Meta Refresh and google listings

Discussion in 'HTML & Website Design' started by THT, Jun 4, 2004.

0
  1. #1
    If I had a page with meta refresh in it, or some kind of method to redirect to a different page after a certain amount of time, then google would still index the page itself rather than the page i redirected to - right?


    or wrong?

    i bet this would get me penalised though....
     
    THT, Jun 4, 2004 IP
  2. disgust

    disgust Guest

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    #2
    yes, that's right. and yes, it would most likely be penalised unless the refresh rate is quite high.
     
    disgust, Jun 4, 2004 IP
  3. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

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    #3
    You would be better off doing a 301 HTTP redirect. It's arguable wether Google will even follow a meta refresh.
     
    digitalpoint, Jun 4, 2004 IP
  4. THT

    THT Peon

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    #4
    hmmm what about if i detected google as the user agent, then i could show a certain page if it was the googlebot and another page when the user actually visited....

    What about that?
     
    THT, Jun 6, 2004 IP
  5. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

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    #5
    That's called cloaking and an easy way to get yourself banner from the Google index altogether.
     
    digitalpoint, Jun 6, 2004 IP
  6. THT

    THT Peon

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    #6
    and i guess banned as well ;)
     
    THT, Jun 6, 2004 IP
  7. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

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    #7
    Opps... would edit it, but then your post would make no sense. ;)
     
    digitalpoint, Jun 6, 2004 IP
  8. Owlcroft

    Owlcroft Peon

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    #8
    Meta-refresh is a rubber crutch. As others have noted, a 301 Permanent Redirect is the ticket you want.

    That is easily enough achieved in an .htaccess file if your host server is running Apache. There have been threads here explaining the mechanics: Google for them.

    If your host is not running Apache, perhaps it's time to consider changing hosts.

    (An unsolicited, uncompensated endorsement: Pair Networks--http://www.pair.com--is a great host at a very fair price.)
     
    Owlcroft, Jun 6, 2004 IP