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.
Best redirect destination for 18k highly-linked pages
-
Technical SEO question regarding redirects; I appreciate any insights on best way to handle.
Situation: We're decommissioning several major content sections on a website, comprising ~18k webpages. This is a well established site (10+ years) and many of the pages within these sections have high-quality inbound links from .orgs and .edus.
Challenge: We're trying to determine the best place to redirect these 18k pages.
For user experience, we believe best option is the homepage, which has a statement about the changes to the site and links to the most important remaining sections of the site. It's also the most important page on site, so the bolster of 301 redirected links doesn't seem bad.
However, someone on our team is concerned that that many new redirected pages and links going to our homepage will trigger a negative SEO flag for the homepage, and recommends instead that they all go to our custom 404 page (which also includes links to important remaining sections).
What's the right approach here to preserve remaining SEO value of these soon-to-be-redirected pages without triggering Google penalties?
-
Redirecting 18k pages to the homepage is risky for SEO. While it might seem like an easy fix, it could dilute the homepage's authority and negatively impact user experience. Instead, a more targeted approach is ideal:
Category-Based Redirects: Redirect related content sections to the most relevant category or subpage rather than the homepage. This helps preserve relevancy and SEO value.
Custom 404 with Helpful Links: If category-based redirects aren’t possible, a custom 404 page with links to important sections is a good option. This minimizes user frustration and preserves SEO value without overwhelming your homepage.
Overall, avoid overloading the homepage with unrelated redirects to prevent potential penalties or ranking issues. Aim for logical, content-driven redirects where possible.
-
@davidvogel said in Best redirect destination for 18k highly-linked pages:
Technical SEO question regarding redirects; I appreciate any insights on best way to handle.
Situation: We're decommissioning several major content sections on a website, comprising ~18k webpages. This is a well established site (10+ years) and many of the pages within these sections have high-quality inbound links from .orgs and .edus.
Challenge: We're trying to determine the best place to redirect these 18k pages.
For user experience, we believe best option is the homepage, which has a statement about the changes to the site and links to the most important remaining sections of the site. It's also the most important page on site, so the bolster of 301 redirected links doesn't seem bad.
However, someone on our team is concerned that that many new redirected pages and links going to our homepage will trigger a negative SEO flag for the homepage, and recommends instead that they all go to our custom 404 page (which also includes links to important remaining sections).
What's the right approach here to preserve remaining SEO value of these soon-to-be-redirected pages without triggering Google penalties?Redirecting 18k pages to the homepage is risky for SEO. While it might seem like an easy fix, it could dilute the homepage's authority and negatively impact user experience. Instead, a more targeted approach is ideal:
Category-Based Redirects: Redirect related content sections to the most relevant category or subpage rather than the homepage. This helps preserve relevancy and SEO value.
Custom 404 with Helpful Links: If category-based redirects aren’t possible, a custom 404 page with links to important sections is a good option. This minimizes user frustration and preserves SEO value without overwhelming your homepage.
Overall, avoid overloading the homepage with unrelated redirects to prevent potential penalties or ranking issues. Aim for logical, content-driven redirects where possible.
-
@davidvogel said in Best redirect destination for 18k highly-linked pages:
Technical SEO question regarding redirects; I appreciate any insights on best way to handle.
Situation: We're decommissioning several major content sections on a website, comprising ~18k webpages. This is a well established site (10+ years) and many of the pages within these sections have high-quality inbound links from .orgs and .edus.
Challenge: We're trying to determine the best place to redirect these 18k pages.
For user experience, we believe best option is the homepage, which has a statement about the changes to the site and links to the most important remaining sections of the site. It's also the most important page on site, so the bolster of 301 redirected links doesn't seem bad.
However, someone on our team is concerned that that many new redirected pages and links going to our homepage will trigger a negative SEO flag for the homepage, and recommends instead that they all go to our custom 404 page (which also includes links to important remaining sections).
What's the right approach here to preserve remaining SEO value of these soon-to-be-redirected pages without triggering Google penalties?
If you have 18k highly-linked pages, it’s best to 301 redirect them to the most relevant, high-quality destination on your site. Ideally, these pages should point to content that’s closely related to the original topics. If no specific match exists, redirecting them to a broader category page or a useful, high-authority page (like your homepage) is an option. Just avoid sending everything to the homepage if possible, as that can dilute relevance signals. Good luck
-
Recommended Approach for Redirects:
Best Practice: Redirect each page to the most relevant remaining page. This preserves SEO value and improves user experience.Why: Google favors relevance, and this avoids the "soft 404" issue or penalties for generic redirects.
If 1:1 Mapping Isn’t Feasible:Option A: Redirect to category pages or sections related to the old content.
Option B: Split redirects between the homepage and a custom 404 page, depending on relevance.
Avoid These Mistakes:Redirecting all pages to the homepage can confuse users and may not preserve link equity.
Redirecting to a custom 404 loses SEO value entirely.
Mitigate Concerns About SEO Penalties:Ensure the homepage (if used) is relevant, with clear links to key sections.
Use Google Search Console to monitor performance and adjust as needed.
Redirect relevance is the key to preserving both SEO value and user satisfaction. -
What should I do now to get the good rankings in Google search? It's been more than 3-4 months now, Not a single website of mine is getting good ranks. It's because google is not considering backlinking, Or what is the reason behind this?
-
@davidvogel said in Best redirect destination for 18k highly-linked pages:
Technical SEO question regarding redirects; I appreciate any insights on best way to handle.
Situation: We're decommissioning several major content sections on a website, comprising ~18k webpages. This is a well established site (10+ years) and many of the pages within these sections have high-quality inbound links from .orgs and .edus.
Challenge: We're trying to determine the best place to redirect these 18k pages.
For user experience, we believe best option is the homepage, which has a statement about the changes to the site and links to the most important remaining sections of the site. It's also the most important page on site, so the bolster of 301 redirected links doesn't seem bad.
However, someone on our team is concerned that that many new redirected pages and links going to our homepage will trigger a negative SEO flag for the homepage, and recommends instead that they all go to our custom 404 page (which also includes links to important remaining sections).
What's the right approach here to preserve remaining SEO value of these soon-to-be-redirected pages without triggering Google penalties?
If redirecting each page contextually isn’t feasible, consider a blended approach. Redirect the most valuable or relevant pages to closely related section pages, and direct the remainder to a custom 404 page. This preserves link equity for high-value pages while reducing the likelihood of “soft 404” issues or other penalties.
-
@davidvogel said in Best redirect destination for 18k highly-linked pages:
Technical SEO question regarding redirects; I appreciate any insights on best way to handle.
Situation: We're decommissioning several major content sections on a website, comprising ~18k webpages. This is a well established site (10+ years) and many of the pages within these sections have high-quality inbound links from .orgs and .edus.
Challenge: We're trying to determine the best place to redirect these 18k pages.
For user experience, we believe best option is the homepage, which has a statement about the changes to the site and links to the most important remaining sections of the site. It's also the most important page on site, so the bolster of 301 redirected links doesn't seem bad.
However, someone on our team is concerned that that many new redirected pages and links going to our homepage will trigger a negative SEO flag for the homepage, and recommends instead that they all go to our custom 404 page (which also includes links to important remaining sections).
What's the right approach here to preserve remaining SEO value of these soon-to-be-redirected pages without triggering Google penalties?
When dealing with redirects for a site decommission, it’s important to keep SEO value intact. Redirecting all pages to a single destination like the homepage can be tempting, but search engines, including Google, may treat mass redirects to one page as a soft 404, which could diminish SEO strength. A more effective approach would be to redirect each section to the most relevant remaining pages. For instance, if you’re managing content related to video editing software like PowerDirector or Filmora, redirecting each page to an active section on similar video editing tips or resources would make sense. This way, you’re distributing link equity across relevant content and providing users with pages that align with their intent. A custom 404 page with helpful links is a good fallback option for pages without a suitable match.
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
-
Should I redirect or add content, to 47 Pages?
We have an insurance agency website with 47 pages that have duplicate/low content warnings. What's the best way to handle this? I'm I right in thinking I have 2 options? Either add new content or redirect the page? Thanks in advance 🙂
On-Page Optimization | | laurentjb1 -
Reusing an already 301 redirected URL for a very important keyword
I have a question about reusing an already 301 redirected URL Till now I never reused an URLs that has been already redirected with a 301 redirect. However, I just started working on a website where in past they created a lot of 301 redirects without thinking about the future, and now certain URLs, that are currently redirected with a 301, would be very useful (exact match) and needed (for some of the most important keywords for this specific business), to maintain an optimal, homogeneous and "beautiful" URL structure. Has any of you ever reused a URL that was previously redirected with a 301 redirect? If yes what are your experiences with it? Can content on the reused URL (that was previously 301 redirected and than the redirect removed) normally rank if the page is reestablished and the redirect is removed (and you do great content, on page, internal linking, backlinking, .... ) or is such an URL risky / not recommended / "burned" forever and not recommended to be reused again... especially for very important keywords since it present the exact match ?! Thank you very much for all your help! Regards
Technical SEO | | moz46y0 -
slug Link redirect to subdomain?
Hi !
Link Building | | Leviiii
Im Levi new here and new in the world of SEO, please dont judge if my questions are silly. Back on the days when the site was built we thought it is a good ideea to have subdomains that together with the domain name represent our main keywords.
ex. https://stansted.tonorwich.uk, https://heathrow.tonorwich.uk, https://luton.tonorwich.uk, https://gatwick.tonorwich.uk. There is content on this subdomains, would it make any difference from SEO perspective if we create slugs that redirect to these subdomains? for example creating https://tonorwich.uk/taxi-minibus-vip-tesla-norwich-to-stansted that redirects to https://stansted.tonorwich.uk ? Or better create these slugs with slightly different content?
Any ideeas would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!0 -
Adding https version of website: how best to redirect
If I have 4 versions of my site http://www
Technical SEO | | bhsiao
http://
https://www
https:// What is the best way to redirect without losing seo positions? i have been mainly using http://www but have recently added my ssl so https works also. I heard at Moz Con that I should get the https working. All of my marketing and ads are going to http://www 301 redirect 3 of them? Which 3? If https is becoming important, should that be my main url? will it hurt my seo to switch? Thank you so much in advance!0 -
1000 Pages on old website. What to do with the 301 redirects for this domain?
Hi Moz Community, I have a 301 redirect question... I just acquired an old domain: Totally in my niche Domain is 14 years old Website exists of 1000 pages Great amount of backlinks Website is offline since about 2 weeks Will place a new website online asap with new url structure For the 50 best scoring pages I wrote a new, but fully comparable/related article. I will put a 301 redirect from those old to the new pages. My question: What to do with the 950 other url's? Should I put a 301 redirect to the homepage? Should I forward those pages to the 404 page? Should I divide the 950 url's with a 301 redirect to the 50 new ones? Another solution maybe? Any idea what would be the best solution so we can save as much Google juice as possible? Thanks in advance!
Technical SEO | | snorkel0 -
How to find all crawlable links on a particular page?
Hi! This might sound like a newbie question, but I'm trying to find all crawlable links (that google bot sees), on a particular page of my website. I'm trying to use screaming frog, but that gives me all the links on that particular page, AND all subsequent pages in the given sub-directory. What I want is ONLY the crawlable links pointing away from a particular page. What is the best way to go about this? Thanks in advance.
Technical SEO | | AB_Newbie0 -
Can you 301 redirect a page to an already existing/old page ?
If you delete a page (say a sub department/category page on an ecommerce store) should you 301 redirect its url to the nearest equivalent page still on the site or just delete and forget about it ? Generally should you try and 301 redirect any old pages your deleting if you can find suitable page with similar content to redirect to. Wont G consider it weird if you say a page has moved permenantly to such and such an address if that page/address existed before ? I presume its fine since say in the scenario of consolidating departments on your store you want to redirect the department page your going to delete to the existing pages/department you are consolidating old departments products into ?
Technical SEO | | Dan-Lawrence0 -
Robots.txt File Redirects to Home Page
I've been doing some site analysis for a new SEO client and it has been brought to my attention that their robots.txt file redirects to their homepage. I was wondering: Is there a benfit to setup your robots.txt file to do this? Will this effect how their site will get indexed? Thanks for your response! Kyle Site URL: http://www.radisphere.net/
Technical SEO | | kchandler0