301 redirect

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Level 1

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301 redirect

Hi all,

If I visit a page in my browser a 301 redirect will redirect me from the old page to the new page but how does that work with an RSS feed URL? I guess that if a human uses the old feed URL they would be redirected to the new feed URL where they could choose to subscribe but if a current subscriber's RSS reader visits the old URL - what would happen? It would be good if the RSS reader automatically updated to the new RSS feed URL but I suspect this does not happen and so the RSS reader will just stop updating until the human manually resubcribes to the new feed URL.

iPad, iOS 7.0.4

Posted on May 21, 2014 4:47 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Robert Walch

Level 4

2,538 points

May 21, 2014 6:33 AM in response to Juc1

Technically a 301 redirect is looked at as a permanent redirect - and some systems will realize that and update appropriately - however many aggregators do not.

That said the most important aggregators are iTunes and the Podcasts App - and to make sure you get updated there in your new feed put in the iTunes new feed tag as well.

<itunes:new-feed-url>

This tag allows you to change the URL where the podcast feed is located. It is added at the

<channel>

level. The feed format is:

<itunes:new-feed-url>http://newlocation.com/example.rss</itunes:new-feed-url>

After adding the tag to your old feed, you should maintain the old feed for 48 hours before retiring it. At that point, iTunes will have updated the directory with the new feed URL. For more information, please see the "Changing Your Feed URL" section.

Changing Your Feed URL.

Podcasters occasionally need to move their feed from one location to another. To do so without losing subscribers, you must convey the change directly to all users who are subscribed to your feed. If possible, you should do two things:

You should use the
```
<itunes:new-feed-url>
```
tag described in the iTunes RSS Tags section below. The tag will cause iTS to be updated with the new feed URL, as well as all iTunes client versions that support podcasting.
You should set your web server to return an HTTP 301 response and redirect when receiving a request for the old feed. Doing so will cause both iTS and most (but not all) iTunes clients that have subscribed to your podcast to pick up the new feed URL.

The

<itunes:new-feed-url>

tag will work for iTS and all versions of the iTunes client that support podcasting. The 301 redirect will work for most of your subscribers who do not use the iTunes client. We recommend that you use both methods to update the greatest possible number of subscribers with your new feed URL.

Be sure to maintain the

<itunes:new-feed-url>

tag and the 301 redirect for at least four weeks to ensure that most subscribers have attempted to download your most recent episode and have thereby received the new URL.

If you are not able to use both methods, you may want to include an audio note in your podcast, informing your subscribers that your podcast has changed locations.

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So always best to do both a 301 redirect and add in the iTunes new feed tag in the new feed you are redirecting to.

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