301 Redirect Checklist

[sofomor]

Hello All,

Below is the step by step guide to do a safe 301 re-direct:

- Make a list of all the existing pages/links
- Make a list of all the RANKING pages on SERPs
- Make a list of in-bound linking pages (external pages linking to you) and linked pages (pages being linked)

After collecting the above data, do the following:

a) create .htaccess (apache server) or httpd.ini (windows server) file
b) Check the original and destination urls
c) Double check the above data
d) Upload the file
e) Wait for atleast 4-6 months while constantly checking the RANKING/PR changes
f) Link building to be done for the new site
g) Use "robots.txt" to block the old pages
h) Use Google Webmaster Tools to exclude/delete old pages from index
i) Finally delete the old pages from your server

The process of re-direction is complex from situation to situation. The above mentioned points are resultant of my personal experience.

Thank you

[incrediblehelp]

Originally Posted by sofomor

- Make a list of all the RANKING pages on SERPs
- Make a list of in-bound linking pages (external pages linking to you) and linked pages (pages being linked)

Exactly how do you do this for a website with 10k or more pages?

[inertia]

Originally Posted by sofomor

Hello All,

Below is the step by step guide to do a safe 301 re-direct:

- Make a list of all the existing pages/links
- Make a list of all the RANKING pages on SERPs
- Make a list of in-bound linking pages (external pages linking to you) and linked pages (pages being linked)

After collecting the above data, do the following:

a) create .htaccess (apache server) or httpd.ini (windows server) file
b) Check the original and destination urls
c) Double check the above data
d) Upload the file
e) Wait for atleast 4-6 months while constantly checking the RANKING/PR changes
f) Link building to be done for the new site
g) Use "robots.txt" to block the old pages
h) Use Google Webmaster Tools to exclude/delete old pages from index
i) Finally delete the old pages from your server

The process of re-direction is complex from situation to situation. The above mentioned points are resultant of my personal experience.

Thank you

j.) contact as many of your inbound link webmasters as you can and ask them to change the link to your new site.
k.) keep the redirect live in your htaccess/httpd.ini for the rest of your natural life. Just in case you cant get all the links updated!

[sofomor]

Exactly how do you do this for a website with 10k or more pages?

Thats your problem to figure out. Not every single page of your 10k website would ranking top for all of your keywords. I'm not talking about "damage control", its more about "control before damage" to max possible extent.

Thank you