Sometimes you may need to merge two domains to make them one or change an existing page on your website that has been listed on search engines. So if you don’t let the search engines know about these changes, you will lose current as well as new visitors to your website or that particular web page on your site that has been changed. 301 redirects tells the search engines about such changes that you make to your website.

By using 301 redirects, you will be able to give effective directions to the search engine spiders and also protect yourself from unwanted situations. If 301 redirects are not used, then search engine spiders may easily reach conclusions that you are trying something tricky with them. 301 redirects ensure that the search engines do not end up thinking that you are duplicating content or trying to elude the system.

Use 301 redirects to make search engines aware of the fact that you are working in a straightforward way and not taking any dubious routes to success. 301 redirects is actually one of the best methods of web page redirection. You need to follow certain rules for using 301 redirects on your website:

1. It is advisable not to use a Meta redirect, as it is seen as misleading the search engines. 

2. Files that are downloaded from your website should have a backup.

There are various methods of using 301 redirects for your website. Using a .htaccess file in your root folder is a good idea if you run a LINUX/UNIX box. It may be a very simple text file, but you don’t have to worry about that, as the server will read it. Make sure that the file is done in the right way else your website may become inaccessible to search engines and to your target traffic.