When you are upgrading to a new website, often your web address (URL) will change for various, if not all, of your pages. In these cases, 301 redirects are of critical importance.

Think of a 301 redirect like leaving a forwarding address with your post office when you move. But instead of a street address, you’re leaving your new URL a.k.a. http://www.YourRetailStoreName.com

301 redirects help your customers find what they’re searching for even though you’ve moved the content to a different address. And because the prior page may have earned a certain status with the search engines, a 301 redirect transfers that valuable ranking power to your new page.

This helps preserve your good search results rankings for the page.

If you don’t do a 301 redirect, then when your customer clicks on your old link they will get a “404 Error” page, which can be annoying. You don’t want to annoy your customers.

How do folks find that old link? Well, it may be that Google or another search engine is serving up the old URL. Or perhaps your old link is embedded on a Yelp Directory or another site.

A 301 redirect will ensure that any traffic heading to the old link is forwarded to the new one.

Make sure your web developer creates 301 redirects for all of your prior pages. If you’re not sure how many prior pages you have on your site, do a Google search like this: Type in the search box …

site:YourRetailStoreWebName.com

… and all the pages Google has indexed will show up. Of course, do this step before launching your new site for best results.

Easy Web Tip #189: 301 redirects help your customers still find you when you’ve moved and they help your rankings stay strong.