301 re-directs to similar content, good idea?
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We need to remove about 50 articles from our site, and we can find similar content to re-direct these to.
Would it be a good or bad idea to re-direct this content? Or should we just 404 it?
Should a 301 re-direct always be an exact match?
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first a 301 redirect is only going to help if you have links pointing to the page, if not then I would 404. if you 301, remeber that the page you redirect to, does not have to be relevant to the old page, but needs to be relevant to the link text and the page the link is comming from.
so link text, linking page and linked page should be relevant, the old page no longer counts for anything,
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The 301 has already been answered and I agree.
As to the "Should a re-direct always be an exact match?" If you are speaking of keyword to keyword, url to url (DomainA.com/this-url to DomainB.com/this-url), etc. I don't think so. I have certain sites we handle for clients that over a couple of years are not as necessary. Similar vertical but not exact at all. Think Jelly Beans to Gum Drops. We have taken jelly bean pages and redirected to gumdrop with a nice positive effect. So long as you are ball park with content, I think you should go for it.
A cautionary is that I would not take say a muffler site that is closed and redirect it to a daycare facility, etc.
Hope it helps,
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If you can 301 to similar content, that is the best option, for users and search engines.
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It's always better to redirect rather than 404. I would suggest a redirect.
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