What is a 301 Redirect, And What Does It Do?  

You might have encountered a situation when you click on a link that shows up a 404 error page. This happens when a company decides to change the URL. Suppose a company’s URL was ABCD.com, and they change it to BCD.com. Now, if a user goes to their old website URL, they will get the soft 404 error. Here comes the role of a 301 redirect, as it stops the error from popping up by redirecting the users to the new URL. This way, a 301 redirect helps create a good user experience.   

How Can You Redirect a URL Using WordPress Plugins  

You can redirect a URL using WordPress Plugins by following these simple steps:  

1. Install and activate the Redirection Plugin.  
2. Go to Settings and then the Redirection bar and follow the basic setup instructions.  
3. You will now be taken to the Options bar, where you must choose the Redirects option.  
4. Under the Redirects option, you can now view all the active 301 redirects and the one that needs to be added.  
5. To add a new 301 redirect, go to the Add new redirection option and insert the old URL and the new URL under the Source URL and Target URL option.   
6. Now, click the Add Redirect option, and you will see the list of new redirects. 

How Do 301 Redirects Affect SEO?  

301 redirects are used when a website page is no longer available or has been changed. Many companies try to rebuild their websites and tend to change their URL. This is where 301 redirects add value for rebuilding to create error-free website pages. Now, if your website has good user experience, it will undoubtedly contribute to better SEO. So, how do 301 redirects affect SEO?  

• Preserves Link Equity/Link Juice  

Link Equity or Link Juice is a value passed from one page to another based on factors like page authority, HTTP status, etc. It is a measure that tells how much power a backlink has to pass and strengthen onto another site. Now, when you use a 301 redirect, the link equity gets passed on from the old URL to the new one. This way it contributes to making your website look better and thus increases its chances of ranking higher. The 301 redirect indicates to the search engines that the new URL is as good as the old URL via link equity/link juice.   

• A Smoother and Positive User Experience  

If an old URL is changed to a new URL without the 301 redirect, it might land the user to an error page or disrupt the user experience. This can be frustrating for the user and drive them away from your website because of the disrupted user experience. A 301 redirect helps retain a website’s page traffic and popularity. It ensures the user smoothly lands on to the new website URL and gets a smoother and positive user experience. The redirect prevents broken links and errors to ensure that the users and search engines get a smooth way to land on to the new URL.   

• Keeps the SEO Value Intact During Site Migrations  

As mentioned above, a 301 redirect preserves link equity/link juice. By passing on the full link equity from the old URL to the new URL, a 301 redirect keeps the SEO value intact. These redirects guide the crawlers from the old to the new URL so that they understand the new site structure and do not affect SEO efforts for your website. This ensures no degrading in search engine rankings when site migrations occur.   

• Preserves the Old URLs Organic Traffic  

A lot of effort goes into getting backlinks and organic traffic for your website. But if you change your URL to a new one, the old URL becomes inaccessible to users. This degrades your website rankings, and users will have a poor experience, thereby declining traffic. Using a 301 redirect helps preserve the old URLs organic traffic and user experience so that it remains unaffected by site migrations. 

Conclusion  

Sometimes, your company website undergoes a rebranding, a new company name, etc. In such cases, you will have to change the URL for your website. But with change comes consequences. Users may land on your website but with an error or poor user experience, and you would not want that, right? Here comes the role of 301 redirects that help you to maintain your SEO efforts. It preserves link equity and old URL organic traffic, keeps the SEO value intact, and ensures a smoother and more positive user experience.  

 Read more: https://ultimateseohelp.com/308-permanent-redirect-what-it-means-when-to-use-it/

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