2 replies to this topic

[monkeyhutmagic]

I am thinking about 301 redirecting (using .htaccess) a bunch of paths that I think could possibly be typed in by users trying to guess an address to a particular page to the real corresponding url. For instance, 301 redirect mydomain.com/about-us/ (404 - doesn't exist) to mydomain.com/about/ (real page) or mydomain.com/work/ (404 - doesn't exist) to mydomain.com/portfolio/ (real page)

My question is, is this the correct method for dealing with a situation like this, and are there any potential negatives to doing this? Keep in mind, I'm not talking about hundreds of redirects.. just 1 or 2 alternatives to help users get to the page they are looking for as easily as possible without arriving at a 404.

Cheers,
Justin

[mickmel]

That's a very wise move. You should keep an eye on your 404 logs to see what is actually being mis-typed/linked and correct those.

I have a WP plug-in on some of my sites to log those for me, and then allow me to reassign them to different URLs. Doing this is beneficial for visitors and (unless I'm unaware of something) good for SEO. Perhaps not helpful for SEO if no inbound links are hitting those URLs, but I can't see any reason that it would be a bad thing.

[Jill]

It's fine, but seems like a waste of your time. Instead, look at the 404s showing up in your GWMT account and 301 redirect those.