The 301 redirect 'permanently moved' directive, static HTML to dynamic Joomla (PHP)
If a traditional static html website structure is modernized to a dynamic CMS website (Joomla, WordPress, Drupall, Magento) the website will have a new URL structure and you risk losing visitors and built up ranking with search engines. The URL menu structure will be different and the web pages are not accessible any more via the old path.
This problem can be solved by using 301 redirects in the .htaccess. The code 301 stands for 'moved permanently' and is placed in the .htaccess file in the root of the website.
The .htaccess file is the configuration file with server directives. A 301 redirect tells servers and search engines that a page or website is permanently moved and sends traffic from the old URL path to the new location on the server.
- A 301 is a search engine friendly way to move an existing web page or website
- A 301 prevents loss of page rank and ranking in search engines
- A 301 redirect prevents visitors from getting a 404 error page
- A 301 automatically redirects and sends a request for the old URL to the new location
- A 301 allows complete removal of the old website from the server.
Without redirects visitors who follow the old path to the website will get a Error 404 page 'file not found' and search engines will be unable to locate the new location of the old web page and consider it deleted. After a while the old pages will be removed from the search engine's data base and the new location of the old pages have to build up new ranking from start. This could be a waste if the old page has page rank and shows up in search engines.
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