Why is it important to have different versions of URLs? Since one website can have many versions, it's important to have different methods for getting visitors to go through each specific URL. What if someone just went through your home page, and then came back to click on the "about" link, but instead went to the about page? This means your site now has two URLs, and this can be disastrous for SEO.
URL redirects allow webmasters control over how their pages are presented to the visitor. If the redirect is from a domain that doesn't belong to the person who initially came to the site, it can be considered a "redirect" in the eyes of Google, Bing and other search engines. In the wrong hands, redirects can also cause problems with some browsers, which can seriously affect SEO efforts.
The different types of URL redirection (masking, cloaking and domain masking) all have very similar goals. All three are designed to mask the original destination of the user, allowing them to proceed through the redirect without being told that they're being redirected. The goal of masking or cloaking is usually to hide a domain from view in order to prevent any sort of ranking sabotage. In some cases, a site will implement all three methods to get higher rankings. Unfortunately, some of these methods can be very unethical and even unethical at the worst, making the practice a risk for the user and the search engines as well.
A domain masking or cloaking service is a software program that creates a new, fake website that appears to be the original. These types of services are commonly used by hackers to gain access to websites or pages. The server that the page is redirected to actually redirects the users to another website, which may be the home page of an unrelated site or a link that leads to a pay-per-click advertisement. This is often the case when domain names are bought cheap or if owners want to try and fool search engines by using words that aren't commonly searched.
Another common form of URL redirect is the dropdown menu. This is where you enter the target domain or web page and once the domain name has been entered, a dropdown menu will appear above the targeted web page. Sometimes, the dropdown menu will contain a logo for the company or product that the user is shopping for. In some cases, the menu may contain links to other websites that are related to the target domain.
The final type of URL redirection is the '301' tag. The'401' tag is a simple text box that allows the user to enter a value into a web browser's 'about page.
The value of the'401' tag is a special code that redirects the user to the home page of a website. This is the most common type of redirection used.
All three of these types of redirects have their own uses, but there are a number of places where the use of these codes is unnecessary.
In general, it is best to use regular HTML tags, as the use of JavaScript or XML is strongly discouraged. Additionally, using regular HTML tags greatly improves the SEO and readability of the page.
Isn't it better to just have a regular HTML page for visitors? Why complicate the website when you can just have a regular HTML page? No, that's not good either. While you might get some extra hits with a regular website and you will gain traffic with a regular website, you'll lose a lot of hits with a redirect and you'll end up losing money.
The reason is simple. Search engines see a URL as an additional link on a web page. When someone types in a keyword/phrase/subject/name into the search box, the search engines take the full URL - including the link - and they will compare this new link with the ones they already have on their pages and determine how important it is. If the new one is more relevant to what they're looking for, then it is more likely to be clicked. This is how they calculate rankings.
Search engines look at these links as votes for your website. The more relevant the links are, the higher they rank. The more votes a website receives, the more link juice it has. More link juice means more traffic from the search engines, which means more money from the affiliate (if you're selling). And we all know that the more traffic you have, the more chances of making more money.
This isn't a problem for SEO friendly websites. These websites don't really care about getting a lot of votes or links. They only care about one thing: keeping their website visitors where they belong. So long as the content on the page is good (that is, relevant), these businesses can generally count on their redirects to help them.
However, this isn't always the case. If you have a website with a lot of internal links (internal pages, links within the page body, etc.) you could be leaving a lot of potential traffic on the table. If someone comes to your site, wants to know more, and clicks on one of your internal pages... chances are they've just come to your site because they typed in a search query related to your niche.
Say for example you sell dog supplies. Let's say you have three pages within your site: dog care information, a quick get well page and a how-to guide. If you use these three pages to provide your visitors with information, then you're probably leaving a lot of unproductive space on your page. Without SEO, search engines will see this as "empty" space and you'll suffer a loss of ranking. So what do you do?
You use URL rewriting. This is where you take the term "pages" and change it to "keywords" or phrases. The term "pages" becomes "keyword". So when somebody searches for "dog supplies", or some other word/phrase that closely relates to your products, the search engine will recognize that phrase and will give your website higher rankings. The more times your keyword/phrase is used, the better your rankings.
So if you really want to increase your website traffic, think about how you can make all of your pages relevant to your customers. Provide useful content on all of your pages, so that customers won't mind visiting other pages. Place an opt-in box on every page of your website so that customers can subscribe to your newsletter and get special offers and tips. Place a link in your resource box pointing back to one of your main pages. And most importantly, keep these three points in mind whenever you design a new website.
There are a number of different types of URL redirection that are commonly used. They all provide the same benefits, which are to hold a page or domain name to a specific location on the Internet while offering a way to move the page or domain name to another location. The most important thing to remember is to keep the use of these redirects simple. Using a domain name that is only short and sweet will improve your chances of gaining the click-throughs you need to increase the page rank of your website.
Subhasish K owns IBS. He is a web design standards and compliance specialist and educator with 15 years’ experience in usability, accessibility, information architecture, software QA, project management, community management, business ownership, search engine marketing and industry writing. He is also a Sr. Consultant for many web design startups.
