Reputation: 993
I have been asked by a client to return a 410 Status code for some URLs in a previous version of there site.
I have two options for how to programe this (based on constraints outside the scope of this request)
Option 1 this is easy to implement: use an existing old urls redirector (301 status code) to redirect all those urls to a single page, and have that page return an (410 status) code.
Option 2 harder to implement: write a feature to return the 410 status codes directly.
The question: will google(and others) do the right thing with option 1?
Upvotes: 1
Views: 704
Reputation: 3309
I am pretty sure google will tag your page as 301 with option 1.
Option 2, even if harder feels much safer (but you already know that :))
Upvotes: 1
Reputation: 9216
You'll probably want to return the 410 directly, unless you are 100% there are no possible client connections made to the site which cannot correctly interpret the 301.
I would opt for the direct 410 to keep http integrity.
Upvotes: 2