Redirects are when users are sent from one URL to another URL. The first URL is the original one that the user clicked on, and then the second one is the other destination. Redirects are set up by website owners for multiple reasons, including a broken page. Redirects are important because it gets the user to where they need to go, improving their experience by letting them avoid broken pages. It can also forward them to the new location, when a URL has been moved.
Key Takeaways:
- Without redirects to working pages, user experience and search engine rankings both suffer.
- Redirects can happen on the server side (e.g., HTT redirects) or the client side (e.g., JavaScript or meta refresh redirects).
- Try to redirect to pages with similar content, and avoid redirect chains and loops.
“Website owners often set up redirects for pages that are broken, contain duplicated content, or were moved to new URLs.”
Read more: https://www.semrush.com/blog/redirects/
