[thelist] 301 Redirect or...

[Brian Cummiskey]

Megan Holbrook wrote:
> Pringle, Ron wrote:
> 
> 
>>Should I be creating 301 permanent redirects for main sections of content or
>>just let the old links die a peaceful death and wait for the search engines
>>to re-index?
> 
> 
> It might be a better use of your time to customize your 404 message to 
> include information about the site redevelopment, and suggest pages on 
> the site that might help them find what they're looking for (i.e., site 
> map, search, etc.).

Or take it a step fruther, and do a redirect FROM the 404.  For example:

test.html has become test.asp
so, test.html -> 404.shtml -> redirects to test.asp
then if it STILL doesn't exist, it will return to the 404 page once again.

Tracking it with a cookie or a session of some sort will be necessary to 
avoid endless re-directs.