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    4. Should I redirect mobile traffic to a different url? Will it hurt SEO?

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    Should I redirect mobile traffic to a different url? Will it hurt SEO?

    On-Page Optimization
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    • SamCUK
      SamCUK last edited by

      I'm working on a site that has lots of great content and ranks well but essentially the money is generated by affiliate links. I don't have a mobile version of the site but the company I'm affiliated with does offer a mobile redirect to their domain. Will redirecting mobile traffic to a different url hurt my SEO? I think the user will get a better experience by landing on a mobile page but I don't know if google will see it like that.

      Any thoughts?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • bridget.randolph
        bridget.randolph last edited by

        Hi Samuel,

        I understand why it makes sense from a user experience perspective, although I'd be a little concerned that it would be a bit weird, especially if the domains are branded differently.

        I'd probably start by avoiding an automatic redirect. The simplest option is probably to include a prominent CTA on the desktop version that says 'view mobile version at www.otherdomain.com'. If you want to get a bit fancier, you could display a message when a mobile user agent is detected, saying something like 'it looks like you're on a mobile device. Would you like to view a mobile-friendly version of this page?'.  If you do this, make sure that

        • a) the page is still accessible to a crawler with a mobile user agent (in other words, don't require input from the mobile user in order to view the desktop version, just include it as an option)
        • b) use a cookie to avoid asking your mobile users to answer the question again every time they visit.

        If you really want to do the redirect, start by testing on just a couple pages to check for any negative impact before rolling it out further.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • guillermoga
          guillermoga last edited by

          I don't think you will have any problem. It won't be a doorway page or something like that because you are not deceiving the users, you are actually showing them the information they are requesting in the best possible way.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • SamCUK
            SamCUK last edited by

            Thanks for your reply. I makes sense to me to have users land on a mobile page but just to clarify I'd be redirecting mobile traffic to a completely different domain not just a different URL. Will that be a problem?

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • guillermoga
              guillermoga last edited by

              Hi Samuel,

              Google won't penalize you in any way if you redirect mobile users to another URL. Here you can find Google's Recommendations for building smartphone-optimized websites.

              The best way to go for them is building a responsive design, but as you can see, Google encourages mobile redirections too. 

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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