• majorAlexa

        See all notifications

        Skip to content
        Moz logo Menu open Menu close
        • Products
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Pro Home
          • Moz Local
          • Moz Local Home
          • STAT
          • Moz API
          • Moz API Home
          • Compare SEO Products
          • Moz Data
        • Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Analysis
          • Keyword Explorer
          • Link Explorer
          • Competitive Research
          • MozBar
          • More Free SEO Tools
        • Learn SEO
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
          • SEO Learning Center
          • Moz Academy
          • MozCon
          • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
        • Blog
        • Why Moz
          • Digital Marketers
          • Agency Solutions
          • Enterprise Solutions
          • Small Business Solutions
          • The Moz Story
          • New Releases
        • Log in
        • Log out
        • Products
          • Moz Pro

            Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

          • Moz Local

            Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

          • STAT

            SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

          • Moz API

            Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

          • Compare SEO Products

            See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

          • Moz Data

            Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

          Let your business shine with Listings AI
          Moz Local

          Let your business shine with Listings AI

          Learn more
        • Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Analysis

            Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

          • Keyword Explorer

            Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

          • Link Explorer

            Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

          • Competitive Research

            Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

          • MozBar

            See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

          • More Free SEO Tools

            Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

          NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
          Moz Pro

          NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

          Learn more
        • Learn SEO
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO

            The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

          • SEO Learning Center

            Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

          • On-Demand Webinars

            Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

          • How-To Guides

            Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

          • Moz Academy

            Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

          • MozCon

            Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

          Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
          Moz API

          Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

          Find your plan
        • Blog
        • Why Moz
          • Digital Marketers

            Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

          • Small Business Solutions

            Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

          • Agency Solutions

            Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

          • Enterprise Solutions

            Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

          • The Moz Story

            Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

          • New Releases

            Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

          Surface actionable competitive intel
          New Feature

          Surface actionable competitive intel

          Learn More
        • Log in
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Local
          • Moz Local Dashboard
          • Moz API
          • Moz API Dashboard
          • Moz Academy
        • Avatar
          • Moz Home
          • Notifications
          • Account & Billing
          • Manage Users
          • Community Profile
          • My Q&A
          • My Videos
          • Log Out

        The Moz Q&A Forum

        • Forum
        • Questions
        • My Q&A
        • Users
        • Ask the Community

        Welcome to the Q&A Forum

        Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

        1. Home
        2. SEO Tactics
        3. Technical SEO
        4. Best redirect destination for 18k highly-linked pages

        Moz Q&A is closed.

        After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

        Best redirect destination for 18k highly-linked pages

        Technical SEO
        redirect redirect chain technical seo 301 redirects
        6
        8
        238
        Loading More Posts
        • Watching

          Notify me of new replies.
          Show question in unread.

        • Not Watching

          Do not notify me of new replies.
          Show question in unread if category is not ignored.

        • Ignoring

          Do not notify me of new replies.
          Do not show question in unread.

        • Oldest to Newest
        • Newest to Oldest
        • Most Votes
        Reply
        • Reply as question
        Locked
        This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
        • davidvogel
          davidvogel Subscriber last edited by

          Technical SEO question regarding redirects; I appreciate any insights on best way to handle.

          Situation: We're decommissioning several major content sections on a website, comprising ~18k webpages. This is a well established site (10+ years) and many of the pages within these sections have high-quality inbound links from .orgs and .edus.

          Challenge: We're trying to determine the best place to redirect these 18k pages.

          For user experience, we believe best option is the homepage, which has a statement about the changes to the site and links to the most important remaining sections of the site. It's also the most important page on site, so the bolster of 301 redirected links doesn't seem bad.

          However, someone on our team is concerned that that many new redirected pages and links going to our homepage will trigger a negative SEO flag for the homepage, and recommends instead that they all go to our custom 404 page (which also includes links to important remaining sections).

          What's the right approach here to preserve remaining SEO value of these soon-to-be-redirected pages without triggering Google penalties?

          yamanmajid34 CloutsySMM yomanej2455 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Almeerali
            Almeerali last edited by

            Redirecting 18k pages to the homepage is risky for SEO. While it might seem like an easy fix, it could dilute the homepage's authority and negatively impact user experience. Instead, a more targeted approach is ideal:

            Category-Based Redirects: Redirect related content sections to the most relevant category or subpage rather than the homepage. This helps preserve relevancy and SEO value.

            Custom 404 with Helpful Links: If category-based redirects aren’t possible, a custom 404 page with links to important sections is a good option. This minimizes user frustration and preserves SEO value without overwhelming your homepage.

            Overall, avoid overloading the homepage with unrelated redirects to prevent potential penalties or ranking issues. Aim for logical, content-driven redirects where possible.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Almeerali
              Almeerali last edited by

              @davidvogel said in Best redirect destination for 18k highly-linked pages:

              Technical SEO question regarding redirects; I appreciate any insights on best way to handle.
              Situation: We're decommissioning several major content sections on a website, comprising ~18k webpages. This is a well established site (10+ years) and many of the pages within these sections have high-quality inbound links from .orgs and .edus.
              Challenge: We're trying to determine the best place to redirect these 18k pages.
              For user experience, we believe best option is the homepage, which has a statement about the changes to the site and links to the most important remaining sections of the site. It's also the most important page on site, so the bolster of 301 redirected links doesn't seem bad.
              However, someone on our team is concerned that that many new redirected pages and links going to our homepage will trigger a negative SEO flag for the homepage, and recommends instead that they all go to our custom 404 page (which also includes links to important remaining sections).
              What's the right approach here to preserve remaining SEO value of these soon-to-be-redirected pages without triggering Google penalties?

              Redirecting 18k pages to the homepage is risky for SEO. While it might seem like an easy fix, it could dilute the homepage's authority and negatively impact user experience. Instead, a more targeted approach is ideal:

              Category-Based Redirects: Redirect related content sections to the most relevant category or subpage rather than the homepage. This helps preserve relevancy and SEO value.

              Custom 404 with Helpful Links: If category-based redirects aren’t possible, a custom 404 page with links to important sections is a good option. This minimizes user frustration and preserves SEO value without overwhelming your homepage.

              Overall, avoid overloading the homepage with unrelated redirects to prevent potential penalties or ranking issues. Aim for logical, content-driven redirects where possible.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • yomanej2455
                yomanej2455 @davidvogel last edited by

                @davidvogel said in Best redirect destination for 18k highly-linked pages:

                Technical SEO question regarding redirects; I appreciate any insights on best way to handle.

                Situation: We're decommissioning several major content sections on a website, comprising ~18k webpages. This is a well established site (10+ years) and many of the pages within these sections have high-quality inbound links from .orgs and .edus.

                Challenge: We're trying to determine the best place to redirect these 18k pages.

                For user experience, we believe best option is the homepage, which has a statement about the changes to the site and links to the most important remaining sections of the site. It's also the most important page on site, so the bolster of 301 redirected links doesn't seem bad.

                However, someone on our team is concerned that that many new redirected pages and links going to our homepage will trigger a negative SEO flag for the homepage, and recommends instead that they all go to our custom 404 page (which also includes links to important remaining sections).

                What's the right approach here to preserve remaining SEO value of these soon-to-be-redirected pages without triggering Google penalties?

                If you have 18k highly-linked pages, it’s best to 301 redirect them to the most relevant, high-quality destination on your site. Ideally, these pages should point to content that’s closely related to the original topics. If no specific match exists, redirecting them to a broader category page or a useful, high-authority page (like your homepage) is an option. Just avoid sending everything to the homepage if possible, as that can dilute relevance signals. Good luck

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • Heatheranderson
                  Heatheranderson last edited by

                  Recommended Approach for Redirects:
                  Best Practice: Redirect each page to the most relevant remaining page. This preserves SEO value and improves user experience.

                  Why: Google favors relevance, and this avoids the "soft 404" issue or penalties for generic redirects.
                  If 1:1 Mapping Isn’t Feasible:

                  Option A: Redirect to category pages or sections related to the old content.
                  Option B: Split redirects between the homepage and a custom 404 page, depending on relevance.
                  Avoid These Mistakes:

                  Redirecting all pages to the homepage can confuse users and may not preserve link equity.
                  Redirecting to a custom 404 loses SEO value entirely.
                  Mitigate Concerns About SEO Penalties:

                  Ensure the homepage (if used) is relevant, with clear links to key sections.
                  Use Google Search Console to monitor performance and adjust as needed.
                  Redirect relevance is the key to preserving both SEO value and user satisfaction.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • Heatheranderson
                    Heatheranderson last edited by

                    What should I do now to get the good rankings in Google search? It's been more than 3-4 months now, Not a single website of mine is getting good ranks. It's because google is not considering backlinking, Or what is the reason behind this?

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • CloutsySMM
                      CloutsySMM @davidvogel last edited by

                      @davidvogel said in Best redirect destination for 18k highly-linked pages:

                      Technical SEO question regarding redirects; I appreciate any insights on best way to handle.

                      Situation: We're decommissioning several major content sections on a website, comprising ~18k webpages. This is a well established site (10+ years) and many of the pages within these sections have high-quality inbound links from .orgs and .edus.

                      Challenge: We're trying to determine the best place to redirect these 18k pages.

                      For user experience, we believe best option is the homepage, which has a statement about the changes to the site and links to the most important remaining sections of the site. It's also the most important page on site, so the bolster of 301 redirected links doesn't seem bad.

                      However, someone on our team is concerned that that many new redirected pages and links going to our homepage will trigger a negative SEO flag for the homepage, and recommends instead that they all go to our custom 404 page (which also includes links to important remaining sections).

                      What's the right approach here to preserve remaining SEO value of these soon-to-be-redirected pages without triggering Google penalties?

                      If redirecting each page contextually isn’t feasible, consider a blended approach. Redirect the most valuable or relevant pages to closely related section pages, and direct the remainder to a custom 404 page. This preserves link equity for high-value pages while reducing the likelihood of “soft 404” issues or other penalties.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • yamanmajid34
                        yamanmajid34 @davidvogel last edited by

                        @davidvogel said in Best redirect destination for 18k highly-linked pages:

                        Technical SEO question regarding redirects; I appreciate any insights on best way to handle.

                        Situation: We're decommissioning several major content sections on a website, comprising ~18k webpages. This is a well established site (10+ years) and many of the pages within these sections have high-quality inbound links from .orgs and .edus.

                        Challenge: We're trying to determine the best place to redirect these 18k pages.

                        For user experience, we believe best option is the homepage, which has a statement about the changes to the site and links to the most important remaining sections of the site. It's also the most important page on site, so the bolster of 301 redirected links doesn't seem bad.

                        However, someone on our team is concerned that that many new redirected pages and links going to our homepage will trigger a negative SEO flag for the homepage, and recommends instead that they all go to our custom 404 page (which also includes links to important remaining sections).

                        What's the right approach here to preserve remaining SEO value of these soon-to-be-redirected pages without triggering Google penalties?
                        When dealing with redirects for a site decommission, it’s important to keep SEO value intact. Redirecting all pages to a single destination like the homepage can be tempting, but search engines, including Google, may treat mass redirects to one page as a soft 404, which could diminish SEO strength. A more effective approach would be to redirect each section to the most relevant remaining pages. For instance, if you’re managing content related to video editing software like PowerDirector or Filmora, redirecting each page to an active section on similar video editing tips or resources would make sense. This way, you’re distributing link equity across relevant content and providing users with pages that align with their intent. A custom 404 page with helpful links is a good fallback option for pages without a suitable match.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • 1 / 1
                        • First post
                          Last post

                        Browse Questions

                        Explore more categories

                        • Moz Tools

                          Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                        • SEO Tactics

                          Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                        • Community

                          Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                        • Digital Marketing

                          Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                        • Research & Trends

                          Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                        • Support

                          Connect on product support and feature requests.

                        • See all categories

                        Related Questions

                        • WayneM.

                          Meta name Author

                          wordpress technical seo meta data

                          Hello! I have a problem. I'm using Rank Math for WordPress. But I can’t configure a basic thing such as <meta name="author" content="" />. I had to insert this code manually using the hook. Does anyone know a normal way to do this markup? Example page: https://b-shoes.com/foot-shaped-shoes/ Thank you!

                          Technical SEO | | WayneM.
                          0
                        • Dingos

                          URL structure for same product in multiple categories?

                          url inspection breadcrumbs technical seo seo tactics

                          Hello everyone ! I am building an ecom store using wordpress. I have assigned multiple categories to the same product. What should be the URL structure when users are navigating with different product categories? Categories Assigned: tshirt, blue, striped
                          Product Name: blue-striped-tshirt Option 01: Matching site navigation breadcrumb to product url URL - ecomstore.com/tshirt/blue-striped-tshirt
                          Breadcrumb - home/tshirt/blue-striped-tshirt URL - ecomstore.com/blue/blue-striped-tshirt (canonical to 1 product page)
                          Breadcrumb - home/color/blue/blue-striped-tshirt URL - ecomstore.com/striped/blue-striped-tshirt (canonical to 1 product page)
                          Breadcrumb - home/type/striped/blue-striped-tshirt Option 02: Same product urls and different breadcrumbs based on user site navigation URL - ecomstore.com/tshirt/blue-striped-tshirt
                          Breadcrumb - home/tshirt/blue-striped-tshirt URL - ecomstore.com/tshirt/blue-striped-tshirt (url same as 1 product page)
                          Breadcrumb - home/color/blue/blue-striped-tshirt URL - ecomstore.com/tshirt/blue-striped-tshirt (url same as 1 product page)
                          Breadcrumb - home/type/striped/blue-striped-tshirt I have decided to got with Option 01 so that the product in each category can be ranked according to each category keyword. Which option is the best according to your experience or is there any other best practice?

                          Technical SEO | | Dingos
                          0
                        • TaraLP

                          Delete old blog posts after 301 redirects to new pages?

                          Hi Moz Community, I've recently created several new pages on my site using much of the same copy from blog posts on the same topics (we did this for design flexibility and a few other reasons). The blogs and pages aren't exactly identical, as the new pages have much more content, but I don't think there's a point to having both and I don't want to have duplicate content, so we've used 301 redirects from the old blog posts to the new pages of the same topic. My question is: can I go ahead and delete the old blog posts? (Or would there be any reasons I shouldn't delete them?) I'm guessing with the 301 redirects, all will be well in the world and I can just delete the old posts, but I wanted to triple check to make sure. Thanks so much for your feedback, I really appreciate it!

                          Technical SEO | | TaraLP
                          1
                        • bhsiao

                          Adding https version of website: how best to redirect

                          If I have 4 versions of my site http://www
                          http://
                          https://www
                          https:// What is the best way to redirect without losing seo positions? i have been mainly using http://www but have recently added my ssl so https works also. I heard at Moz Con that I should get the https working. All of my marketing and ads are going to http://www 301 redirect 3 of them? Which 3? If https is becoming important, should that be my main url? will it hurt my seo to switch? Thank you so much in advance!

                          Technical SEO | | bhsiao
                          0
                        • IgorMateski

                          Should I disavow links from pages that don't exist any more

                          Hi. Im doing a backlinks audit to two sites, one with 48k and the other with 2M backlinks. Both are very old sites and both have tons of backlinks from old pages and websites that don't exist any more, but these backlinks still exist in the Majestic Historic index. I cleaned up the obvious useless links and passed the rest through Screaming Frog to check if those old pages/sites even exist. There are tons of link sending pages that return a 0, 301, 302, 307, 404 etc errors. Should I consider all of these pages as being bad backlinks and add them to the disavow file? Just a clarification, Im not talking about l301-ing a backlink to a new target page. Im talking about the origin page generating an error at ping eg: originpage.com/page-gone sends me a link to mysite.com/product1. Screamingfrog pings originpage.com/page-gone, and returns a Status error. Do I add the originpage.com/page-gone in the disavow file or not? Hope Im making sense 🙂

                          Technical SEO | | IgorMateski
                          0
                        • Natitude

                          Best Practice on 301 Redirect - Images

                          We have two sites that sell the same products. We have decided to retire one of the sites as we'd like to focus on one property. I know best practice is to redirect apples to apples, which in our case is easily done since the sites sold the same thing. www.SiteABC.com/ProductA can be redirected to www.SiteXYZ.com/ProductA. My question is how far does that thinking go regarding images? Each product has a main product page, of course, and then up to 6 images in some cases. Is it necessary to redirect www.SiteABC.com/ProductA-Image1.jpg to www.SiteXYZ.com/ProductA-Image1.jpg? Or can they all be redirected to just the product page?

                          Technical SEO | | Natitude
                          0
                        • janc

                          Footer Links with same anchor text on all pages

                          We have different websites targeted at the different services our company provides. (e.g. For our document storage services, we have www.ukdocumentstorage.com. For document management, we have www.document-management-solutions.co.uk). If we take the storage site for example, every single page has a link in the footer to our document management site, with the anchor text 'Cleardata Document Management' SEOMoz is telling me that these are seen as external links (as they are on a different URL's), and I'm just clarifying that would this be a major possible factor in the website not ranking highly? How should I rectify this issue?

                          Technical SEO | | janc
                          0
                        • MarloSchneider

                          How to find links to 404 pages?

                          I know that I used to be able to do this, but I can't seem to remember. One of the sites I am working on has had a lot of pages moving around lately.  I am sure some links got lost in the fray that I would like to recover, what is the easiest way to see links going to a domain that are pointing to 404 pages?

                          Technical SEO | | MarloSchneider
                          0

                        Get started with Moz Pro!

                        Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                        Start my free trial
                        Products
                        • Moz Pro
                        • Moz Local
                        • Moz API
                        • Moz Data
                        • STAT
                        • Product Updates
                        Moz Solutions
                        • SMB Solutions
                        • Agency Solutions
                        • Enterprise Solutions
                        • Digital Marketers
                        Free SEO Tools
                        • Domain Authority Checker
                        • Link Explorer
                        • Keyword Explorer
                        • Competitive Research
                        • Brand Authority Checker
                        • Local Citation Checker
                        • MozBar Extension
                        • MozCast
                        Resources
                        • Blog
                        • SEO Learning Center
                        • Help Hub
                        • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                        • How-to Guides
                        • Moz Academy
                        • API Docs
                        About Moz
                        • About
                        • Team
                        • Careers
                        • Contact
                        Why Moz
                        • Case Studies
                        • Testimonials
                        Get Involved
                        • Become an Affiliate
                        • MozCon
                        • Webinars
                        • Practical Marketer Series
                        • MozPod
                        Connect with us

                        Contact the Help team

                        Join our newsletter
                        Moz logo
                        © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                        • Accessibility
                        • Terms of Use
                        • Privacy

                        Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.