Hosting a Search Engine Friendly Site - How to implement the 301 Redirect

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1. To create a .htaccess file, open notepad, name and save the file as .htaccess (there is no extension).
   
   
2. If you already have a .htaccess file on your server, download it to your desktop for editing.
   
   
3. Place this code in your .htaccess file:
   
   redirect 301 /old/old.htm http://www.you.com/new.htm
   
   
4. If the .htaccess file already has lines of code in it, skip a line, then add the above code.
   
   
5. Save the .htaccess file.
   
   
6. Upload this file to the root folder of your server.
   
   
7. Test it by typing in the old address to the page you've changed. You should be immediately taken to the new location.

Notes: Don't add "http://www" to the first part of the statement - place the path from the top level of your site to the page. Also ensure that you leave a single space between these elements:

redirect 301 (the instruction that the page has moved)

/old/old.htm (the original folder path and file name)

http://www.you.com/new.htm (new path and file name)

When the search engines spider your site again they will follow the rule you have created in your .htaccess file. The search engine spider doesn't actually read the .htaccess file, but recognizes the response from the server as valid.

During the next update, the old file name and path will be dropped and replaced with the new one. Sometimes you may see alternating old/new file names during the transition period, plus some fluctuations in rankings. According to Google it will take 6-8 weeks to see the changes reflected on your pages.

Next: Other ways to implement the 301 redirect: >>
 

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