Redirect

A redirect automatically sends visitors and search engines from one URL to another URL. It happens instantly without the user doing anything.

Simple Explanation

Imagine you move your store from Main Street to Oak Avenue. You put a big sign on your old building saying “We moved! Our new location is 123 Oak Avenue.” That sign is like a redirect.

When someone visits your old store, they see the sign and know where to go. Same with redirects – when someone visits your old URL, they’re automatically sent to the new URL.

How Redirects Work

User Experience:

1. Someone clicks link to oldpage.com
2. Browser requests that page
3. Server says “This moved to newpage.com”
4. Browser automatically loads newpage.com
5. User sees new page (usually doesn’t notice the redirect)

Search Engine Experience:

1. Google crawls oldpage.com
2. Discovers redirect to newpage.com
3. Transfers ranking signals to newpage.com
4. Eventually shows newpage.com in search results instead

Why Redirects Matter

Preserve SEO Value: When you move or delete pages, redirects pass the SEO value (rankings, backlinks) to the new page.

Maintain User Experience: Visitors with old bookmarks or links still reach your content instead of seeing error pages.

Fix Broken Links: Redirects turn 404 errors into working pages, keeping users on your site.

Manage Site Changes: Redirects allow you to reorganize, rebrand, or update your site without losing traffic.

Types of Redirects

Different redirect types serve different purposes.

301 Redirect (Permanent)

What it means: “This page moved permanently to a new location.”

When to use:

• Page permanently moved to new URL
• Deleting a page forever
• Changing domain names
• Consolidating duplicate pages
• HTTPS migration (http to https)

SEO Impact: Passes 90-99% of link equity to new URL. Google treats new URL as the replacement.

Example Scenario: You renamed your product page from /old-product-name to /new-product-name. The old URL should 301 redirect to new URL.

Code Status: Returns HTTP status code 301.

302 Redirect (Temporary)

What it means: “This page moved temporarily. It might come back.”

When to use:

• Testing a new page design
• Running A/B tests
• Temporary promotions
• Seasonal redirects
• Site maintenance

SEO Impact: Does NOT pass link equity. Google keeps old URL in index because it’s temporary.

Example Scenario: Your product is out of stock temporarily. You redirect to “Notify me when available” page. When back in stock, remove redirect.

Code Status: Returns HTTP status code 302.

Important: Don’t use 302 for permanent changes. It won’t transfer SEO value.

307 Redirect (Temporary, Preserves Method)

What it means: Like 302, but guarantees the request method stays the same (POST stays POST).

When to use:

• Temporary redirects for form submissions
• API redirects
• Technical situations requiring exact method preservation

Difference from 302: 302 can change POST to GET. 307 keeps POST as POST.

Most websites: Rarely need to use 307. Stick with 302 for temporary needs.

303 Redirect (See Other)

What it means: “The result of your action is at this other URL.”

When to use:

• After form submission (redirect to confirmation page)
• After payment processing
• Preventing duplicate form submissions

Common Use: User submits form → 303 redirect to “Thank you” page.

Why useful: Prevents refresh button from resubmitting form.

308 Redirect (Permanent, Preserves Method)

What it means: Like 301, but guarantees request method preservation (similar to 307 vs 302).

When to use:

• Permanent redirects for APIs
• Technical situations needing exact method

Most websites: Use 301 instead. 308 is specialized.

Meta Refresh

What it is: HTML-based redirect, not server-based.

How it works:

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;url=https://newpage.com">

When to use: Almost never. Only when you can’t use server redirects.

Problems:

• Slower than server redirects
• Poor user experience
• May not pass full SEO value
• Can be blocked by browsers

Better alternatives: Always use 301 or 302 server redirects instead.

JavaScript Redirect

What it is: Redirect using JavaScript code.

Example:

window.location.href = "https://newpage.com";

When to use: Only as last resort when server redirects impossible.

Problems:

• Search engines may not follow
• Doesn’t pass link equity reliably
• Users with JavaScript disabled won’t redirect
• Slower than server redirects

Exception: Single-page applications (SPAs) sometimes need JavaScript redirects for routing.

When to Use Each Redirect Type

Choose the right redirect for your situation.

Use 301 Permanent Redirect For:

Page Moved Permanently: Old URL won’t come back. All traffic should go to new URL forever.

Examples:

• Renamed product pages
• Restructured URLs
• Deleted content (redirect to related page)
• Domain changes
• Protocol changes (HTTP to HTTPS)

Consolidating Duplicate Pages: Multiple pages with same content. Redirect duplicates to one main page.

Example:

yoursite.com/product-blue
yoursite.com/products/blue-item
yoursite.com/shop/blue

All redirect to one canonical URL.

Fixing URL Mistakes: You launched pages with wrong URLs. Fix them with 301s.

Old Domain to New Domain: Rebranding or moving sites. Redirect entire old domain to new domain.

Use 302 Temporary Redirect For:

A/B Testing: Testing new page design while keeping old page.

Example: 50% of traffic sees Page A, 50% sees Page B (redirected temporarily).

Out of Stock Products: Product temporarily unavailable. Redirect to “Notify me” page or alternative product.

Seasonal Content: Holiday promotion only active December. Other months redirect to regular page.

Site Maintenance: Taking page down for updates. Redirect to maintenance page temporarily.

Geographic Redirects: Testing different content for different locations temporarily.

When NOT to Use 302: Never use 302 for permanent changes. It won’t transfer SEO value.

Use 303 Redirect For:

Form Submissions: After user submits form, redirect to confirmation page.

Payment Processing: After payment completes, redirect to success page.

Preventing Duplicate Actions: Stops users from accidentally submitting twice by refreshing.

When NOT to Use Redirects:

Canonical URLs: If you want to keep both URLs accessible but tell Google which is primary, use canonical tags instead of redirects.

Internal Navigation: For regular internal links, just link to the correct URL. Don’t redirect.

External Links You Don’t Control: Can’t redirect other people’s websites. Contact them to update links instead.

How to Implement Redirects

Implementation depends on your platform and server.

Apache Server (.htaccess)

Most shared hosting uses Apache. Use .htaccess file for redirects.

Location: Place .htaccess in your website’s root directory (same folder as index.html or index.php).

Basic 301 Redirect (Single Page):

Redirect 301 /old-page https://yoursite.com/new-page

Multiple 301 Redirects:

Redirect 301 /old-page-1 https://yoursite.com/new-page-1
Redirect 301 /old-page-2 https://yoursite.com/new-page-2
Redirect 301 /old-page-3 https://yoursite.com/new-page-3

Redirect Old Domain to New Domain:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^oldsite\.com [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.oldsite\.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://newsite.com/$1 [L,R=301,NC]

This redirects all pages from oldsite.com to matching pages on newsite.com.

Redirect HTTP to HTTPS:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

Redirect Non-WWW to WWW:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^yoursite\.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.yoursite.com/$1 [L,R=301]

Redirect Entire Directory:

RedirectMatch 301 ^/old-directory/(.*)$ https://yoursite.com/new-directory/$1

302 Temporary Redirect:

Redirect 302 /temporary-page https://yoursite.com/target-page

Nginx Server

If your hosting uses Nginx, use this format.

Location: Add to your Nginx configuration file (usually in /etc/nginx/).

Basic 301 Redirect:

server {
    location /old-page {
        return 301 https://yoursite.com/new-page;
    }
}

Redirect Entire Domain:

server {
    server_name oldsite.com www.oldsite.com;
    return 301 https://newsite.com$request_uri;
}

HTTP to HTTPS:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yoursite.com www.yoursite.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

WordPress

WordPress offers multiple ways to implement redirects.

Method 1: Redirection Plugin (Easiest)

Steps:

1. Install “Redirection” plugin (free)
2. Go to Tools → Redirection
3. Click “Add New”
4. Enter Source URL: /old-page
5. Enter Target URL: /new-page
6. Select redirect type (301 or 302)
7. Click “Add Redirect”

Benefits:

• No coding needed
• User-friendly interface
• Tracks redirect hits
• Import/export redirects
• Logs 404 errors

Method 2: Yoast SEO Premium

Steps:

1. Install Yoast SEO Premium
2. Edit the page you’re deleting/changing
3. Yoast prompts you to set redirect
4. Choose target URL
5. Redirect automatically created

Benefits:

• Automatic redirect suggestions
• Integrated with content management
• No separate plugin needed

Method 3: Rank Math

Steps:

1. Install Rank Math plugin (free)
2. Go to Rank Math → Redirections
3. Add source and target URLs
4. Save

Benefits:

• Built-in redirect manager
• 404 monitoring
• Import from other plugins

Method 4: .htaccess (Manual)

If you prefer manual control:

1. Connect via FTP
2. Download .htaccess file (backup first!)
3. Add redirect code
4. Upload back to server

Shopify

Shopify has built-in redirect management.

Steps:

1. Log into Shopify admin
2. Go to Online Store → Navigation
3. Click “URL Redirects”
4. Click “Create URL redirect”
5. Enter “Redirect from” (old URL path only, not full URL)
6. Enter “Redirect to” (can be full URL or path)
7. Click “Save”

Example:

• Redirect from: /old-product-name
• Redirect to: /products/new-product-name

Bulk Redirects: Import CSV file with columns: “Redirect from” and “Redirect to”

Limitations:

• Always creates 301 redirects (can’t do 302)
• Maximum 10,000 redirects per store

Wix

Wix manages redirects through their dashboard.

Steps:

1. Go to Settings in Wix dashboard
2. Click “SEO (Google)”
3. Go to “URL Redirect Manager”
4. Click “New Redirect”
5. Enter old URL
6. Enter new URL
7. Choose redirect type (301 or 302)
8. Save

Automatic Redirects: Wix automatically creates 301 redirects when you:

• Change page URL slug
• Delete pages
• Rename pages

Squarespace

Squarespace has built-in redirect tools.

Steps:

1. Go to Settings
2. Click “Advanced”
3. Select “URL Mappings”
4. Enter old URL → new URL
5. Save

Format:

/old-page -> /new-page 301
/temp-page -> /target-page 302

Rules:

• One redirect per line
• Always include redirect type (301 or 302)
• No need for domain name, just page paths

Testing Your Redirects

Always test redirects to ensure they work correctly.

Manual Testing

Browser Test:

1. Clear browser cache (Ctrl+Shift+Delete)
2. Type old URL in address bar
3. Press Enter
4. Check if redirects to correct new URL
5. Verify new URL appears in address bar

Incognito/Private Mode: Test in incognito to avoid cache issues.

Online Redirect Checkers

Redirect Checker Tool: Use free online tools:

• redirect-checker.org
• httpstatus.io
• websiteplanet.com/webtools/redirected/

What to Check:

• Redirect type (should be 301 or 302)
• Redirect chain length (should be 1, not multiple)
• Final destination URL
• HTTP status code

Example Good Result:

https://yoursite.com/old-page
   ↓ 301 Redirect
https://yoursite.com/new-page

Example Bad Result (Chain):

https://yoursite.com/old-page
   ↓ 301 Redirect
https://yoursite.com/middle-page
   ↓ 301 Redirect
https://yoursite.com/final-page

Chains waste SEO value. Fix by redirecting directly to final destination.

Screaming Frog

Professional Testing:

1. Download Screaming Frog SEO Spider (free up to 500 URLs)
2. Enter your website URL
3. Click “Start”
4. Go to “Response Codes” tab
5. Filter by “Redirection (3xx)”
6. Review all redirects

What to Look For:

• Redirect chains (multiple redirects in sequence)
• Redirect loops (A redirects to B, B redirects to A)
• Broken redirects (redirect to 404 page)
• Wrong redirect type (302 instead of 301)

Search Console

Monitor in Google Search Console:

1. Go to Coverage report
2. Check “Excluded” section
3. Look for “Page with redirect”
4. Verify redirects are intentional

URL Inspection Tool:

1. Enter old URL
2. Click “Test live URL”
3. Check if Google sees redirect
4. Verify redirect type

Common Redirect Mistakes

Avoid these errors that hurt SEO and user experience.

Mistake 1: Using 302 Instead of 301

The Problem: Using temporary redirect (302) for permanent changes.

Result: SEO value doesn’t transfer. Old URL stays in search results. Rankings don’t move to new page.

How It Happens:

• Default redirect setting is 302
• Not understanding difference
• Copy-paste wrong code

Solution: Always double-check redirect type. For permanent changes, always use 301.

How to Check: Use redirect checker tool. If you see 302 but wanted 301, update your redirect code.

Mistake 2: Redirect Chains

The Problem: Page A redirects to Page B, which redirects to Page C, which redirects to Page D.

Result:

• Slow page loading
• Lost SEO value (each redirect loses ~5-10%)
• Poor user experience
• Crawl budget waste

Example:

http://example.com/page
   ↓ 301 to
https://example.com/page
   ↓ 301 to
https://www.example.com/page
   ↓ 301 to
https://www.example.com/new-page

Solution: Redirect directly from original URL to final destination:

http://example.com/page
   ↓ 301 directly to
https://www.example.com/new-page

How to Fix: Update old redirect to point to new final URL.

Mistake 3: Redirect Loops

The Problem: Page A redirects to Page B, Page B redirects back to Page A.

Result: Browser shows “Too many redirects” error. Page becomes completely inaccessible.

Example:

/page-a → redirects to → /page-b
/page-b → redirects to → /page-a

How It Happens:

• Conflicting redirect rules
• WordPress plugin conflicts
• .htaccess errors

Solution: Remove one of the conflicting redirects. Decide final destination and keep only that redirect.

Mistake 4: Redirecting to Homepage

The Problem: Deleting many pages and redirecting them all to homepage.

Why It’s Bad: Not relevant to user’s intent. Google may ignore these redirects as soft 404s.

Example:

/blue-shoes → / (homepage)
/red-shoes → / (homepage)
/green-shoes → / (homepage)

User wanted blue shoes, lands on homepage with no shoes. Frustrating.

Better Solution: Redirect to most relevant page:

/blue-shoes → /shoes (category page with all shoes)
/red-shoes → /shoes
/old-product → /similar-new-product

If no relevant page exists, let it 404. That’s better than irrelevant redirect.

Mistake 5: Not Updating Internal Links

The Problem: Setting up redirect but not updating internal links that point to old URL.

Result: Unnecessary redirects slow site down. Crawl budget wasted.

Example: Your menu links to /old-page which redirects to /new-page. Better to update menu directly to /new-page.

Solution: After creating redirect:

1. Find all internal links to old URL
2. Update them to point to new URL
3. Keep redirect for external links and old bookmarks

Tool: Use Screaming Frog or site search to find internal links.

Mistake 6: Deleting Old Redirects Too Soon

The Problem: Removing redirects after just a few weeks or months.

Result: Old backlinks break. Bookmarked pages stop working. SEO value lost.

Timeline: Keep redirects for:

• Minimum 1 year
• Preferably forever
• Only remove if absolutely necessary

Why:

• People have old bookmarks
• External links take years to update
• Search engines reference old URLs
• Archives and old content still link to old URLs

Exception: If old URL causes security risk or legal issue, you can remove sooner.

Mistake 7: Wrong URL Format in Redirects

The Problem: Typos or formatting errors in redirect code.

Common Errors:

# Missing https://
Redirect 301 /old-page www.site.com/new-page

# Wrong path format
Redirect 301 old-page https://site.com/new-page

# Typo in URL
Redirect 301 /old-page https://site.com/new-pag

Correct Format:

Redirect 301 /old-page https://www.site.com/new-page

How to Avoid:

• Test every redirect after implementing
• Copy-paste URLs to avoid typos
• Use absolute URLs (include https://)
• Include trailing slashes consistently

Mistake 8: Not Testing Redirects

The Problem: Implementing redirects but never checking if they work.

Result: Broken redirects go unnoticed. Users see errors. SEO suffers.

Solution: Test every redirect:

• Manually in browser
• With redirect checker tool
• In incognito mode
• On mobile devices
• After clearing cache

Ongoing Monitoring: Check monthly:

• Search Console for redirect errors
• 404 report for broken redirects
• Site crawl for redirect issues

Redirect Best Practices

Follow these rules for effective redirects.

Plan Before Implementing

Before Changing URLs:

1. Document all pages that will change
2. Create redirect mapping spreadsheet
3. Plan redirect implementation
4. Test on staging site first
5. Schedule low-traffic time for launch

Redirect Mapping Spreadsheet:

Old URL | New URL | Redirect Type | Priority
/old-page | /new-page | 301 | High
/temp-promo | /products | 302 | Medium

Keep It Simple

Direct Redirects: Always redirect to final destination. Skip intermediate pages.

Single Redirect: One old URL → One new URL. Don’t overcomplicate.

Clear Purpose: Every redirect should have clear reason. Document why it exists.

Monitor Regularly

Monthly Checks:

• Search Console redirect errors
• Broken redirect chains
• Slow redirects
• Redirect performance

Quarterly Audits:

• Full site redirect crawl
• Remove unnecessary redirects
• Update redirect documentation
• Fix any redirect issues

Document Everything

Keep Records:

• When redirect was created
• Why it was created
• Old and new URLs
• Redirect type
• Expected duration

Share with Team: Everyone should know:

• Don’t delete redirect without checking
• How to add new redirects
• Who to ask about redirect questions

Prioritize User Experience

Fast Redirects: Keep redirect chains to minimum. Every hop adds delay.

Relevant Destinations: Redirect to most similar content available.

If redirect changes site significantly, consider showing message: “You’ve been redirected from our old product page to our new catalog.”