| |
| |
|
Turn Harmful 404 Error Pages Into Helpful 301 Redirects
It's a fact, Page Not Found, known as a 404 error, can harm your website Ranking with Search Engines as well as being a Turn-Off for Visitors. A search engine that repeatedly gets a 404 error will de-list the page from its index. Too many 404 error pages on your website and its ranking with the search engines will suffer. Visitors are always just one click away from clicking to another search and another website. Present them with a page not found 404 error and these days they'll not stick around long enough to search for your missing page. How Many 404 Error Pages Do You Have Right Now on Your Website ? Unless you check your web stat error logs regularly you'll never know just how many 404 error pages your site has. Even if you don't have a single 404 error right now, I can absolutely guarantee you'll get them. How Can I Avoid 404 Error Pages ? The simple answer is you can't, a 404 error can not be avoided. They happen when you rename a page. How is a 301 Redirect Helpful? A 301 redirect enable you to send you visitor or the search engine to any replacement page you specify. A 301 redirect is also important because it's what's known as a permanent redirect. A permanent redirect is the one preferred by search engines so they are the only ones you should use if you want your website to be search engine friendly. How Do I Setup a 301 Redirect? Basically there are two ways to setup a search engine friendly redirect. One is by directly modifying what's known as the .htaccess file found in the root directory of your website where your web pages are stored. The second way is to use a software redirect script. The advantage of using a redirect script is that you can setup and maintain any number of 301 redirect 's through a control panel. You can also do very clever and helpful things that will make your website even more friendly to visitors and the search engines, but more of that in the 2nd Part of this article. Setting Up a 301 Redirect Manually First let's deal with modifying the .htaccess file to setup a redirect manually just so you know what's required. Then I'll tell you a much simpler way to do this and a whole lot more. First you must find the .htaccess file on your web server. There could be more than one, but you need to locate the one in the same directory as your web pages. On some web hosts the .htaccess file is hidden, it's there but you just can't see it listed when you FTP to your host. On most web servers it's visible, so I'm only going to deal with the visible file. Download the .htaccess file as ASCII not Binary to your PC then open it with a text editor like Notepad or Textpad, not Word. In the .htaccess file, type the following line but substituting your locations for the missing and replacement files shown in [ ] brackets, excluding the brackets. Redirect 301 [relative URL of missing file] [complete URL of replacement file ] For example: Redirect 301 /directory/discover.html For every other redirect required you must add a new line of code to the .htaccess file then FTP to upload it as an ASCII file back to the same location you downloaded it from. If all this sounds quite complicated, you'd be right, it can be. But life gets a whole lot easier in the 2nd part of this article Setting Up a 301 Redirect with Redirect Script Software. Tony Simpson, Advises on the use of Automation in Website Design, Promotion and Optimization of Websites. The 2nd part of his article is at: Setting Up a 301 Redirect with Redirect Script Software where the advantages of using automatic redirects is outlined.
MORE RESOURCES:
SEO.in Named Fourth Best Android Development Company by bestwebdesignagencies ... - Press Media Wire
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
4 Things That Make A Web Site Great First you need original content. Content is the heart beat of any exceptional Web site. Color Psychology in Marketing On the internet we don't deal with face to face selling. The internet is a visual and psychological medium. Website Design For Small Businesses There are many different website design companies, offering different facilities such as flash design, however what should a small business look for when seeking an internet prescence?When choosing which company you would like to build your website, there are many factors which you need to take into consideration.Firstly how much is the website going to cost to build and host. How to Get Your Visitors to Create Content for Your Website An ongoing challenge for webmasters today is to provide fresh content that gives visitors a reason to return to their site. Unless you have a full-time staff dedicated to creating regular content, the time involved can be crippling. Website Polls For You And Your Visitors Setting up a survey on your site is extremely simple and many times just as beneficial, for two main reasons. One, they let you create a more interactive website for your visitor. Handwriting Font Tips - The Personal Touch That Makes a Difference Most websites use similar fonts and as a result have a generic look. So, if you want to differentiate your look and also add a personal touch to your website, consider using handwriting fonts. Do You Really Need A Website? Nope. You certainly don't need a website. Website Registration Roadmap - How to Create Your Own Website in 7 Easy Steps Creating your own website is actually easy in today's world of affordable and free web hosts and website building software. Fortunately, even if you have no Internet experience at all you can simply follow directions and build your own website in seven easy steps. Quality Website Design At An Affordable Price I always have people asking me if I know of anybody who can build them a website which is affordable but also professional looking. They want the website to be search engine friendly, there is no point in having a website if no one can see it, and fully optimised. Website Design: Color Me Blue Chris, a new consulting client, asked me to help him increase sales on his affiliate marketing site.As he was describing his site and the problem, I thought, "This is going to be a quick fix. Looking For A Designer To Re-Design Your Website? If you were like me and you have just started an online business, you have a website that you have made or someone has made it for you, and this design does not match up to your expectations and the competition. Fear not, there is an inexpensive solution to your problem. You Too Can Have Fun With Sepia Images! If you are one of those who wonder how people come up with the cool looking sepia tone prints that you admire so much. If you are doubling up with jealousy over a sepia tone, here, we will give you tips on how you could achieve this sepia tone, too. Elements of Graphic Design for Your Website We've all seen them. Poorly designed web sites that make you cringe as soon as they load. 6 Website Design Disasters and How to Avoid Them?. Let's face it; the line from A Field of Dreams isn't the whole truth. There's more to getting people to come to something than simply building it. Got Web Traffic but Still Low Sales? Ten Ways to Selling Success - Part 2 Part one of this article is available at www.bookcoaching. Creating Quality Websites Websites, there are literally billions of them out there in cyber-space. How many of them do you go to and just think this is boring, bland, or hard to use? It seems like too many to mention. Cheap Web Design If you think it's simply a case of who will do it for the best price, think again.As with many things we buy there are several important factors to take into account. Color Scheme for Your Website? Yes, in a world that is obsessed with makeover madness, even your website needs to follow specific color guidelines when picking out "what it will wear". The colors you use when designing your website tell an awful lot about your business, though you may not know it. Website Design Considerations Q: Should I build and maintain my business Web site myself or pay someone else to do the work for me? -- Wesley L.A: When you say, pay someone else to do the work for you, Wesley, I am going to assume that you are talking about hiring a professional Web site designer to do the work and not your next-door neighbor's teenage son. What Drives Repeat Visitors To Your Site? There can be zillions of reasons why your visitors return to your web site. One might be very interested in seeing your animated photo on your main page, but kidding aside I've gathered 12 elements that invites your visitors to repeat their visits.
|
| home | site map |
| Webdesign-box © 2006 |
