SEO Redirect Best Practices

QUESTION #1 — When doing redirects from a company buying another business do I set up individual page redirects or a domain site redirect to keep the link juice?

ANSWER #1 — To preserve SEO value (link juice) when a company acquires another business and redirects its website, it’s best to use individual page-to-page 301 redirects rather than a blanket domain-level redirect. Here’s why:

Best Practices for SEO-Friendly Redirects

1. Page-to-Page 301 Redirects (Preferred)
   • Redirect old URLs to the most relevant page on the new site (not just the homepage).
   • Helps retain ranking power and user experience.
   • Example:
     Redirect 301 /old-service-page https://newsite.com/matching-service-page

   • Use Screaming Frog or a similar tool to map old URLs to their closest equivalent.
2. Full Domain Redirect (Only If No Equivalent Pages Exist)

• • If the new site doesn’t have similar content, a domain-wide 301 redirect can work.
  • However, redirecting all URLs to the homepage dilutes link equity and can hurt rankings.
  • Example (Apache .htaccess rule):
    Redirect 301 / https://newsite.com/


Additional SEO Tips

• Update Internal Links: Ensure backlinks pointing to the old site are updated to the new URLs where possible.
• Monitor Traffic & Rankings: Use Google Search Console to track any drop in rankings and fix redirect issues.
• Keep the Old Domain Active: Maintain the old domain with redirects for at least a year to ensure link equity passes over time.

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QUESTION #2 — How do I use screaming frog to do this?

ANSWER #2 —You can use Screaming Frog SEO Spider to map old URLs to new URLs efficiently. Here’s a step-by-step guide to using it for setting up 301 redirects after a business acquisition:

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Step 1: Crawl the Old Website

1. Open Screaming Frog and enter the URL of the old website.
2. Click Start to crawl the site.
3. Once the crawl is complete, go to the Internal tab to see a full list of URLs.
4. Export the URLs (via Export > Internal Links).

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Step 2: Crawl the New Website

1. Repeat the process for the new website.
2. This will help you match old URLs to the most relevant new URLs.

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Step 3: Map Old URLs to New URLs

1. Open the old and new URL lists in Excel or Google Sheets.
2. Manually or using a formula, find the closest matching new page for each old URL.
   • Example:
     

     Old URL	New URL
     /about-us	/company/about
     /services/web-design	/services/website-development

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Step 4: Check for Redirect Opportunities

1. If pages no longer exist or don’t have direct equivalents, determine where to redirect them:
   • Best option: Closest matching content.
   • Fallback option: Relevant category page.
   • Worst case: Redirect to the homepage (only if nothing else fits).

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Step 5: Generate a 301 Redirect File

• If your site is on Apache (.htaccess), format redirects like this:
  Redirect 301 /old-page https://newsite.com/new-page

• If using NGINX, use:
  rewrite ^/old-page/?$ https://newsite.com/new-page permanent;

• If on WordPress, consider using the Redirection plugin.

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Step 6: Test Redirects

1. In Screaming Frog, switch to List Mode (Mode > List).
2. Upload your old URLs to check if redirects are properly in place.
3. Review the Response Codes:
   • 301 (Good) → Redirect works correctly.
   • 404 (Bad) → Page not found; fix the redirect.
   • 500 (Error) → Server issue; check configuration.

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Step 7: Monitor Post-Redirect SEO Performance

• Use Google Search Console and Google Analytics to track:
  • Traffic changes.
  • Indexing status of new pages.
  • Any broken links or redirect loops.

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QUESTION #3 — Would you like a template for mapping old and new URLs? 🚀

ANSWER #3 — Here’s a Google Sheets/Excel template for mapping old URLs to new URLs when setting up 301 redirects.

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Template Structure

Old URL	New URL	Redirect Type	Notes
/about-us	/company/about	301	Direct match
/services/web-design	/services/website-dev	301	Slight change in URL
/products/old-item	/products/new-item	301	Updated product name
/blog/2022-news	/news/company-updates	301	Moved to news section
/random-page	/	301	No match, redirect to homepage

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How to Use It

1. Copy and Paste the Old URLs
   • Extract URLs from Screaming Frog (Internal > Export).
2. Find the Closest Matching New URLs
   • Compare old and new site structures and match pages accordingly.
3. Assign Redirect Type
   • Usually, you’ll use 301 (permanent redirect).
   • If a page is gone with no replacement, consider a 410 (gone) or redirect to a broader category/homepage.
4. Add Notes for Reference
   • Document changes (e.g., “merged with X page” or “no exact match”).

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Bonus: .htaccess Redirect File (Apache)

Once you’ve mapped URLs, use this format in your .htaccess file:

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QUESTION #4 — Want me to generate a downloadable Excel file with this structure? 🚀

ANSWER #4 — I’ve generated an Excel file with the URL redirect mapping template. You can download it here:

Download URL Redirect Mapping Template

We hope that was helpful! 🚀