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Are backlinks lost when you 302 a page? What about when page goes down w/a 404, 500, or other error?

DeeeeeeeeDeeeeeeee the Americas
edited January 2018 in Other / Off Topic
Of course, sometimes it's good to move pages around.

What about linking to (already)  re-directed pages. Is it OK?

What about when a page (that you have backlinks to) is not re-directed, but later turns into a 302. What then?  Is that OK?

Finally, what about when a site page is down with a 404, 500, or other error? Do many types of engines have auto-removal on expired/error links? If so, how long before a link is removed?

Thanks. I know this forum is actually for GSA, specifically, but it's also about the best SEO forum I've seen, with more knowledge here than most other boards combined, def a cool regular user base of experienced SEO ppl.

True, everyone here has different ideas and opinions, but what makes it great is that it's like 100% worth reading. :)

Comments

  • redraysredrays Las Vegas
    301 redirects pass a high percentage of link juice, off the top of my head it's something like 85%. With that in mind:

    "What about linking to (already)  re-directed pages. Is it OK?"

    It depends what you mean by ok. You're creating links that will automatically lose a chunk of their power. If you have a clear reason for doing it - say you're pointing your links at a url shortener because you believe you're less likely to get a penalty this way - then do it, otherwise you probably shouldn't.

    "What about when a page (that you have backlinks to) is not re-directed, but later turns into a 302. What then?  Is that OK?"

    What are you asking? I don't believe 302 redirects pass link juice if that's what you mean.

    "Finally, what about when a site page is down with a 404, 500, or other error? Do many types of engines have auto-removal on expired/error links? If so, how long before a link is removed?"

    If a page is down with a 404 error, you lose the juice from the links pointing to that page. I would assume a 500 error is temporary and nothing would happen, but if it persisted long enough it might be treated as a soft 404 by the search engines. I doubt the sort of engines SER can post to would auto remove error links. If you have legitimate links to a page, on the other hand, you very well may lose them if you let that page become a 404. You should almost always redirect a page like this.
  • DeeeeeeeeDeeeeeeee the Americas
    edited January 2018
    Redrays, thanks for the precise answer. :)

    I'm 100% clear now. I guess sometimes using 301s is OK,. depending on application.  makes sense.

    302s are NEVER good for this sort of consideration. Got that.

    404s must be dealt with instantly!!!!

    (That would be a cool CRON job to check if a page is up and if not restore it from backup A,B,... and/or email you. Couldn't you also CRC or ohter checksum or whatever else for the page and see if it's displaying properly, as per your last "proper checksum" setting for each static page? Doe s this exist?). 

    AND...Other system errors are not looked upon well. I learned this and the 404 the hard way. Pages just now recovering. I can suggest to all GSA users, keep your pages and links alive. My pages took a hit, and it's quite understandable why!!!

    :) Crystal clear.  Thanks again.
  • redraysredrays Las Vegas
    @Deeeeeeee - you're welcome. 404s should be dealt with immediately, but unless something really crazy is happening with your CMS it should be obvious to you when you're removing a page from your website. It shouldn't happen by itself.

    There are all kinds of services for uptime monitoring. You absolutely should be making sure your stuff doesn't go offline. If you use Wordpress, Jetpack has a feature that does it. Clicky offers uptime checks for certain paid versions. You can probably do what you're suggesting with the Scrapebox page scanner, though I don't know why you'd need to - why would only a handful of your pages go offline?
  • DeeeeeeeeDeeeeeeee the Americas
    edited January 2018
    Hmm..I guess you're right. :*

    If a monthly bill somehow wasn't paid b/c a CC# changed, or a site was hacked, or a folder became too heavy with big files (let's say an error  logger was left on), all the pages might be affected. 

    So maybe limit it to one main URL and another random page, per URL?

    Ill look into the WordPress add-ons, def, for my Wordpress sites. Thanks. :)

    But I'd rather have one tracker that I can have running that I can easily add URLs to and I will maybe get a daily email report, and an email if something changed, both for non-Wordpress sites, and even for those, too.

    This seems easy, really. But if it's out there, that's easier!! :p
  • redraysredrays Las Vegas
    If you have Scrapebox you can put all your urls in a text file and use the add on that checks for server response. Anything other than 200 and something is wrong and needs your attention. I think the (paid) automator add on lets you schedule tasks and send emails, but I'm not sure.

    As for checking whether something on a site has changed, I've used this tool for years: https://visualping.io (sort of, it used to be changedetection.com but I think it's still the same basic service). Don't know if this is suitable for uptime monitoring as well, something you could look into.
  • DeeeeeeeeDeeeeeeee the Americas
    Yes, I have SB.

    My first actual proper use of it just ended after being on for a day-and-a-half. I imported one of the giant lists I found online for "GSA", as opposed to using the SB footprints, and a few good KWs for a sub-project.

    I'll check out the SB add-on. Thanks.

    I just went to visualping. Very cool.

    I appreciate your help, man. Have a productive week! :)
  • According to google document described at https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6033049?hl=en&ref_topic=6033084 302 redirect pass link juice. So its not right that 302 loss page rank.

  • DeeeeeeeeDeeeeeeee the Americas
    edited February 2018
    @humancoder: Much thanks for the link!!  Incredible finding out 98% of ppl are wrong on yet another commonly held assumption!!  :o

    301 and 302 away!!!! These are useful, and it's sensible they'd be regarded this way.
  • Deeeeeeee Note that 301 is best where possibly. But there are case when you must use 302,
    Thanked by 1Deeeeeeee
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