E1084: Should you avoid 301 redirects because they reduce link equity?

A lot of SEOs still believe that 301 redirects cause a loss in PageRank. That belief made sense years ago. In 2013, Matt Cutts said 301 redirects could result in a PageRank loss. But in 2016, Gary Illyes from Google said redirects no longer lose PageRank.

And Google's own documentation still says that 301 and other permanent redirects do not cause a loss in PageRank.

In this episode, I break down why the old 301 redirect fear is outdated, when redirects are safe to use, and what you still need to watch out for when redirecting URLs.

Covered in this episode: - Why SEOs still worry about 301 redirects losing link equity - The old 2013 Google statement that created the misconception - What Gary Illyes said in 2016 about redirects and PageRank - What Google's current documentation says about 301 redirects - Why 301 redirects are still useful for site migrations, URL cleanup, and domain moves - Why redirect chains are still worth avoiding - Why server-side redirects are better for Googlebot than client-side redirects - Why redirect relevance still matters - How anchor text and link signals can pass through redirects - Why redirecting irrelevant backlinks to unrelated pages is not a magic fix - The Cyrus Shepard case study where a redirected site migration saw traffic increase instead of drop - Why the best redirect is usually one where the URL changes, but the content stays mostly the same

The main point:

If you have a real reason to use a 301 redirect, do not avoid it because of outdated PageRank fears.

Use redirects when they make sense.

Use them for: - Proper site migrations - Better URL structure - Consolidating pages - Moving from HTTP to HTTPS - Moving content to a new domain - Sending users to the right destination - Cleaning up old or unnecessary URLs

But do not use them carelessly.

Avoid: - Long redirect chains - Redirects to irrelevant pages - Client-side redirects - Redirects that confuse users - Redirects where the destination does not match the original intent of the page

301 redirects are not something to fear. They are a normal part of technical SEO when used properly.

⭐️ 301 Redirects for SEO: Google Removes the Penalty (And Cyrus Shepard Case Study) - https://moz.com/blog/301-redirection-rules-for-seo ⭐️ Gary Illyes statement - https://x.com/methode/status/757923179641839616 ⭐️ Google documentation saying 301s don't lose PageRank - https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes

💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/

00:00 301 Redirect Myth 00:27 Google PageRank Updates 00:55 What 301 Redirects Do 01:32 Official Google Guidance 01:55 Redirect Best Practices 02:28 Relevance Still Matters 03:04 Cyrus Shepard Case Study 04:16 Wrap Up

The Edward Show. The #1 search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/

#301redirect #pagerank #searchengineoptimization #linkequity