You’ve spent ages on perfecting your website. You made sure everything was just right, the layout is to die for, and the copy is so crisp and clean that your grandma would be proud to read it. But now, you’re stuck. You’ve designed the perfect site, but you can’t figure out how to get visitors to actually go there. You get a few views a day at best. That’s it. Nothing spectacular. And since you’re basically doing it all by yourself, there’s no one to help you figure out what’s wrong. It’s a catch-22 situation. So you think to yourself, why not just redirect it to a simple homepage with a big redirection button? That’ll make it easier for everyone to find what they’re looking for, right?

The catch is that you’ll have to tell Google and the other search engines that your old URL (website address) is now dead. Meaning, you’ll have to find a new one. But you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket, so you want to make sure that your new URL works as hard as your old one. How hard can it be to find the perfect URL when you’re essentially running your own SEO (search engine optimization) campaign?

The problem is that you don’t know where to start. You’ve been doing SEO for years, and it’s been working for your other websites. But this is your first time trying to execute a redirect from a brand new website. And trust me, it’s not as easy as it seems. Especially since Google keeps changing the rules. So you have to keep on top of the changes, or else your site could be penalized. Plus, you don’t want to go through the trouble of finding the perfect URL, and then have it not work when you need it the most.

Fortunately, in today’s world, there are tools that can make the process a lot simpler. And most importantly, a lot less stressful. We’re not going to waste your time with a complicated tutorial on how to perform a 301 redirect. Instead, we’re going to teach you the basics, and how to easily find the right tool for the job. So you can finally sit back and enjoy your well-deserved coffee breaks.

What is a 301 Redirect?

A 301 redirect is a type of HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) header that instructs the browser to redirect the visitor to a new location. So if someone comes to your old blog post and clicks on a link that takes them to a different site, their browser will automatically perform a redirect and take them to the new location. When a webmaster or SEO (search engine optimization) agent performs a 301 redirect, they are essentially telling the search engines that your old URL (website address) is now obsolete, and you should be indexed under a different URL.

This is a fairly easy and common practice to implement. Especially now that Google has adopted a ‘Do No Evil’ policy. Which basically means that while Google still tries to provide users with the best possible experience, they won’t always act in your favor. Which can be extremely frustrating if you’re not aware of it. So webmasters and SEO agents always try to create as much credibility as possible for their websites and platforms. Which is why they spend so much time optimizing their sites. Building backlinks and publishing amazing content. All of which contributes to making their site more credible. And therefore more likely to be ranked high in the search engines.

Why Should You Do A 301 Redirect?

There are two primary reasons why you would want to perform a 301 redirect. The first, and most obvious, is that you have a new website that you want to point people to. Whether it’s a blog, an e-commerce store, or any other type of website or platform. If someone clicks on a dead link and lands on a specific page on your site, they’ll hopefully never make it to that page. So it’s best to point them to a new, working link.

The second reason is that you want to make sure that your old URL retains as much credibility as possible. Meaning, you don’t want to completely lose all track of how many people are coming to your old blog post. If that were to happen, it could potentially damage your SEO rankings, and lead to a significant drop in traffic. Especially if it were to happen overnight, and without you being able to do anything about it.

How To Find The Right URL?

If you’re looking for a new URL, one that you can redirect to, it’s important to keep some things in mind. First and foremost, make sure that it’s both SEO and user-friendly. Meaning, make sure that it’s easy to remember, and easy for your target audience to find.

If you’re looking for a tool to find the perfect URL, we recommend you check out this tool from Linkconnect.

This handy tool will scan your website, quickly and easily finding all the existing links. With the click of a button, you can easily find a new URL, and within minutes, you’ll have a perfectly viable URL, to redirect to.

This is an essential step to take before going through with a redirect. It ensures that your old URL continues to be available for use, as it’ll still show up in the search engines, until you choose to remove it. Which you can do at any time.

Setting Up The Redirect

Once you have your new URL, it’s time to set up the redirect. Go back to your old blog post, and look for a

header

(the header section of the post). Click on the “Edit link”, and then click on the “Preview” button to see how it looks.

Take a look at the URL and see if it looks right. If it doesn’t, there’s no point in proceeding. You’ll have to find a new URL that works better for your blog post, or delete the old one and start over again.

Once you’re satisfied that it looks good, it’s time to press the “Update” button. This will initiate the redirect process. You can choose whether or not to make the redirect permanent, by checking the box next to the “Permanent” button.

Once you’ve verified that the redirect is live, it’s time to sit back and enjoy the influx of traffic.

Don’t Forget About The Robots!

If you set up the redirect correctly, it won’t be long before you see a significant increase in traffic. Especially if you’re getting a decent amount of daily views. Meaning, it’ll be a while before you actually have to worry about hitting your daily view limit.

But just because you have a lot of traffic, doesn’t mean that you want to forget about the other webmasters and SEO agents out there. Meaning, the people that are coming to your site, and how well you’re doing, relative to others.

Robots are a major factor in how well your site does in the search engine rankings. Meaning, if you want to be found when someone performs a search query, you’ll have to make sure that your site is prepared for robots as well. Which brings us to our next point.

Is Your Site Prepared For Robot Visitations?

One of the most basic and fundamental things that you can do to improve your site’s SEO (search engine optimization) is to prepare it for robot visitations. This means that if a robot (a program that indexes the web) runs into your website and encounters some issues while trying to index it, that you’ll be able to resolve easily. Meaning, if there’s something wrong with the way that a robots finds your content, or the way that it parses the text on your site, you’ll be able to correct it, and have them keep coming back for more.

If your site is not prepared for robots, it’ll be extremely difficult for it to perform well in the search engine rankings. Especially since it’ll be up against all types of sites, that are optimized for search. So it’s best to get started right away.

Final Takeaway

Hopefully, this article gave you enough information to easily find the right URL for your new blog post or website. If you have a new blog post, it’s time to find the right URL for it. Just remember that the process can be a lot easier, if you use the right tools. Especially if you’re doing it all by yourself, which most of us are. So good luck out there.