Manage Redirects

Use redirects to change URLs effectively while maintaining SEO value and user experience.

Change URLs without losing SEO. Here’s the redirect cheat sheet.

Redirects preserve SEO value and user experience when you move or rename pages.

Redirect Types

This guide covers the necessary steps and common pitfalls. Follow it systematically and you’ll avoid the mistakes that cause most problems.

Each type serves a different purpose.

Rule: Use 301 for permanent moves. Use 302 only for A/B tests or maintenance.

How to Add Redirects

These mistakes are common because they’re easy to make and their consequences aren’t immediately obvious. Avoid them proactively.

Apache (.htaccess)

# Single redirect
Redirect 301 /old-page /new-page

# Pattern redirect
RedirectMatch 301 ^/blog/(.*)$ /articles/$1

# Regex redirect
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^old-section/(.*)$ /new-section/$1 [R=301,L]

Nginx

# Single redirect
rewrite ^/old-page$ /new-page permanent;

# Pattern redirect
rewrite ^/blog/(.*)$ /articles/$1 permanent;

# In server block
location = /old-page {
 return 301 /new-page;
}

WordPress (Plugin)

Use Redirection plugin. No code needed.

Vercel (vercel.json)

{
 "redirects": [
 { "source": "/old", "destination": "/new", "permanent": true }
 ]
}

Netlify (_redirects)

/old-page /new-page 301
/blog/* /articles/:splat 301

Common Scenarios

Redirect management prevents broken links and preserves search engine value when URLs change, which happens during site migrations, content reorganization, and URL structure updates. Poor redirect handling causes both user frustration and SEO damage that can take months to recover from.

Changing Domain

RewriteEngine On
# Redirect all of old domain to new
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^olddomain.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://newdomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]

HTTP to HTTPS

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]

www to non-www

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

Trailing Slash Consistency

RewriteEngine On
# Remove trailing slashes (choose ONE of these two)
RewriteRule ^(.+)/$ /$1 [R=301,L]

# OR: Add trailing slashes (do NOT use both)
# RewriteRule ^(.+[^/])$ /$1/ [R=301,L]

Redirect Chains

Bad: A → B → C → D (chain of 3+ redirects)

Good: A → D (single redirect)

Each redirect loses some SEO value and adds latency. Audit and flatten chains.

Testing Redirects

# Check redirect with curl
curl -I https://example.com/old-page

# Follow redirects and show chain
curl -IL https://example.com/old-page

Common Redirect Mistakes

Avoid these—they cause most of the problems.

• Using 302 instead of 301 for permanent moves
• Creating redirect loops (A → B → A)
• Forgetting trailing slash variations
• Not updating internal links (still pointing to old URLs)
• Leaving redirects forever (clean up after a year)

Test Every Redirect Chain

Audit your existing redirects. Use Screaming Frog to find chains and loops.

Sources

• Google Search Central – Redirects & Google Search
• MDN – HTTP Redirections
• Apache – URL Rewriting Guide