How long should you keep 301 redirects?

[Force7]

Hi,

Back in 2009 I decided to update an older site from .htm  and  .shtml to .php. In order to minimize the impact I would go in every month and do a 301 redirect on the .shtml page to the new .php page. So I have many that range from 2009 through 2010.

I had left the old 301's because I felt they would only be used if needed but I would think I should clean up my .htaccess by removing the old 301 redirects if they are not needed.

How long should you keep this type of 301 redirect?

Thanks!

[eminent]

Hi,

Should the 301 redirects appear in the sitemap.xml as this could get pretty big over the years?

[zigojacko]

Here's another idea. Rather than worrying about numerous 301 redirects, why not just set up a rewrite rule in .htaccess using mod_rewrite (if you're using an Apache server) that rewrites all URL's with a file extension (.htm, .html, .shtml etc) to just end with a trailing slash or not include the extension?

One rewrite rule would then redirect all URL's that have an extension to a version without, and subsequently, this would be the only version that would end up getting indexed in search engines and that anyone would ever see. Plus it keeps your URL structure much cleaner.

[BethA]

This should explain everything for you need to know for a variety of options: http://www.webconfs.com/how-to-redirect-a-webpage.php

Personally I never remove 301's (being a "permanent" redirect), for fear of 404's from some outside links.

Here's a thread from Matt Cutts discussing the difference between 301 and 302 redirects: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/seo-advice-discussing-302-redirects/

[bronxpad]

What's the best way to implement a 301 redirect if you don't have htaccess?

[TakeshiYoung]

Are people still linking to you at your old .htm pages?  Then you should keep the 301s in place.  There's no need to "clean up" your .htaccess.

If you decide to remove the 301s anyway and start seeing a lot of 404s in Webmaster Tools, that's a good indication you should put the 301s back in place.