301 REDIRECTS CANONICAL AND HTACCESS

How to Redirect a Web Page Using a 301 Redirect And you don't want to redirect web site traffic from your old pages to the new pages without losing your rankings? You can do this by using a " 301 redirect " What is 301 redirect? 301 redirect is the best method to preserve your current search engine rankings when redirecting source pages or a web site. The code "301" is interpreted as "moved permanently". After the code, the URL of the missing or renamed page is noted, followed by a space, then followed by the new location or file name. You implement the 301 redirect by creating a .htaccess file. What is a .htaccess file? When a visitor or spider requests a web page, your web server checks for a .htaccess file. The .htaccess file contains specific instructions for certain requests, including security, redirection, errors and how to handle them. 1. To create a .htaccess file, open notepad, name and save the file as .htaccess (there is no extension). 2. If you already have a .htaccess file on your server, download it to your desktop for editing. 3. Place this code in your .htaccess file: redirect 301 /old/old.htm http://www.yoursite.com/new.htm 4. If the .htaccess file already has lines of code in it, skip a line, then add the above code. 5. Save the .htaccess file 6. Upload this file to the root folder of your server. 7. Test it by typing in the old address to the page you've changed. You should be immediately taken to the new location. Notes: Don't add "http://www" to the first part of the statement - place the path from the top level of your site to the page. Also leave a single space between these elements: redirect 301 (the instruction that the page has moved) /old/old.htm (the original folder path and file name) http://www.yoursite.com/new.htm (new path and file name) When the search engines spider your site again they will follow the rule you have created in your .htaccess file. How to Redirect a Web Page Using a 301 Redirect Notes: Don't add "http://www" to the first part of the statement - place the path from the top level of your site to the page. Also leave a single space between these elements: redirect 301 (the instruction that the page has moved) /old/old.htm (the original folder path and file name) http://www.yoursite.com/new.htm (new path and file name) When the search engines spider your site again they will follow the rule you have created in your .htaccess file. If you have searched long and hard for a redirect not found on these pages and would like to share it with others, Please post it on our blog in the uncategorized section and it will be added. Note; These pages contain information that I have gathered from around the web while trying to solve my own problems with 301 redirection. I make no claim to be a guru, expert or the original author of the information included within these pages. I have included this information to save others from spending countles hours searching for the correct syntax for various 301 redirects.