Google Can Forward Ranking Signals Without A 301 Redirect

Google’s John Mueller says, in some cases, it’s possible to forward ranking signals from an old URL to a new URL without a 301 redirect.

This is mentioned during Mueller’s weekly Google SEO hangout recorded on June 4.

A site owner submits a question, noting that they’re working on a site that’s changed a number of URLs without adding 301 redirects right away.

They ask if there’s a time limit for implementing a 301 redirect before the absence of one starts to impact rankings.

When changing the URL of an existing page, it’s an SEO best practice to set up a redirect from the old URL to the new one so the ranking signals carry over.

This can help a page maintain its position in the SERPs with its new URL.

It turns out that site owners are not completely out of luck if they don’t set up redirects immediately, as Google is capable of forwarding signals on its own.

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Here’s Mueller’s full response.

Google’s John Mueller on Forwarding Ranking Signals
Mueller tells the site owner that Google can forward ranking signals without the assistance of a 301 redirect.

But, of course, it depends.

That may be reassuring to hear if you find yourself in a similar situation with your site, but there are a couple of ‘ifs’ to whether signals will be forwarded.

Based on Mueller’s response, it sounds like these conditions need to be met:

If a URL is changed, but the content stays the same, then Google can forward the signals.
If Google recognizes the new URL as the canonical version, then it can forward the signals.
On the other hand, if page’s content changes along with the URL, then it sounds less likely that Google will be able to forward the signals.

In addition, there’s always the chance that Google will see the old URL as canonical, in which case signals won’t be forwarded.

Always aim for setting up manual redirects rather than depending on Google. If they’re not set up right away, then it’s good to know Google may be able to forward signals on its own.