Change directory 1

[Zipster]

Hi,

I have a load of pages under the /destinations directory and have copied it to the /holidays directory and changed all internal links to point to the new (holidays) directory. I have kept the files in /destinations and all links point to the new /holidays content.

I did this about five days ago and google spidered last night but has just updated the existing /destinations content.

What I would like to know is will Google eventually pickup the new holidays directory (maybe during a deep crawl), or do I have to force it to look for the new content by doing something stupid and deleting the /destinations directory?

The site is

http://www.exsus.com

Thanks.

http://www.k.abbott.btinternet.co.uk/

 

[ChrisHirst]

the problem is you haven't given the crawlers a reason to drop the pages in old location. They are still there, and until these are either 301 redirected or they 404 out they will remain.

SE crawlers don't follow links on pages, the are sent from the URIs stored in their database. Eventually they will find the new location, but then you have tne issue of duplicate content and which the SEs will decide to show for queries.
You have also got the one "danger" ref parameter in your querystring, "id". Change it. Sometimes crawlers will not follow links with an parameter of "id" as part of the name. (experience there, not guess work BTW)
There is a way to accomplish this in a SE safe manner, but it will depend on how much control you have on the server or how good your host is.

1/ If you can change application mappings would be first choice. This will allow a redirect direct from page to page.

2/ setting permanent redirects in the IIS MMC would be second.

fallback would be add some code to your existing 404 page to redirect those pages to the correct new location.

A third way would be to make some changes to the IA (Information Architecture) and utilise that combined with the 404 page to redirect.

one point
Your 404 page returns a 200 response NOT a 404. this is a very common error that many make when using a scripted page with IIS.
add

<%response.status = "404 Not Found"%>

AFTER the content has been delivered to the user agent.



Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Woo Hoo! the cobblers kids get new shoes.
People Counting Systems

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

 

[Foamcow]

2 nibblets of useful info there Chris.
Have a doughnut.

Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web design and ranting
Toccoa Games - Day of Defeat gaming community
Target Marketing Communications - Advertising, Direct Marketing and Public Relations
"I'm making time

 

[Zipster]

Thanks very much Chris.

I'll crack on and get it sorted.

Thanks for you help.

http://www.k.abbott.btinternet.co.uk/

 

[Zipster]

Hey Chris?

What about if I did a disallow in my robots.txt file for the old content, would this make the SE go and look for new content in other directorys?

http://www.k.abbott.btinternet.co.uk/

 

[ChrisHirst]

It wouldn't make them look for the new content but it would stop the indexing of the old content.

You can also follow the steps listed here

takes about 4 to 6 weeks usually. Make sure real visitors can get to the new content in the meantime.



Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Woo Hoo! the cobblers kids get new shoes.
People Counting Systems

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

 

[Zipster]

I suppose I come under this one:

"Remove an outdated ("dead") link

Google updates its entire index automatically on a regular basis. When we crawl the web, we find new pages, discard dead links, and update links automatically. Links that are outdated now will most likely "fade out" of our index during our next crawl. "

Internally within my website none of the pages link to the old content, so essentially they are dead links.

Thanks.

http://www.k.abbott.btinternet.co.uk/