Google’s John Mueller said in the Google+ Hangout from last Friday that he’d recommend you keep your 301 redirects live and in place for at least a year after you set them up. He said “I’d aim for at least a year,” when it comes to keeping your 301 redirects in place.

He said it can take 6-months to a year for Google to fully recognize a site has moved. Plus you may have people finding old links and if those no longer have redirects, they may lead to a 404 page or a parked domain, which would result in a bad user experience.

John addressed the question at the 24:11 mark in the video:

He said:

But at the 26:18 mark, almost two minutes later, go to the point and said:

Forum discussion at Google+.

This post was pre-written and scheduled to be posted today. Have a happy, healthy and sweet new year!