How do I implement 301 redirect with html?

DVDStar · #1 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 07:34 AM

Hi all,

I’ve recently set up a new leaflet printing website to replace my old domain. I know a bit about 301 redirects and have managed to implement one for the home page by replacing the index.htm file with a index.php file, and placing a php redirect in the header.

However, all the other pages of the domain are .htm files, and the host says that I cannot implement a .htaccess file unless I upgrade my account and pay lots more money. Obviously I would prefer not to do this as the site is being shut down.

As a temporary (and not ideal) solution I have used a meta refresh on some of the important pages, to redirect users to the new site. An example can be seen here.

So the question is, does anyone know of a way around this without upgrading my package and spending lots more money on a dying domain?

--------------------------------
Dave

Old Welsh Guy · #2 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 07:55 AM

lots of money? you can get hosting with HTaccess for like £10 a year!

you can't do a 301 redirect in html

twopooches · #3 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 06:50 PM

I am not sure if this is what you are looking for but it seems to offer a variety of solutions. 301 Redirect - How to create Redirects

triumph · #4 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 06:54 PM

Ah this reminds me of a problem I had years ago trying to redirect a typepad site to a domain I purchased.

I met a few folks from Google at a conference, and they recommended a 0 second meta refresh. They said it's not optimal, but it should work. You can google for the instructions.

Good luck!

simonwheatley · #5 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 06:56 PM

Can you create 301 redirects in HTML...

Short answer: no
Long answer: sorry, no

"Hilarity" aside

you might rethink your concern over spending money on a "dying domain". Either the domain gets no traffic, in which case there is a case for not throwing the money away on little traffic... on the other hand if this domain gets a fair amout of traffic you can think of it as spending the money moving a guaranteed traffic stream over to the new domain, and there'll be a time at which the return from that redirection becomes not worth it, when you simply kill that hosting account.

Good luck.

Terry Van Horne · #6 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 07:48 PM

If the host allows you to process html files with the PHP engine then... you can. That requires access virtual hosting often doesn't provide. My server can run ASP on an html page I just had to set the ASP script engine to be invoked on htm extension as well. It's kinda' resource intensive but it allows me to run sponsor scripts in pages I couldn't otherwise do it.

I wouldn't walk away from any domain that has been live for a few years, that IMO, definitely leaves money on the table. Google authority, IMO is influenced by the age of a site.

a_snowden · #7 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 08:13 PM

You shouldn't have to pay more for .htaccess, move to a better web host!

kcire · #8 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Welsh Guy

lots of money? you can get hosting with HTaccess for like £10 a year!

I totally agree!

If a host wants more money while there are competitors that offer the same and in your case more, for the same amount or less money, I would suggest to them setting 'a move of my domain in progress' because I would be leaving them for another 'cheaper and completer' host.

If they value you as a client they will not want this to happen so probably let you place a .htaccess file where ever you want! Or maybe come up with another solution...

Not to be a cheap bastard...but to remind the host that this is the situation and show them that doing something 'extra' will make you a satisfied customer. And what is better then that?

ron angel · #9 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Welsh Guy

lots of money? you can get hosting with HTaccess for like £10 a year!

you can't do a 301 redirect in html

I DID NOT write the following but used it a few years ago when changing sites. worked ok with htm files for what I was doing.hope it is useful to you.
----------------------------
Creating a refresh-style redirect in raw html

Assuming that you have already created the "new" html page that you want people to be redirected to, in the <HEAD> section of the "old" document, you will want to insert the following code:

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;URL=class_wsd.html">

where class_wsd.html is the name of the file you want people to be redirected to.

You may change the number of second before the refresh begins. The number in RED below controls this:

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;URL=class_wsd.html">

You can also change the filename/URL that will load. Again, it's in RED.

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;URL=class_wsd.html">

Note that the content attribute has an unusual format. It has a double-quoted string argument, which is normal, but the contents of that argument are very exacting. The semicolon is required, and there's a sub-attribute URL=

0;URL=class_wsd.html

At this point, you should replace the body of the old page with a courtesy note with text similar to the following:

This page has moved. Please update your bookmarks and visit the new page:
class_wsd.html
The new page will load in a few seconds.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most people use a special meta tag called "refresh" to direct their visitors to the new page. To do this you create a blank page which contains this tag (it is placed in the header). The tag simply says "wait a few seconds then go to a named page".

<META HTTP-EQUIV="refresh" content=
"1;URL=http://www.internet-tips.net/index.html">
This example waits one second, then loads the specified page into the browser.

If you do this, it's a good idea to wait at least 30 seconds and to include a link so the user can click if the browser does not go to the new URL for some reason.
---------------------------------
good luck

pervezalam_mzn · #10 (**permalink**) 06-06-2008, 12:55 AM

hey go through these URL.

http://www.beyondink.com/howtos/301-redirect.php
How to Redirect a Web Page Using a 301 Redirect
301 Redirect - How to create Redirects

It will help you in easy way.

Pervez Alam

DVDStar · #11 (**permalink**) 06-06-2008, 05:49 AM

Thanks for all of your help so far people. I'm going through the responses bit by bit and will hopefully find a good solution.

Cheers
-----------------------------
<please add your link to your signature>

Terry Van Horne · #12 (**permalink**) 06-06-2008, 09:53 AM

Don't use the meta refresh tag it is an old spammers technique for bait and switch.

seopo · #13 (**permalink**) 06-06-2008, 09:54 AM

Can't you just change the DNS of the old domain to point to your new website, then change your htaccess on your new site with your new host?

activeco · #14 (**permalink**) 06-06-2008, 10:12 AM

Yes, you can use meta refresh as Ron Angel suggested in #9 (OK, you already implemented it).
However it is very strange demand from your hosting company as the enabling of .htaccess file is controlled by a single 'AllowOverride' directive in server configuration (your site is on Apache server).

I would suggest immediate migration to another hosting without much thinking.

BSmithTTS · #15 (**permalink**) 06-06-2008, 10:15 AM

It looks to me like you have the two domains hosted with different hosting companies. If this is indeed the case I would simply point my DNS for the old domain to my new host, set up a forwarded/add-on domain with that hosting, then set up my .htaccess file with the new hosting account to do all the redirects.

This way the old site never goes away (until your domain expires) giving you time to get the redirects listed in the search engines. And, you don't have to pay for two hosting accounts during this time.

You could even load the old site on the new domain just to make sure nothing looks different while the redirects take hold.

Of course, if you are using the same host and they do not allow you to go this route, then I would agree with others on here & go get new cheap hosting for the old domain (one that does allow .htaccess files)...

And I also agree that you might try calling the hosting company and speak to a manager. Give them the scoop on why you need this, etc. We do a lot of things with our hosts in developing client sites that are not "allowed" (usually for some random security policy/reason)... we just have to explain why we need it and most of the time they allow it (always on a case by case situation)...

Good Luck with this issue.

Tig · #16 (**permalink**) 06-06-2008, 11:55 AM

We use the Meta refresh a lot, and it can help search engines. For instance, we will set it up this way:

<meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow" />
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;URL=http://www.newurl.ext/filename.html" />

This tells the search engines that the page has moved, don't index the current page any more, and index the new page instead.

Good luck with it, there's no easy solution unfortunately.

Peter (IMC) · #17 (**permalink**) 06-06-2008, 01:33 PM

an htaccess file on your new hosting can simply redirect the old site to the new site. Just point the dns of the old site to the hosting of the new site and redirect in that htaccess file.

richard-s · #18 (**permalink**) 06-08-2008, 08:37 AM

This old page explains how to provide a redirect when you are not able to use an htaccess file.

How to Construct Redirect Pages - Curlew Communications

Richard

nowreturn · #19 (**permalink**) 06-08-2008, 09:22 PM

html, can't implement 301,Client side can 't implement ,you must implement at Server side

Old Welsh Guy · #20 (**permalink**) 06-09-2008, 06:01 AM

I have to agree with some of the things above, apart from "I met a few folks from Google at a conference, and they recommended a 0 second meta refresh. They said it's not optimal, but it should work. You can google for the instructions."

Years ago maybe, but today that would possibly be seen as low level cloaking1 I certainly would not do that. the best IMo are
1. have a go at your current hosting company to provide HTaccess FOC.
2. Pay a few quid and buy some cheap hosting
3. if your new host will allow you to point multiple domains, then use the HTACCESS on the new domain to set up a 301 redirect match in the htaccess.
4. Lose the old domain.

4 is the ABSOLUTE LAST THING I would consider, As Terry VH pointed out, Google places great store on domain age, .

My recommended option would be to place a 301 redirect match from the old domain to the new domain. This will redirect any requests (search engine spiders included), to the coresponding page on the new domain with the instruction "hey mister search engine, remove the page you asked for and replace it with this new page as it is the new home of the page you visited). While not perfect, it is as good as you will get to ensure that there is minimal disruption to your rankings.

The beauty of redirect match (only really viable if the new structure is the same as the old structure and only th domain name element of the url has changed), is that the search engines can see at a glance that in fact it is simply a change of domain name and nothing else. This will allow the trust factor to be transferred to the new domain.

dubbing · #21 (**permalink**) 06-09-2008, 10:56 AM

I would like to know if its possible to re-direct any/all pages from one domain to another ?

For e.g www.123.com is re-directing to www.986.com

in this case is it possibly to re-direct www.123.com/1.htm & other such sub-pages to main site (986.com) ...basically no error 404 should appear for any page for 123.com

Which is the best method to do such re-directions.

Thanks

luigip · #22 (**permalink**) 06-14-2008, 07:56 AM

dubbing try this:

RewriteEngine On

RewriteBase /

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.123\.com$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.986.com/$1 [L,R=301]

dubbing · #23 (**permalink**) 06-22-2008, 05:56 PM

thanks....

I would like to if this method of 301 re-direct is advisable for someone having multiple keywords directing to main site?

if yes...whats the total # cap (if any) to such re-directs so that it doesnt fall under spam

if no...then which method would you suggest

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