS meant something else. Good to know.
I will check out that link, thanks!
-
If you used Simple URLs then your CMS is Wordpress (Content Management System).
I didn't mean to scare you though. 301s on your own site are fine. Don't worry about them as long as they are coming FROM pages that you don't want to pages that you DO want. The way you have them working on your site are perfect. That's what they are for. I have thousands of them on one particular site that I work on. Have you had a chance to read through SEOmoz's SEO 101 (beginners guide to seo) yet? It is a great starting point.
But, let me just clarify the 301 thing. If an off site link is coming into a non existent page and you 301 that page, you'll lose some of the link juice coming in from that off site. So it will be better to change the link from the offsite at the source. 301s on your own site are fine though. For instance, if you 301 the non www to the www version of your site, that is a 301. That's obviously good for users and good for search engines.
Sorry for the confusion.
-
Thanks for the info. I used the plugin Simple URLs. I hope I did it right. I am very green.
I googled CMS but I still can't tell you what CMS I am using. Sorry.
Regarding using 301s, yes I am probably using several. Not hundreds or anything but probably tens. This is because I am updating permalinks on the advice of my SEOmoz reports. Then the old permalink automatically redirects to the new one.
How can I get rid of the 301 redirects so I don't lose link juice?
-
Firstly, 404s are a natural part of the web and don't think it will kill your site. It won't. When you get a 404 error iit can mean that something is pointing to that page or that Google has seen the page before but now it's not there. Google wants to make sure that that page is completely gone and not an accident to the 404. Technically if you have nothing pointing to the old post (no external links coming in and no internal links either, including sitemaps) then it will go away after a few crawls. If you do however have off-page links coming into that page a 301 would definitely be a good idea (best idea would be to get those sources to change the link to the new page url but that's not always possible. Remember, when you 301 you do loose some link juice)
If you are on Wordpress there are some great plugins to do this like the 301 redirect option on Wordpress SEO by Yoast
If you need to do this manually then let us know and we'll give you the actual code to do it in your .htaccess
-
what CMS are you using, usually there are plugins to help you do this. Another alternative is to change the URL back to the old URL but the name stays as the new one - this is a common thing that can happen. But it all depends on your CMS - search its name and 301 redirect, you will get there
-
Just create a redirect in your htaccess file with the old URL to the new URL. There are multiple plugins that support this feature on WordPress such as "simple redirect" etc.
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
-
Can a rel author tag point to a Google+ business page
I’m trying to get my blog posts to show with rich snippets but they are a collaborative effort from our staff and as such are posted under our business name. We do have some guest bloggers who write under their own name and we use the author tags to show this. Is there a similar way to do this with a business?
Content Development | | mark_baird0 -
How many words per page?
I know this has been answered before, but I don't think it has been in about a year (and we all know how quickly the SEO landscape can change). We're having a little debate on it right now and I'd be curious to get some feedback from the community. What is the minimum number of words you would use on a page? Does it matter to you if it's a second tier (website.com/x) or third tier (website.com/x/y) page? It's always a tough sell on design between trying to keep it clean and trying to provide a lot of useful information. I'd be curious what your thoughts are. Thanks! -Adam
Content Development | | AdamWormann1 -
Where to outsource product pages contents?
We have been told to write good unique content for every products but we just don't have the skill nor the time. (english is not my first-language) Can anyone suggest where to find a good product content writer?
Content Development | | ringochan0 -
Would adding a news page hurt my site ranking ?
Hi Mozers I was thinking about adding an industry news page where we would post articles written by others but give proper citation and linking. Would a page like this hurt my SEO ? Thank You
Content Development | | Pzabarko0 -
Content Architecture - Breakout Pages
If you have a page that summarizes four different product types adequately in a chart that requires no scroll, is there an SEO justification to also breaking out each product into a separate page, but basically it would contain the same information? The SEO in me says yes, because that's more crawlable content you can optimize, but wouldn't it go against usability and general common sense?
Content Development | | SSFCU0 -
Guest Blogging - Home Page PR0
I have found a blog in my niche that accepts guest posts. However, the site is quite odd in that the homepage has a PR of 0 and all the other pages have a 2. I just wanted to check if it is still worth posting on this site as it looks suspicious to me. Thanks.
Content Development | | AAttias0 -
Google RSS Feed News Feed To Inner Pages
Ive been working on a large ecommerce website that has thousands of pages, although we are working on adding custom content daily to the largest pages, we have "defaul content" with dynamic tags matching search query. Someone recommend we add a google Rss feed where they can also add some type of tag. Is this a bad idea? Ive asked in the past but my main concern is issue with duplicate content, It would be next to impossible to have all pages filled with custom content. Any help much appreciated!! Thank you!
Content Development | | TP_Marketing0 -
My WebSite has two sections with overlapping, or redundant articles on the same topics. Google is only listing one or the other article in Search Results. What should I do to have both pages (similiar but unique content ) to be listed?
My Web Site has two sections with overlapping, or redundant articles on the same topics. Google is only listing one or the other article in Search Results. What should I do to have both pages (similar but unique content ) to be listed? Example: http://www.womenshealthcaretopics.com/pregnancy_week_12.htm http://www.womenshealthcaretopics.com/pregnancy_12_weeks.html
Content Development | | docjamesmd0