Best for SEO at root - index.html, index.php or redirect?

[revolutionsales]

My isp requires the cart be in it's own folder so I've been placing a index.html copy of the storefront (cut and paste 'View Source' code from the cart's index.php) there. Recently I've replaced it with a index.php at the root, with the contents:

 

<?php 
echo file_get_contents ('http://mysite.com/catalog/index.php'); 
?>

 

Just wondering from a SEO standpoint, between the two methods above and a redirect, which of the three is best to use when it's not possible to have your cart at the site root. I know redirects aren't ideal but I'm not sure if either of the index methods are consider by search engines to be duplicate pages.

[Jack_mcs]

I've never seen file_get_contents used for that purpose before but I suspect it is not good. The best solution would be to switch to a real host, of course, but short of that, use an .htaccess file or header command to do the redirect. Be sure to return a 301.

 

Jack

[revolutionsales]

Thanks, redirect it is.

 

Regarding moving, what effect would moving up a level have on SE rankings? Google has around 2200 of my pages indexed, all with /catalog/.

[Jack_mcs]

Moving the site to the root will lower the index posiiton of whichever pages are currently indexed. You would need to add a 301 redirect for those pages and the rankings should recover in a few weeks.

 

Jack

[revolutionsales]

Thank you for your answers and sorry, one more question. Would I need to place a redirect file for each individual product/page to it's new location? If so, is there a quick method of implementing 301s on all of the pages?

[Jack_mcs]

This should do it for you:

Redirect permanent /catalog http://www.yourdomain.com/

 

Jack

[hugoboss]

This should do it for you:

Redirect permanent /catalog http://www.yourdomain.com/

 

Jack

 

Where is this code placed?

In the htaccess?

TIA

[Jack_mcs]

Yes.

 

Jack

[yacpro13]

Talk about resurrecting a post!! That's what happens when we use "Search" before posting lol.

 

Anyway, I'm about to do just that: move the store from /store/catalog to the root and, at the same time, launch a brand new OSC store to replace the older one.

 

Not only will pages have moved, but there might not even be a 1-to-1 relationship between old-new pages. Hundreds of pages are currently indexed by google.

 

What would the 301 redirect code be in order to redirect all customers from any /store/catalog pages to my homepage?

From an SEO point of view, would this 'bulk' redirect be acceptable? I don't have time to set up hundreds of individual 301 redirects for all pages!

 

Thank you very much!