How to Redirect Traffic for Google Search?
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Hi everyone —
I have some questions about how to redirect traffic for Google search purposes. Here’s what happened:
In August, 2009, I moved my blog from http://foodjunta.wordpress.com to http://www.foodjunta.com. It’s still using wordpress, but hosted by bluehost. We transferred all the posts fine, and shut down the old blog with a note to go to foodjunta.com.
Lo and behold, none of our old posts now appear on Google search, and we’ve lost a ton of traffic. A few of our posts were really highly-rated (example: “white wine sangria”) before, and now they don’t show up.
I know this has something to do with redirecting the posts, but I don’t know anything beyond that. Can someone please help me?
Thanks!
ClaireThe blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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All of the links and the ranking that goes with them belongs to the root blog URL at wordpress.com. Without purchasing domain mapping the links are broken. When we purchase it the URLs seamlessly redirect all traffic from the root blog at wordpress.com to the new domain. This is why we purchase domain mapping and renew it every year. http://en.support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/redirecting-your-blog/
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Your new URL is essentially “nobody” as far as Google is concerned. This is why purchasing a unique domain name, whether you stay at WordPress.com or not, is important to do early on. Then all the links and googlejuice accrue to that unique URL, which you can move with you anywhere.
It will take time to build up from scratch; how much time depends on how far you’ve fallen.
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When we purchase domain mapping and URLs seamlessly redirect (302 temporary redirect) that will lead to Google re-indexing the posts so they begin to appear in search results under the new domain URLs.
The blog will have to build backlinks again and the PageRank on the new blog on your domain will drop to 0/10. That can’t be avoided, however, in about 4 – 6 months time, all things considered you may be able to restore it.
This is why I will never start a new blog again without buying a domain for it from the get go.
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I need help. I have started my blog since two mounts ago. But when I tried to search the contain of my blog using google search by typing the key word, it did not work. Could you help me please?
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Certainly, if you promise not to hijack any more threads. It’s considered bad form. There are plenty of threads already in the forum on how to get your blog in Google, so please read those and if you don’t find your answer, post to those instead of adding on to a thread about a different subject:
https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/adding-my-blog-to-google-search?replies=133
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Hello again, and thanks for the responses! Now I understand the current problem, but I’m still a bit confused about the situation.
Is there any hope for redirecting at this point? We’ve closed down the public side of http://foodjunta.wordpress.com, but we still have all the posts intact when I look at the dashboard. It has been almost six months, though, since we moved — is that too late to redirect? (Will wordpress still let me do it? Will it still be helpful for Google search?)
Also, will I have to keep renewing domain mapping indefinitely, or will Google start recognizing the new blog http://www.foodjunta.com after a couple of years?
Basically, what is your advice? Should I redirect at this point?
Thanks!
Claire -
Six months is a very long time. If you had purchased domain mapping ( 302 temporary redirect) when you purchased the domain there wouldn’t be an issue as there is now. I do not know if it it has gone past the point where doing so now would make any difference, as the root blog has been closed to the public for so long. Perhaps Staff can provide some advice http://en.support.wordpress.com/contact/
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@juntaclaire Because your blog is still live and has not been deleted, you can still add a redirect by purchasing a domain mapping upgrade using these instructions:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/redirecting-your-blog/However, how useful it will be could vary. It will depend on how many existing links to your WordPress.com blog URLs still exist out on the web and in Google. What the redirect will do is simply point any URLs from http://foodjunta.wordpress.com/ to the equivalent link on http://www.foodjunta.com/
I think the cost for doing a redirect is pretty low though, so personally I think it would be worth it to get any traffic that might still be going to the old URLs.
You probably wouldn’t need to keep redirecting the WordPress.com traffic to your new blog for years and years. It will be the most useful earlier in the process. If you measure stats with your new blog and see a drop after turning it off, you can always turn it back on again.
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Thanks again for all the help!
Two more (hopefully final) questions:
– Will redirecting the traffic help with Google search? (the reason I want to do it is so people can find my blog through searching, not through old links)
– Currently, my old blog (foodjunta.wordpress.com) is hidden from search engines, and none of the posts are public. Do I have to change these settings for the redirect? (and if so, are there any problems with duplication?)
Thanks so much!
Claire -
1) without looking at the stats for each blog, it’s impossible to tell. It will take all the people still hitting the old blog and move them to the new one; only you know if it’s worth it.
2) yes, I believe you will have to change it. And there shouldn’t be any problem with duplication as long as you set the old posts to Private (you may have to do it one by one) and leave only one post or page standing.
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