{"id":24066,"date":"2008-11-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/date-with-googlebot-part-ii-http-status-codes-and-if-modified-since\/"},"modified":"2008-11-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-11-27T00:00:00","slug":"date-with-googlebot-part-ii-http-status-codes-and-if-modified-since","status":"publish","type":"ar_kb","link":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/date-with-googlebot-part-ii-http-status-codes-and-if-modified-since\/","title":{"rendered":"Date with Googlebot, Part II: HTTP status codes and If-Modified-Since"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday, November 27, 2008<\/p>\n

\n Our
\n date with Googlebot<\/a>
\n was so wonderful, but it’s hard to tell if we, the websites, said the right thing. We returned
\n 301<\/code> permanent redirect, but should we have responded with 302<\/code> temporary
\n redirect (so he knows we’re playing hard to get)? If we sent a few new 404<\/code> errors,
\n will Googlebot ever call our site again? Should we support the header
\n If-Modified-Since<\/code>? These questions can be confusing, just like young love. So
\n without further ado, let’s ask the expert, Googlebot, and find out how they judged our response
\n (code).\n<\/p>\n

\"googlebot\"<\/p>\n

\n

\n Dearest Googlebot,
\n Recently, I did some spring cleaning on my site and deleted a couple of old, orphaned pages.
\n They now return the 404<\/code> “Page not found” code. Is this ok, or have I confused you?<\/p>\n

Frankie O’Fore\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dear Frankie,<\/p>\n

404<\/code> errors are the standard way of telling me that a page no longer exists. I won’t
\n be upset—it’s normal that old pages are pruned from websites, or updated to fresher content.
\n Most websites will show a handful of 404<\/code> errors in the Crawl Diagnostics over at
\n Webmaster Tools. It’s really not a big deal. As long as you have good site architecture with
\n links to all your indexable content, I’ll be happy, because it means I can find everything I need.\n<\/p>\n

\n But don’t forget, it’s not just me who comes to your website—there may be humans seeing
\n these pages too. If you’ve only got a very simple ‘404 page not found’ message, visitors who
\n aren’t as savvy could be baffled. There are lots of ways to make your 404<\/code> page more
\n friendly; a quick one is our 404<\/code> widget over at Webmaster Tools, which will help
\n direct people to content which does exist. For more information, you can read the blog post. Most
\n web hosting companies, big and small, will let you customise your 404<\/code> page (and
\n other return codes too).\n<\/p>\n

\n Love and kisses,
\n Googlebot\n<\/p>\n

\n Hey Googlebot,
\n I was just reading your reply to Frankie above, and it raised a couple of questions.
\n What if I have someone linking to a page that no longer exists? How can I make sure my visitors
\n still find what they’re after? Also, what if I just move some pages around? I’d like to better
\n organise my site, but I’m worried you’ll get confused. How can I help you?<\/p>\n

Yours hopefully,
\n Little Jimmy\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hello Jimmy,<\/p>\n

\n Let’s pretend there are no anachronisms in your letter, and get to the meat of the matter.
\n Firstly, let’s look at links coming from other sites. Obviously, these can be a great source of
\n traffic, and you don’t want visitors presented with an unfriendly ‘Page not found’ message. So,
\n you can harness the power of the mighty redirect.\n<\/p>\n

\n There are two types of redirect—301<\/code> and 302<\/code>. Actually, there are
\n lots more, but these are the two we’ll concern ourselves with now. Just like 404<\/code>,
\n 301<\/code> and 302<\/code> are different types of responses codes you can send to users
\n and search engine crawlers. They’re both redirects, but a 301<\/code> is permanent and a
\n 302<\/code> is temporary. A 301<\/code> redirect tells me that whatever this page used
\n to be, now it lives somewhere else. This is perfect for when you’re re-organising your site, and
\n also helps with links from offsite. Whenever I see a 301<\/code>, I’ll update all references
\n to that old page with the new one you’ve told me about. Isn’t that easy?\n<\/p>\n

\n If you don’t know where to begin with redirects, let me get you started. It depends on your
\n webserver, but here are some searches that may be helpful:\n<\/p>\n