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"301 Redirects" for Search Engine Optimization

ndhpc
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎25-11-2008

"301 Redirects" for Search Engine Optimization

Until a few weeks ago I thought Search Engine Optimization was choosing whether to use Yahoo or Live or Ask in the top right corner of my browser.... I know a bit more now BUT not enough:-)
How do I get my force9 hosted website to look like one, when at the moment search engines see two -
http://blanchardsecurity.co.uk
and
http://www.blanchardsecurity.co.uk
They both point to the same site
Websitegrader.com and others recommend a 301 Redirect -  anyone know how please?
Chris
5 REPLIES 5
zubel
Community Veteran
Posts: 3,793
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎08-06-2007

Re: "301 Redirects" for Search Engine Optimization

Assuming that the F9 hosting supports .htaccess (which I think it does?)  you need to do the following:
Create a file called .htaccess in the root of your webspace containing the following:

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^blanchardsecurity\.co\.uk [NC]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.blanchardsecurity.co.uk/$1?%1 [R=301,L]

This will redirect any access to http://blanchardsecurity.co.uk/any/page/in/your/site ; to http://www.blanchardsecurity.co.uk/any/page/in/your/site with a "status" of 301, which means "Moved Permanently"
In a short while (a period of a few weeks) all of the major search engines will have noticed the change and redirected their results accordingly.
HTH
B.
ndhpc
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎25-11-2008

Re: "301 Redirects" for Search Engine Optimization

Thanks for that. Made the file as you said but when ftp'ing force9 refused me with this message:
STOR .htaccess.txt
550 .htaccess.txt permission denied
.htaccess.txt 0 bytes transferred
Does that mean force9 does not support .htaccess ?
zubel
Community Veteran
Posts: 3,793
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎08-06-2007

Re: "301 Redirects" for Search Engine Optimization

First thing, it needs to be called just ".htaccess" and not ".htaccess.txt"
Secondly, it will need to be in your "htdocs" folder, and not in the parent folder.
Try that and see if you are able to successfully upload it
B.

ndhpc
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎25-11-2008

Re: "301 Redirects" for Search Engine Optimization

Thanks Barry.
I thought it had to be in the root directory -file renamed and loaded to htdocs fine.
Now to test it. cheers
ndhpc
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎25-11-2008

Re: "301 Redirects" for Search Engine Optimization

Sorted, ta Barry.

now on to keyword analytics:-)