[WEB4LIB] Re: Page redirects (was LibraryLand Index update)

[Sutherland, Paul]

A good idea to add <meta name="ROBOTS" content="NOINDEX"> to a redirect as
well

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Thomas Dowling [SMTP:tdowling at ohiolink.edu]
> Sent:	Wednesday, December 08, 1999 6:43 AM
> To:	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject:	[WEB4LIB] Re: Page redirects (was LibraryLand Index update)
> 
> 
> > ...but many pages have been moved, renamed or removed.  I realized that
> > this is going to cause broken links, and I have tried to outline
> > steps to help minimize this (such as emailing Websites that link to
> > us with the updated URL, updating our 404 error page, etc.).
> >
> > I have created html redirects for our most popular pages, but I'm
> > still not sure that this is the best solution.  We use WebSTAR on a
> > Mac server and I know that I have a few options.  I could create
> > scripts that will redirect a request, use aliases to the new file, or
> > use the old html redirects.   Does anyone know if there are other
> > options for WebSTAR?
> >
> 
> 
> (IMO, of course..)  You'll want to accomplish a couple different things in
> a couple different time frames.  The first is to let human web surfers
> know that the page has changed; I'd recommend putting an HTML file at
> old-file.html that says "Page has moved, here's the new location, update
> your links/bookmarks."  Optionally throw in a meta refresh comment that
> kicks in after, say, 15 seconds.  Since this is a real, available HTML
> file, search engines will index it as such.
> 
> After a while (maybe 6 months?), you'll want to move on to letting the web
> crawlers know your page has moved.  I don't know WebSTAR's gory details,
> but what you want the server to do at that point is to send out a Status
> 301 (Moved Permanently) header with a Location header pointing to the new
> location.  That should get the crawlers to change their links.  If you
> give this another six months or so, you get a sense of the consequences of
> poorly considered site reorganization.
> 
> I would not, at any point, put up a page that immediately used a meta
> refresh or a javascript redirect without giving the user time to figure
> out what was going on or providing an <a href=... link to the new
> location.  This doesn't alert the user to the change and may not provide
> search engines any link they can follow.
> 
> 
> Thomas Dowling
> OhioLINK - Ohio Library and Information Network
> tdowling at ohiolink.edu
>