Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
What is the difference between 301 redirects and backlinks?
-
i have seen some 301 redirects on my site billsonline, can anyone please explain the difference between backlinks and 301 redirects, i have read some articles where the writer was stating that 301 are not good for website.
-
301 redirects and backlinks serve different purposes in the realm of website management and SEO.
A 301 redirect is a method used to permanently redirect one URL to another. It's commonly used when a page has been moved or removed, ensuring that visitors and search engines are automatically directed to the new URL. Essentially, it's a way to preserve a page's ranking and traffic when its URL changes.
On the other hand, backlinks are incoming links from one webpage to another. They are crucial for SEO as they signal to search engines that other websites find your content valuable enough to link to. Backlinks are like votes of confidence for your website, and quality backlinks from reputable sites can significantly improve your site's search engine rankings.
-
@jackwill1234 said in What is the difference between 301 redirects and backlinks?:
Could someone explain the difference between backlinks and 301 redirects for my website, www-homeworkify.live ? I've come across articles suggesting that 301 redirects might not be advantageous for websites, and I'd like to understand more.
Sure! Backlinks are links from other websites to yours, helping to boost your site's authority and visibility in search engine rankings. 301 redirects, on the other hand, permanently direct users and search engines from one URL to another. While backlinks improve your site's reputation, 301 redirects are useful for preserving SEO value when you've changed a URL or merged two websites. Both are valuable tools, but they serve different purposes in optimizing your website's performance.
-
Could someone explain the difference between backlinks and 301 redirects for my website, www-homeworkify.live ? I've come across articles suggesting that 301 redirects might not be advantageous for websites, and I'd like to understand more.
-
301 Redirects:
A 301 redirect is a method used to permanently redirect one URL to another. It's an HTTP status code that indicates that a webpage has been permanently moved to a new location. When a user or a search engine bot tries to access the original URL, they are automatically redirected to the new URL specified in the 301 redirect.
301 redirects are commonly used when a website undergoes a redesign, changes its domain name, or moves content to a new location. They help preserve SEO value by transferring the ranking signals from the old URL to the new one.
Backlinks:Backlinks, also known as inbound links or incoming links, are hyperlinks on other websites that point back to your website. They are a crucial component of search engine optimization (SEO) and are considered a vote of confidence from one site to another.
Backlinks are valuable because search engines like Google use them as one of the factors to determine the authority, relevance, and credibility of a website. Websites with a higher number of quality backlinks tend to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Backlinks can be obtained through various methods such as creating high-quality content, outreach campaigns, guest blogging, and participating in online communities. -
A 301 redirect is a method used to permanently redirect one URL to another, often utilized during website migrations or when a page is no longer active. Backlinks, on the other hand, are incoming links from other websites to a specific webpage, which can influence a site's search engine ranking and authority. While both serve to redirect traffic, they operate in distinct ways: 301 redirects manage URL redirection, while backlinks contribute to a site's off-page SEO efforts by enhancing its credibility and visibility.
-
301 redirects and backlinks serve different purposes in website management. A 301 redirect is a server-side instruction that permanently redirects users and search engines from one URL to another, preserving SEO value and ensuring seamless navigation. Backlinks, on the other hand, are inbound links from other websites to your website that influence search engine rankings and demonstrate trustworthiness and authority in your niche. 301 redirects manage URL changes and website rebuilds, while backlinks contribute to off-page SEO and domain authority.
-
I've noticed some 301 redirects on my website, LiteblueInsights. Can someone please clarify the distinction between backlinks and 301 redirects? I've read articles suggesting that 301 redirects aren't beneficial for websites.
-
A 301 redirect is the header response sent when a page does not exist or not required and the redirected page is loaded instead. Typically a 301 redirect is created when a page is taken down. A 301 redirect is not bad for a site. Redirect chains can be bad - so 301 to 301 to 301 etc.
What you want to look at is if you have 301s in your menus, homepage or main content linking to main pages. These links should be either removed or updated to the new URL. There should be no 301s here, it's good housekeeping.
A backlink is an link from an external site linking to a page on your site.
-
I believe the below reply that is explained by Mr Victor, is absolutely correct.
-
The redirects are intended to keep link juice when migrating to a new domain. Actually they just help the existing users find the new domain. If there are redirects to your domain from unrelated websites the Google bot should be smart enough to ignore them. That's why it's better to have backlinks from unrelated sources than redirects.
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
-
Is 301 redirect the only way when using Vanity URLs?
We have been using vanity urls for some of our pages. Mostly the pages that have a vanity URL have a long URL length. But now the problem is, the vanity URL is getting displayed on the search engine when the particular keyword related to the page is entered. I checked the google search console, the vanity URL is indexed and the original URL remains unindexed. What should I do? Is adding 301 redirect to the vanity URLs are solution? Since some of vanity URLs are not redirecting to the original. Some of the original pages are not getting traffic. Also, can using canonical tag help?
Technical SEO | | tejasbansode0 -
Can I use a 301 redirect to pass 'back link' juice to a different domain?
Hi, I have a backlink from a high DA/PA Government Website pointing to www.domainA.com which I own and can setup 301 redirects on if necessary. However my www.domainA.com is not used and has no active website (but has hosting available which can 301 redirect). www.domainA.com is also contextually irrelevant to the backlink. I want the Government Website link to go to www.domainB.com - which is both the relevant site and which also should be benefiting from from the seo juice from the backlink. So far I have had no luck to get the Government Website's administrators to change the URL on the link to point to www.domainB.com. Q1: If i use a 301 redirect on www.domainA.com to redirect to www.domainB.com will most of the backlink's SEO juice still be passed on to www.domainB.com? Q2: If the answer to the above is yes - would there be benefit to taking this a step further and redirect www.domainA.com to a deeper directory on www.domianB.com which is even more relevant?
Technical SEO | | DGAU
ie. redirect www.domainA.com to www.domainB.com/categoryB - passing the link juice deeper.0 -
Backlinks that go to a redirected URL
Hey guys, just wondering, my client has 3 websites, 2 of 3 will be closed down and the domains will be permanently redirected to the 1 primary domain - however they have some high quality backlinks pointing the domains that will be redirected. How does this effective SEO? Domain One (primary - getting redesign and rebuilt) - not many backlinks
Technical SEO | | thinkLukeSEO
Domain Two (will redirect to Domain One) - has quality backlinks
Domain Three (will redirect to Domain One) - has quality backlinks When the new website is launched on Domain One I will contact the backlink providers and request they update their URL - i assume that would be the best.0 -
301 Redirect non existant pages
Hi I have 100's of URL's appearing in Search Console for example: ?p=1_1 These go to on to 5_200 etc.. I have tried to do htaccess and the mod rewrite is on as I can redirect directories to the root i.e RewriteRule ^web_example(.*)$ /$1 [R=301,N,L] However I have tried all kinds of variations to redirect ?p= and either it doesn't work at all or it crashes the website. Can anyone point me in the right direction to fix this.
Technical SEO | | Cocoonfxmedia0 -
301 Redirect on a PDF, DOCX files?
Hi, I have to rename many pdf and docx files. How can I implement 301 redirect on them as they are linked from 'n' number of places? Regards, Shailendra Sial
Technical SEO | | IM_Learner1 -
A script to automatically write 301 redirect rules to htaccess?
I was wondering if anyone could help provide some resources on how to automatically write 301 redirect rules to htaccess. Allow me to explain... I'm building a new website and the primary users are businesses. They have their own profile pages on the site. The URL is based off of their Company Name. In the event that they decided to change their name... reasons being, perhaps they mispelled it the first time, or they're removing LLC or adding Inc, I want to also change the URL and redirect the old URL to the new URL. Since the URL is based off of their Company Name, making a change to the company name would make a change to the URL. I know it doesn't have to work this way, but for our purpose this works best. In case the old URL had any links to it, I wanted to see if there was an way to automatically update an htaccess file with a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. Could anyone point me in the right direction of how to do this? Perhaps a sample script. I've done a lot of searches on Google and can't seem to find anything. e.g. Original:
Technical SEO | | bimmer540
Name: XYZ Widgets
URL: website.com/xyz-widgets New - business changes their company name in their profile:
Name: XYZ Widgets, Inc.
URL: website.com/xyz-widgets-inc Upon the user saving the changes in their profile, I'd like to write a 301 redirect to an htaccess file:
Redirect 301 /xyz-widgets http://www.website.com/xyz-widgets-inc I know how to manually write redirects and I've got a pretty smart web developer. We've just never triggered a script to automatically write to an htaccess file before. Is this possible? Any resources are appreciated. Any security risks? Thanks!0 -
Delete 301 redirected pages from server after redirect is in place?
Should I remove the redirected old pages from my site after the redirects are in place? Google is hating the redirects and we have tanked. I did over 50 redirects this week, consolidating content and making one great page our of 3-10 pages with very little content per page. But the old pages are still visible to google's bot. Also, I have not put a rel canonical to itself on the new pages. Is that necessary? Thanks! Jean
Technical SEO | | JeanYates0 -
Trailing Slashes In Url use Canonical Url or 301 Redirect?
I was thinking of using 301 redirects for trailing slahes to no trailing slashes for my urls. EG: www.url.com/page1/ 301 redirect to www.url.com/page1 Already got a redirect for non-www to www already. Just wondering in my case would it be best to continue using htacces for the trailing slash redirect or just go with Canonical URLs?
Technical SEO | | upick-1623910