the smart way to do a redirect to something more permanent is not to do:
//standard re-direct httpServletResponse.sendRedirect(newTargetUrl);
but do this instead:
//set to 301 httpServletResponse.setStatus(HttpServletResponse.SC_MOVED_PERMANENTLY); httpServletResponse.setHeader("Location", newTargetUrl); httpServletResponse.setHeader("Connection", "close");
the difference is that instead of sending a default 302, we are sending a 301, which is more seo and bot friendly. i would suspect that you would only use this in a case where the origination url is always going to goto the new target url, otherwise keep using the regular way.