Search engines and browsers are informed by a 301 redirect that a webpage or resource has been relocated permanently to a new location. The server sends a 301 status code along with the new address whenever a user or search engine requests the old URL. The user or search engine is subsequently redirected to the new URL.
Use a 301 redirect if necessary for the following reasons:
- To redirect a webpage or resource that has been permanently moved to a new location.
- To consolidate multiple URLs for the same content into one preferred URL.
- To redirect a non-www version of a domain to the www version, or vice versa.
- To redirect traffic from an old domain to a new domain.
- To redirect traffic from HTTP to HTTPS.
The implementation of 301 redirects takes place on the server, frequently using server-side scripting languages like PHP, ASP, or. htaccess. Additionally, they can be carried out at the CDN level or, in the case of Cloudflare, at the DNS level.
A 301 redirect is a good approach to make sure that users and search engines are led to the proper version of a webpage while maintaining any existing search engine rankings because it transfers practically all of the link juice (or ranking power) to the redirected page.
Additionally, it’s crucial to use 301 redirects correctly, as poor implementation might have a detrimental effect on SEO. For instance, making a series of redirects or moving a page to an altogether separate domain can confuse search engines and result in the loss of link juice.
As pages and resources may move over time, it’s a good idea to frequently monitor and update your redirects. Outdated redirects might cause 404 errors and have a bad effect on user experience.