301 redirect for only main pages?

[sisbrown34]

Can I only do redirect for my main pages. FOR INSTANCE HOME PAGE,categories, I dont want to do a redirect for each product or is it necessary?
thanks

[piaf]

It's necessary to do the product pages IF you don't want to lose search engine rankings for those product pages and IF you don't want to be penalized for having duplicate content once your new pages are found by the search engines. Granted, it's a pain in the rear to do (we have close to 1500 301 redirects set up so I feel your pain), but it's VERY MUCH worth it. :)

[sisbrown34]

OMG! so I have to re create a url for all my 350 products? My old store is closed but I know the format prostores uses. DO I have to do this as a preadsheet or can I just add them one by one?

[piaf]

You can enter them one by one by going to Settings > General > Redirect. If you want to do them in a spreadsheet, you can, but then you'll have to pay 3dCart to upload the spreadsheet into your redirect settings. Not sure what the going rate for that is now. :(

[Barry]

You can enter them one by one by going to Settings > General > Redirect. If you want to do them in a spreadsheet, you can, but then you'll have to pay 3dCart to upload the spreadsheet into your redirect settings. Not sure what the going rate for that is now.

Actually, I believe it is now possible to upload them ourselves:
https://support.3dcart.com/index.php...barticleid=498

It's necessary to do the product pages IF you don't want to lose search engine rankings for those product pages and IF you don't want to be penalized for having duplicate content once your new pages are found by the search engines.

So, even if I ....
1. Close my old site shortly after going live in 3DCart.
2. Use the exact same domain and point it to the new site.
3. Name my new pages, products, etc (in 3dC) the EXACT same as my old site.
... I would still need to do 301's for everything? I guess I'm a bit confused as to the "best" way to switch over.

[sisbrown34]

So, even if I ....
1. Close my old site shortly after going live in 3DCart.
2. Use the exact same domain and point it to the new site.
3. Name my new pages, products, etc (in 3dC) the EXACT same as my old site.
... I would still need to do 301's for everything? I guess I'm a bit confused as to the "best" way to switch over.

yep, Barry that seems to be the case. Im looking at atleast 2 weeks of work. Im wodering If I shouldnt set up googlebase until this is all done?

[sisbrown34]

It's necessary to do the product pages IF you don't want to lose search engine rankings for those product pages and IF you don't want to be penalized for having duplicate content once your new pages are found by the search engines. Granted, it's a pain in the rear to do (we have close to 1500 301 redirects set up so I feel your pain), but it's VERY MUCH worth it. :)

Hi Piaf, since youve been there done that! LOL how long does it take for google to recognize the redirect? Also, should I wait to start a google base feed?

[piaf]

So, even if I ....
1. Close my old site shortly after going live in 3DCart.
2. Use the exact same domain and point it to the new site.
3. Name my new pages, products, etc (in 3dC) the EXACT same as my old site.
... I would still need to do 301's for everything? I guess I'm a bit confused as to the "best" way to switch over.

Barry, if your URLs for every page in the new store are EXACTLY the same as the URL for pages in the old store, then the 301 redirects aren't necessary. Redirects are used to point the search engines from the OLD URL to the NEW URL when they are different. :)

[piaf]

Hi Piaf, since youve been there done that! LOL how long does it take for google to recognize the redirect? Also, should I wait to start a google base feed?

Google sees the redirect information as soon as it tries to access a page from your old site. Then the redirect immediately points Google to the NEW URL location and tells Google that the OLD URL is no longer valid and has been permanently replaced with the NEW URL.

And if it was my store, I wouldn't set up a feed until your redirects are in place, otherwise you might get duplicate content penalties.

[Barry]

Barry, if your URLs for every page in the new store are EXACTLY the same as the URL for pages in the old store, then the 301 redirects aren't necessary. Redirects are used to point the search engines from the OLD URL to the NEW URL when they are different. :)

That's what I thought. Just wanted to get some added opionions. To make the transition "somewhat" seamless, I will be using the custom URL's as much as possible on 95% of my new pages. In the future, when I tweak the URL's (in 3DCart for SEO purposes), then I will use the 301's as needed. Hopefully this is the correct way to do this transition. We have had our site on the old cart for about 10 years, so this is a very big change for us!