Hope this is the best forum for this topic.

I'm thinking of using a PHP+MySQL split testing product. It uses a "gateway" URL to access split tests.

My understanding is that this is a redirect which sends search engine robots (and other visitors) to your split test pages, rather than your current page.

I've read elsewhere on WebmasterWorld that SE robots (e.g. Googlebot) treat redirect URLs as new sites (since they have never visited before), which means you loose PageRank and your ranking in the organic (free) SERPs (Search Engine Return Pages) drops.

Further, my research so far indicates that using a 302 (temporary) redirect, rather than a 301 (permanent) redirect, tells the robot that your page will soon be back at the previous URL and to apply its findings to that original URL, not the new one, eliminating the problem.

Although 302 redirects are getting a bad name from hijacked sites and pages and SEO blackhat use, it is said that they are OK if used under one domain - not redirecting from one domain to another.

If your site is new and you get your traffic from PPC campaigns, all this may not matter, since your site will have a low organic SERP ranking at first anyway. And PageRank itself doesn't seem to be critical these days.

Can anyone verify the above or provide more insight?

Thanks all!