What is a 301 redirect?
Definition
A 301 redirect is a permanent forward from one web address to another. When someone opens the old address, their browser and Google are sent straight to the new page instead. Businesses use 301 redirects when they move to a new website, change a page's address or switch domain names, so old links keep working.
Why a 301 redirect matters when you change websites
Over the years, your old site's pages collect links: from your Google profile, from directories, from a local news story, from a customer's bookmarks. Google has also learned which of your pages to show for which searches. Move to a new site without redirects and all of those addresses lead to an error page, and the trust Google built up in them has nowhere to go.
A 301 tells browsers and search engines the move is permanent, so visitors arrive at the new page and Google moves its listing across over time. The number matters: a 302 means temporary, and Google may keep showing the old address. Send each old page to its closest new match, not everything to the homepage, which Google can treat as a dead end.
For contractors, the pages worth saving are usually project galleries and service pages that suppliers and local directories link to. For law firms, it's practice area pages and attorney bios that bar directories and past press coverage point to. For dental practices, it's the new-patient page and any page an insurance directory or referral partner links to.
How to keep your old links working when you move
- List every page on your old site, from its sitemap or by clicking through every menu.
- Mark the pages that get visits or links: services, galleries, bios and contact.
- Choose the closest page on the new site for each old address.
- Set up a 301 from each old address to its match before you switch your domain.
- After the switch, open a handful of old addresses and check each lands where it should.
- Update the links you control: your Google profile, social pages and directory listings.
- Watch Google Search Console in the weeks after for pages reported as not found.
How Future handles it
Moving your current site to Future is free on paid plans. The move tool brings your pages over and lists a 301 redirect for each old address, which you add in Redirects once you publish. Check the list against your own before you switch your domain name, and bring any page you're unsure of to the help chat. Every plan includes help from a real person.
Once the old addresses point to the new pages, Google finds pages with a title and summary apiece, and your company details spelled one way across the site. No website can promise how quickly Google updates its results after a move, so keep an eye on your top pages for the first few weeks.