Fix the most Overlooked Aspect of SEO – Redirects And 404

301 redirects are necessary from time to time, and even with great care, some important aspects get overlooked and they cause the loss of traffic and slow down your site’s performance. Redirecting old URLs to a new one is crucial, but often gets neglected. The point is to keep the search engine value from the old URL and make sure that users do not get an error if they click the link they find using the old URL.

Is it possible that you have some 301s out there that you don’t need anymore, or you just want to find out more about redirects? If so, here is the perfect chance to do so.

 

Redirects can negatively affect SEO if you use redirect chains, internally link steps with redirects, and have too many unnecessary 301 redirects. However, with a proper tool like 301 Redirects – Easy Redirect Manager, this becomes like a walk in the park.

A redirect chain is a type of redirect that happens when there are multiple redirects from the source URL and the destination URL. This means that users and search engines need to wait longer for it to load (redirect) the last URL, slowing down the performance of the site. When a redirect chain occurs, through each redirect, some authority is lost. Even though Google no longer downranks 301 redirects through the loss of PageRank, be wary as PageRank is not the most important ranking signal that Google uses for ranking sites.

By increasing page load time, the overall quality of your site drop and your SEO will suffer immensely. It is always best to use single-step redirects to lessen the redirect’s impact on load times. There is no need for the redirects to go through multiple steps for a single URL. So, be careful not to stack up multiple or duplicate 301 redirects as you will create redirect chains.

 

WordPress errors are not that common but still, happen from time to time. You have probably already faced some of the most common errors without even realizing the fact and these errors are known as 301 and 404 errors. Let’s dive into some errors, shall we?

 

301 Errors

Informs a client that the destination URL they requested has permanently moved to a new location (URL). If the redirect has been set up correctly, the new location should be attached to the response. Such a response informs the client to use the new URL. To properly set up 301 redirects for your site (e.g. WordPress), it is best to use 301 Redirects – Easy Redirect Manager. We will cover this WordPress plugin later, so stay tuned for more.

404 Errors

Also known as 404 Not Found or Page Not Found error. It is an HTTP response code that indicates that the browser has established the connection to the requested server, but that the server couldn’t find the request. Usually, websites generate a “404 Not Found” when a user requests to open a non-working URL. This is a very common error and is considered a rookie mistake even if you design the 404 page nicely, so it is advised to fix these as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary problems.

 

What are 301 redirects and what do they do?

301 redirects are very useful for managing content such as articles, websites, external links and more. When for some reason, the original URL is down, a redirect transfers the user’s request to a live URL. This way, the user’s request is fulfilled and the best user experience is assured. After redirecting a page, don’t forget to update your backlinks on other sites to send the request to the new URL.

You can manage any content, even search rankings when the URL changes once the content is merged. Basically, it transfers users to a new working URL instead of showing 404 errors as the original URL is down and the content has been moved permanently, while also saving you some time and trouble. 301 Redirects – Easy Redirect Manager is the best plugin for this task, so without any further ado, let’s see some of its features.

 

301 Redirects – Easy Redirect Manager

This open-source (free) software is a highly rated and quite user-friendly WordPress plugin that will help you sort your redirects in no time, while also improving your SEO and overall user experience.

Since most WordPress users are not developers or programmers and therefore do not know how to redirect old or broken URLs themselves by modifying some codes or files, this plugin is perfect for the less tech-savvy people.

The installation process is fairly simple and you can easily manage and create 301 & 302 redirects for your WordPress site through a user-friendly interface. Furthermore, it is useful for safely redirecting backlinks after reposting your content, or when some content on your site expires and you want to send users to a new URL, instead of them getting 404 errors. Moreover, you can redirect your users to pages, posts, archives, and other pages if you wish to. This way, your users won’t suffer from a bad experience and you get to keep their attention.

Besides managing your site’s content, with this tool, you can redirect your whole site if needed. However, this isn’t just about the user experience, but also how search engines and their algorithms see your site, thus affecting your SEO and SER.  Easy Redirect Manager is a very powerful tool to have and is highly recommended by many experts. 301 Redirects – Easy Redirect Manager plugin is compatible with WordPress Version 4.0 and PHP Version 5.2 (or higher).

For example, if you have some older posts that you would like to refresh with some new content, or simply you would like to merge some old content with new, creating a new post with the same or similar topic. By using 301 Redirects, you can save your content, keep the users on your site and most likely increase organic traffic over time.

The most important feature of 301 Redirects – Easy Redirect Manager plugin is that it is the most secure way to relocate any web content without losing SEO, traffic, and backlinks. If you are thinking of redesigning your site, you needn’t worry about the users as they will be redirected to a new URL. This ensures the safety of your content, and more importantly, it’s availability to your users.

 

Using Easy Redirect Manager

The best thing about this plugin is that since you do not need any coding skills, this plugin is super easy to use as the interface is user-friendly.

The first thing you need to do is to upload the eps-301-redirects folder to the WordPress plugins directory, and afterward activate it from the Plugins menu. Now, you can add redirects in the Settings of the 301 Redirect menu. Congratulations, the last thing to do is to set up the requested URL and enter the destination URL. Set the destination URL for the selected redirect, or choose from the menu.

You also have options for exporting redirect lists and tracking the number of redirects and redirected users. However, only use importing and exporting if you know how to handle CSV files.

 

Conclusion

Managing your web content, or the whole website itself, is quite easy with the help of 301 Redirects – Easy Redirect Manager plugin. You can manage and redirect content, and thus rank higher, improve SEO and your site’s traffic. This plugin will benefit you in many ways and is highly recommended as it improves your site’s overall speed, user experience, and more for free.

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