There are a lot of ways to move a surfer to a new URL. The best way is to use the 301 "page permanently moved" header status code. Another way is to use a "meta refresh" header tag. There are several reasons why you should use the former rather than the latter wherever possible.
Meta refresh is a meta markup tag in your html head section which tells the surfers browser software to get a new file. The meta refresh markup tag looks line this:
This tag should be embedded somewhere within the web pages and tag to become active.
Some online marketers warn against using this markup tag! There are three reasons which have been mentioned.
Firstly, meta refresh used to be a favourite technique of Blackhat SEO spammers who would create a keyword stuffed landing page for the search engines, then use meta refresh to redirect real human visitors to a new and less relevent page. For a while sites which did this enjoyed disproportionately high rankings with pretty much any keywords they chose. The major search engines quickly saw what was happening though and banned the offenders from their listings. Even today, meta refresh is still apparently viewed with suspicion by search engines. If you use meta refresh you may not be able to bring your page rank and inbound links over from your old URL or domain!
Secondly meta refresh breaks the back button on older browsers. Pressing back moves the user to the page containing the refresh which then returns the site visitor to the page where they started. Some unscrupulous sites used to use long chains of meta refresh pages to drive the potential customer into a deep well from which there was no escape but to close the browser software or type a new URL into the address bar. Some of these browser softwares are still being used at present and for persons utilising them, meta refresh is a complete pain.
Finally, making use of the meta refresh timeout feature is a dda compliance issue for users with certain dissabilities. Meta Refresh contains a useful feature which makes it possible for you to navigate the potential customer after a short period of time. This is meant to allow surfers time to read your carefully crafted text about how you have changed your name and are now trading under a new identity. For site visitor using screen readers this is an issue because the page disappears without warning, often in the middle of the text and moves somewhere else.
As you can see from this information, it is always worth researching the use of any html tag as to ensure that you are not reducing your search engine friendlyness. This and further articles can be found by followin the URL at the bottom of this article.
For these reasons I would suggest using 301 moves in all cases where it's possible to do so.
Michael Hein manages a large portfolio of domain names for clients. We operate a fair domain registration policy and never assume ownership or tie people in with contractual stipulations. Meta Http Equiv Refresh.
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