Can ancient URL still showing up online be added to 301 Redirects?

CMS & WordPress
1

To help understand, here is my new site. I re-launched it about 5 weeks ago and still working out some bugs. In a recent key word check using MajesticSeo, I discovered this URL still floating around on the web: http://www.danscartoons.com/medical_cartoons.htm (a site built about 14 yrs. ago using Frontpage). My newest page I have that would trump that old page is this one. Here is what I am wondering:

  1. Can I got into my Yoast plugin (.htaccess) and still make a 301 Redirect to that old URL that still floats out there? I.e.:

    Redirect 301 medical_cartoons.htm https://danscartoons.com/cartoon-category/medical/

  2. In other words, should old URLs be in the 301 Redirects if pertinent to newest pages?

2

Yes.

You might also want to ensure you’re redirecting the www. domain to the non-www. domain, and set your preference in Google Search Console (was Webmaster Tools) to prevent the old URLs turning up in search results.

3

Thank you Techno…I recently went into those settings and it would not allow me to make that setting (see screenshot)…any info appreciated
(oh man…now, how to attach my screenshot here?)

4

Just drag and drop…

5

You do need to have validated both the www. and non-www. versions of your domain before you can use that setting.

Drag and drop, as @Gandalf suggested, or use the upload button in the editor.

6

1024×423 130 KB

7

well, I do own the site, I mean wouldn’t Google know this since I actually have an adsense account etc. with them?

8

Have you verified both versions? (It seems to be asking you to verify the www. version.)

9

Oh, I see…well my site that is online was verified so then my next question is pretty basic:
how is the www version verified? Do we go somewhere in Google Webmaster Tools? Or?

10

You verify it the same way you verified the non-www. version.

If you did that by uploading Google’s verification file and visiting it via yourdomain.com/Googlefile, then you just need to access it from www.yourdomain/Googlefile. (If you already have a redirect in place to redirect www. to non-www., you’ll need to briefly disable it in order to carry out the verification.)

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