Google answered how long the 301 redirect should be kept after the site moved, saying that the year is the recommended minimum length of time.
Why is it a year?
Because it will take a while for Google to deal with major changes like site relocation.
If the redirect is less than a year, then Google may eventually not be able to crawl the link long enough to recognize that the site has been permanently moved.
This topic is highlighted in the latest Ask Googlebot video series on YouTube.
How long should I keep redirects for site movement?
Google’s search advocate John Mueller first clarified the above question 301 redirect Is the correct method to use in this situation.
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There are two main types of redirects people use on websites: 301 and 302.
301 redirect signals to Google that the page has been moved permanent, And a 302 redirect means temporary Page move.
The site move is a permanent change, so 301 is the appropriate redirect to use in this situation.
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Given that the Internet is constantly evolving, you may wonder whether forever really means forever.
Mueller said:
“At Google, we try to reprocess all pages at least every few months. Most pages are checked more frequently. However, the number of crawls is limited, and we have a lot of pages to crawl, so we must prioritize .
When the URL changes, our system needs to view the changes in the form of redirects at least a few times in order to record the changes.
To ensure that the redirect has occurred multiple times, we recommend keeping the redirect for at least one year. “
Regarding site movement, it is not as simple as redirecting the old domain to the new domain.
You must set up a 301 redirect from each individual page on the old site to equal Pages on the new website.
If you do not intend to keep the pages on the old site, there is no need to redirect those pages to the new URL.
It is also important to update all references to old URLs, such as key links from outside the website.
What needs to be clear is that keeping redirects for more than one year is completely fine. You can keep them as needed.
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In order to reduce the potential negative impact of website movement on your SEO, one year is the shortest time to maintain 301 redirects.
For more information about 301 redirects, see:
Featured image: YouTube.com/GoogleSearchCentral, December 2021
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