I had 6000+ links on google when i had sh404sef. I switched to JoomSEF and I now have 110 links on Google. The "Not Founds" and redirects are killing me. I don't know why one SEF URL is redirecting to another SEF URL. I don't know why an SEF URL is redirecting to a non-SEF directory. I don't know why I have all these 'bad' links being crawled now on my site.

I imagine it may be problems with how I've configured it but here's what I know:

Google hates redirects.
Google webmaster reports 4900 bad links on the site. I don't know where they are even finding these links on my site. (Sample below)

My site is dying. I spent a year building up the presence on Google and now it's gone. I keep trying to fix it but it's just not getting better.

I've run the w3c link checker and it reports a ton of redirects like:
warning Line: 1456 www.musclespoon.com/hormone-related/ster...elated/cycle-support redirected to www.musclespoon.com/index.php?page=shop....emart&Itemid=776
Status: 301 -> 200 OK

This is a permanent redirect. The link should be updated.
warning Line: 735 www.musclespoon.com/protein/whey-other redirected to www.musclespoon.com/index.php?page=shop....emart&Itemid=741
Status: 301 -> 200 OK

This is a permanent redirect. The link should be updated.

I don't want any redirects because Google hates them.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Craig

Samples:
Go to URLwww.musclespoon.com/amino-acids/capsules-97 404 (Not found) 4 pages Mar 26, 2010
Go to URLwww.musclespoon.com/amino-acids/capsules-98 404 (Not found) 4 pages Mar 26, 2010
Go to URLwww.musclespoon.com/amino-acids/capsules-99 404 (Not found) 4 pages Mar 26, 2010
Go to URLwww.musclespoon.com/amino-acids/liquid-14 404 (Not found) 1 pages Mar 26, 2010
Go to URLwww.musclespoon.com/amino-acids/liquid-15 404 (Not found) 1 pages Mar 26, 2010
Go to URLwww.musclespoon.com/amino-acids/liquid-16 404 (Not found) 1 pages Mar 26, 2010
Go to URLwww.musclespoon.com/amino-acids/liquid-17 404 (Not found) 1 pages Mar 26, 2010
Go to URLwww.musclespoon.com/amino-acids/liquid-18 404 (Not found) 1 pages Mar 26, 2010
Go to URLwww.musclespoon.com/amino-acids/liquid-19 404 (Not found) 1 pages Mar 26, 2010
Go to URLwww.musclespoon.com/amino-acids/liquid-20 404 (Not found) 2 pages Mar 26, 2010
Go to URLwww.musclespoon.com/amino-acids/liquid-22 404 (Not found) 2 pages Mar 26, 2010

Hello,

well it is extremely difficult without seeing your site configuration and URLs stored.

In general, redirects are not problem at all for Google, but they must be used in right way. They are a perfect tool in case, you have changed the content URL, moved the site, etc.

If you 6k+ indexed before with sh404sef and you switched to JoomSEF - and the URLs are different now compared to what they have been before, plus you have not setuped the redirects correctly, then of course all the old links are lost now and you will have to wait for Google to index the new ones, or additionaly setup the redirects to tell Google where the pages were moved.

Anyway, the redirects you prevent here - that is from SEF URL to original non-SEF URL is really strange. If similar redirect should exists, it should be in the other direction, that is from original non-SEF to SEF URL. I have no idea where such redirect may be coming from, but I am pretty sure it is not from JoomSEF - unless you would define such redirect manually.

If you would like our proffessional support, you can book some support time from us. We could check your settings, help you setup the redirects and save what is still possible to save.
www.artio.net/e-shop/support-services/joomla-related-support-1h
(for your case, I would estimate at least 3-4 hrs. will be needed)