Redirect question from SEO point of view

[abbottsys]

I have a big project coming up and I need to get a better understanding of redirects from an SEO point of view.

I realize that a 301 (permanent redirect) is issued at the server level. Are there any redirects that can go in at the DNS level? How do these things effect SEO? Is there is a "correct" way to do this to keep the spiders happy?

I would appreciate any help from an SEO guru who's been through this.

[beu]

Not sure what you mean by DNS level but, "301" is all you need to know.

"If you are permanently redirecting from one page to another, use a permanent redirect (301)."

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=48551&query=301&topic=&type=

Need more?

[abbottsys]

Thanks beu. I was hoping it was that simple, but just wanted to check.

[beu]

Thanks beu. I was hoping it was that simple, but just wanted to check.
No problem, sounds deceptively easy I know!

[abbottsys]

No problem, sounds deceptively easy I know!
Apparently there are a few different ways to issue a 301. Just to get specific, is below the correct way to do it on an Apache Server. I would be using the "To Change domain names:" option.

Using .htaccess for Redirection
When using Apache web server directory-specific .htaccess file can be used.

To Move a single page:
Redirect 301 /oldpage.html http://www.example.com/newpage.html

To Change domain names:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^.*oldwebsite\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.preferredwebsite.net/$1 [R=301,L]

[Marcia]

I had to help someone out with canonical and duplicate content/multiple domain name issues, and this is what I had to do. First I had to redirect non-www to www on the site. Done like this, using mod_rewrite:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.example\.com [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Then, I had to redirect a mis-spelling (two domains, actually) to the correct domain, and I wanted it to resolve to the correct domain whether it was typed in with or without the www.

To keep it simple, this is what worked:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^otherdomain\.com
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.otherdomain\.com
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

So that's what you'd do for:

1) Fixing canonical issues on the same domain, using mod_rewrite.
2) Redirecting one domain name (two in my case) to another using mod_rewrite, so they only resolve for the chosen domain name (as in your case)

[Marcia]

Apparently there are a few different ways to issue a 301. Just to get specific, is below the correct way to do it on an Apache Server. I would be using the "To Change domain names:" option.Right. And two different Apache Modules that can be used for redirection.

To Move a single page:
Redirect 301 /oldpage.html http://www.example.com/newpage.htmlThat's mod_alias (much easier):

Apache Module: mod_alias (http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/mod/mod_alias.html) and Module mod_alias (http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/mod_alias.html)

To Change domain names:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^.*oldwebsite\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.preferredwebsite.net/$1 [R=301,L]That's mod_rewrite (harder, always test carefully):

Apache mod_rewrite Introduction (http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/rewrite/rewrite_intro.html)

[abbottsys]

Marcia - Many thanks for the detailed answer. Very helpful. So, bottom line is that if I want to 301 domains in an "SEO safe" way then I should use Apache mod_rewrite. Correct?

[Marcia]

I'd say mod_alias (because it's simpler) for simple 301 redirection tasks (like a moved file or changed filename), but with two or more domain names in the same hosting space, mod_rewrite is the way to go.

There are other modules available in Apache that do neat stuff, but mod_rewrite is referred to as the webmasters' "Swiss Army Knife" for good reason.

detailed answerThere are no doubt more "economical" ways to do the code, like I believe you only have to turn mod_rewrite on one time. But I just ordered the book from Amazon yesterday (for real), and it won't get here until next week - so for now I stay with the simplest possible way to do things. ;)