MOZ indicates 404 page and 0 backlinks, after 301 redirect. The best redirect solution?
-
Dear MOZers,
I have one concern i would like to ask you..
My website have valuable backlinks to the most important page which is awesome. But, some of those backlinks is old URL which is 301 redirected to the URL I use today. As far as i know 301 redirects pass page rank, so it should be alright. (?)
Link i use today: domain.com/awesome-url/
My backlink: domain.com/old-boring-url/ 301 redirected to domain.com/awesome-url/
What bothers me is that in MOZ report (Link opportunities) MOZ indicates my important URL (domain.com/old-boring-url/) return 404. But, it is not true. It is 301 redirected to domain.com/awesome-url/ and it works! I am worried i am losing important link juice here(!?)
Also, my On Page Grader tool for domain.com/awesome-url/ reports 0 backlinks. And that is not true! I know exactly which websites are linking back, only problem is that those website are using old URL (domain.com/old-boring-url/) to link back to my website.
Am i doing something wrong? Is there a better way to redirect and save valuable link juice for my page?
Thank you very much!
PS
The URL was changed in March 2015.
-
Hi Kevin,
Thank you very much for help. I have sent you an email.
Regards, Dusan
-
Hi Dusan!
If you're still having issues, can you send us your URLs to help@moz.com so we can take a look and see what's going on?
Thanks!
Kevin
Help Team -
Thanks Dirk, i'm on my way home right now. Will do what you recommend later today, and will let you know how it goes.
Cheers
-
Could be that the problem is only occurring in Moz and that in the "real" world there is no issue. Did you see these 404 errors as well in Google Search Console? You could try to visit the "old" url with js disabled & with the Moz user agent ( rogerbot/1.0 (http://moz.com/help/pro/what-is-rogerbot-, rogerbot-wherecat@moz.com) ) to try to simulate what's happening.
Other way of checking could be to check your server log files for rogerbot & try to check there where the 404 response is coming from. A basic guide on how to do that can be found here: https://moz.com/blog/technical-seo-log-analysis)
Without actual url it's difficult to figure out what the problem could be - if you don't want to publish it here you could send it in private message.
Dirk
-
Dirk, thank you for the reply.
I did check the URL via web-sniffer, the http status is 301 moved permanently**.**
Why is it than that MOZ sees it as 404, i don't understand? Also how can I retrieve the value from those backlinks?
Thanks, Dusan
-
Hi
Did you check the http response of domain.com/old-boring-url/ with a tool like web-sniffer.net? It could very well be that you are being redirected when you try to access the url in your browser but that the header is giving a 404 reply.
If Moz only sees a 404 on that url - the backlinks of domain.com/old-boring-url/ will not be counted as backlinks for domain.com/awesome-url/
Dirk
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
-
Nofollow backlinks - are they worth it?
As we all attempt to get backlinks for the sites we manage, I have to wonder if it's worth it at all to get a nofollow backlink. Does Google give and positive credit for a link to a site if it is a nofollow link? Obviously, the follow links are worth pursuing. I'm just trying to gain some perspective. Thanks, Wick
Link Building | | wcksmith10 -
Do Testimonials with backlinks work?
I looked up that testimonials for like, some of our providers, with a backlink back to us, is a legitimate backlink. The thing is they are a provider, not necessarily in the same industry as us. Do testimonial backlinks work?
Link Building | | RafeTLouis0 -
Should i disavow all backlinks?
I am facing a decline in my website over the past 90 days Im wondering if this is due to the recent penguin update. Can someone please give me some guidance? heres my site: USDALoanagency.com
Link Building | | briananglin0 -
Wordpress & On-Page Optimization
Seomoz, Our current SEO provider built a squeeze page using Wordpress. http://www.buddyrents.com/rent-to-own-furniture/spring-hill-34608/ The page has minimal links and the one drop-down menu links to other pages that look exactly the same with the exception of the page name and Google map. Since the pages were built a 2 years ago there have been zero copy changes or code changes until a few weeks ago, yet the provider maintains that there is a maintenance charge to make sure the pages function correctly and are easily read by Google. This sounds like a made up charge. Wordpress pages like these should be pretty stable and search friendly. Am I missing something? Is this common to charge for SEO, On-page SEO and Maintenance for pages that have not changed and only rank if you actually enter the long-tail keywords that match the page title? They also don't create a lot of traffic, but the provider says they are essential to our online footprint. The pages have a PA of 1 and the below on-page links (the exact same links for all 120 pages) | Internal Followed Links | 23 |
Link Building | | Buddys
| Internal Nofollow Links | 0 |
| External Followed Links | 3 |
| External Nofollow Links | 0 | Thank you in advance for your insight!0 -
Backlink Building Places
Where can I go to get follow backlinks to my site to improve my DA and PA, etc?
Link Building | | sansonj0 -
Best way to index backlinks
We have created many high authority back links for our clients and after several months we have noticed 10% or so have actually been indexed (via multiple sources). I am trying to find a way to easily get these backlinks indexed. There is a bunch of software out there, some create RSS feeds and others social bookmark these pages. Any suggestions?
Link Building | | waqid0 -
Contest Page Generating Links
My company is in the middle of a big contest that is generating thousands of backlinks pointing to the contest page on our domain. How do you suggest best using this authority we're building up with these backlinks to spread it to the pages we'd like to rank for, especially after the contest is over and we take down the page?
Link Building | | Hakkasan0 -
Will building up the page rank of a page you have a inbound link bring any benefit?
Right then here we go You have a link in an article on a well known national newspaper site that points at your website. Is there any benefit of linking to the newspaper article in order to build up the PR of the article page and therefore passing over some link "juice"? Sub questions 1. Would it be more beneficial simply to gain links to your main website? 2. What are the chances of the article going into the archives and then at some stage being deleted? 3. If the article link points to a domain, which then forwards to a another domain will this pass on any "juice"? 4. If the article points to a domain that then 301's to another domain will this pass on any "juice"? 5. Does Google simply register the link and "juice" on the first pass or will it revisit and upgrade the "juice"? 6. What are the negatives? 7. What are the positives?
Link Building | | therealmarkhall0