Google "Strongly" Recommends Not Using Meta Refresh Redirects

Jun 28, 2010 - 8:43 am 4 by

In a Google Webmaster Help thread talks about the different types of redirects Google likes and dislikes. I figured, since I just wrote about using redirects for affiliate links, it would make for a nice subtopic.

JohnMu, a Googler, strongly warned against using any type of meta-refresh redirect for any redirects. He said, when redirecting, it should be done on the server side level. Let me quote JohnMu from the thread:

I would strongly recommend not using meta refresh-type or JavaScript redirects like that if you have changed your URLs. Instead of using those kinds of redirects, try to have your server do a normal 301 redirect. Search engines might recognize the JavaScript or meta refresh-type redirects, but that's not something I would count on -- a clear 301 redirect is always much better.

How can you check what type of redirect you are using? SEO Consultants has a nice tool that shows you. You can see, that http://seroundtable.com/ redirects using a 301 server side redirect to https://www.seroundtable.com/:

Server Header Checker

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Follow

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: December 6, 2024

Dec 6, 2024 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google November Core Update Done, Chrome Site Engagement Metrics, Canonicals, 21 Years & More

Dec 6, 2024 - 8:11 am
Google Updates

Google November 2024 Core Update Finally Finished Rolling Out

Dec 6, 2024 - 8:01 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Does Try To Handle Broken Canonicals

Dec 6, 2024 - 7:51 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Search: How Clustering Works With Localization

Dec 6, 2024 - 7:41 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Marauding Black Holes With Clustering & Error Pages

Dec 6, 2024 - 7:31 am
Previous Story: Get Link Value From Your Affiliate Links