MobileMoxie Glossary
Hops
When a URL changes, webmasters can use a 301 or 302 redirect to ensure that anyone who requests the old URL is redirected to the new URL. In some cases, a URL may change multiple times, such as, from with the ‘www’ to without, and then from ‘HTTP’ to ‘HTTPS’ and then maybe a directory change in the file structure. Cases like this may be described as having multiple hops, if the user requests the original URL, is then redirected to that version of the URL without the ‘www’ then redirected again to the ‘HTTPS’ version of the page, and then to the location in the new directory. It would be better for the user, to minimize load time, if the redirects or ‘hops’ could be minimized. It is best to write redirect logic in the ht-access file that anticipates the middle hops, and includes them in a single rule – reducing this scenario from 3 hops to just 1. This can also be an important strategy for managing link value, since Google has said that link value does not pass through more than about 2 or 3 hops.
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