Page 2 of 2
Re: Using 301 redirects for SEO good or bad?
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:36 am
by jcgadgets
I've recently changed all of my product and category URL's (what a NIGHTMARE even for just ten products and four categories). The word "buy" is a very big keyword for my products, so I really needed to integrate that.
While I've already removed them from Google and blocked them in robots.txt, I need to redirect them while they still show up in search results.
At the beginning of my file I have:
Code: Select all
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /StoreFront/
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^([^?]*) index.php?_route_=$1 [L,QSA]
I've attempted the following entries for a particular product, but neither seem to work:
Code: Select all
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} http://domain/StoreFront/Apple-MacBook-MC024LLA$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} !^POST$
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ http://domain/StoreFront/Buy-MacBook/Buy-MacBookPro-MC024LLA? [R=301,L]
Code: Select all
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^Apple-MacBook-MC024LLA$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} !^POST$
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ http://domain/StoreFront/Buy-MacBook/Buy-MacBookPro-MC024LLA? [R=301,L]
I've been able to successfully redirect pages who's URL's start with route= before, but I don't know how to redirect an already SEO'd URL? Any suggestions? I'm just not sure what to put for query string...
Thank you,
Jared
Re: Using 301 redirects for SEO good or bad?
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 5:14 am
by Chones
For that, I wouldn't use mod_rewrite. For 10 products, that's when it's best to use 301 redirects. That's what it is for.
When you change a URL, always use 301 redirect.
Mod_rewrite is for changing things like &product_id=24 to /product-name
Re: Using 301 redirects for SEO good or bad?
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 5:42 am
by jcgadgets
Craig,
Thanks again. I guess I must be even more confused about all of this than I thought. I thought that the above code did indeed perform a 301 redirect, as per the [R=301,L] text at the end?
All of my redirects have been done by using the code in my last post. Are those sort of redirects bad for SEO?
In your example of changing &product_id=24 to /product-name, I've always been taking the whole URL. Example:
domain/StoreFront&product_id=24
redirects to:
domain/StoreFront/product-name
Instead of the above, should I only have:
*&product_id=24
redirects to:
*product-name
Or something, changing only the end of the URL rather than the whole path?
Confused :S
Thank you,
Jared
Re: Using 301 redirects for SEO good or bad?
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:33 am
by Chones
Sorry, wasn't concentrating, didn't see the R=301. I always use this - much simpler:
Code: Select all
redirect 301 /StoreFront/old http://domain/StoreFront/new
So you could try
Code: Select all
redirect 301 /StoreFront/Apple-MacBook-MC024LLA http://domain/StoreFront/Buy-MacBook/Buy-MacBookPro-MC024LLA
The example of &product_id=24 to /product-name - that is about how OpenCart coverts URLs to SEO Urls using the SEO keyword - you don't have to do anything. In fact, forget I said anything about that - I've had a long day
Re: Using 301 redirects for SEO good or bad?
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:42 am
by Chones
Although if no one is linking to the URL just change it and remove the old one from Google.
Re: Using 301 redirects for SEO good or bad?
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 7:20 am
by jcgadgets
Ha, ok - I must admit I got a little confused through there.
What I did get was that I can use the different coding for redirects.
I have input:
redirect 301 /StoreFront/Apple-MacBook-MC024LLA
http://domain/StoreFront/Buy-MacBook/Bu ... k-MC024LLA
What I get:
http://domain/StoreFront/Buy-MacBook/Bu ... k-MC024LLA
...which is a "The page you requested cannot be found!" OpenCart page.
Any ideas?
Thank you,
Jared
Re: Using 301 redirects for SEO good or bad?
Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:57 pm
by jcgadgets
Hey there Craig (or anyone else),
I was just wondering if I might bug you a bit for how to polish off this particular part? I feel like I've almost got it, but for some reason the URL just gets a little screwed up along the way...
Any help appreciated!
Thanks,
Jared
Re: Using 301 redirects for SEO good or bad?
Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 4:15 am
by Chones
Ah, it looks like a problem with 301 and the RewriteEngine. You should try this.
http://forum.opencart.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=24877
Re: Using 301 redirects for SEO good or bad?
Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 2:38 pm
by jcgadgets
Hey thanks a lot! The ? at the end did the trick. The URL itself does keep the ?, which I don't care for...but it's better than a "page not found"!
Thank you,
Jared