301 Redirects: Why They are the Best for Law Firm Websites

If you build or manage a law firm website for a long period, then you’ll inevitably need to delete, move, or recreate pages on your website. 

You want to avoid upright deleting a page from your website because it will create a 404 error. 

In these situations, 301 redirection is your best course of action.

First, let’s dive more into why you shouldn’t just delete an old page from your site. 

How Law Firm Search Engine Rankings Work

Your website’s rankings within the search engines (i.e. Google, Yahoo, etc) are determined by many factors, including the links that are connected to your site. 

Domain authority and page authority are metrics that help to evaluate the links coming to your site. 

Domain authority and page authority are partially determined by how many websites link to the pages on your website. If you delete a page or move it and change the URL, then all of those links you’ve earned over the years will break and your website might lose authority.

When you lose authority, you lose rankings within the search engines. According to Google, 96% of people seeking legal advice use a search engine. In order to be found by those people seeking legal advice, law firm websites must be optimized for search.

In addition to this, search engine crawlers might still look at your old page URL, and you’ll want to create a clear path for them to follow so that they don’t get confused with your site structure. 

How 301 Redirects Work

A component of attorney SEO marketing is ensuring 301 redirects are used every time you remove or move a page. 301 redirects signal to search engines that a page has permanently moved. Furthermore, the link value or authority attributed to the old URL should now be attributed to the new URL.

By using 301 redirections, a lawyer website can maintain its lawyer SEO rankings through site redesigns and small site updates. Other forms of URL redirection like 302 redirects, meta refreshes, or allowing a page to 404 will not have the same impact. They could cause you to lose organic search traffic.

If you’re unsure if 301 redirects have been implemented consistently across your website, be sure to contact us at Law Firm Sites to learn more about our SEO services.