Mystifying Redirect URLs Removal in WordPress

Redirect URLs are an undeniably vital facet of website migration or permalink structural update. They allow users to get from one web page to another with a more accurate address. Nonetheless, an excess of these links can impede your site’s performance and harm your SEO. Removing these redirect URLs in WordPress can be perplexing, but as always, we got you covered. Here, we will explore several ways of removing redirect URLs including using plugins, modifying the .htaccess file, and the database method.

Why Do You Need to Remove Redirect URLs?

Before we delve into the means of removing redirect URLs, let us first understand why they are detrimental to your WordPress site. There are three reasons why you should remove redirect URLs from your site:

1. Redirect Chains: These refer to a series of redirects from one URL to another, causing slower page speed, which affects your SEO negatively.
2. Incorrect Redirects: These are links that take the user to a 404 error page; they compromise your SEO ranking as well.
3. Spammy Redirects: Such redirect URLs are malicious, leading to spammy sites or malicious URLs, which ruin your website’s reputation and may cause it to be blacklisted by search engines.

How to Remove Redirect URLs in WordPress

Here are diverse and simple methods you can use to remove redirect URLs in WordPress:

Method 1: Using WordPress Plugins

The easiest way to delete redirect URLs in WordPress is by using plugins. Here’s how to do it:

1. Step 1: Install and activate the Redirection plugin from the WordPress repository.
2. Step 2: Launch Redirection and select the setting.
3. Step 3: Select the redirect URL you want to delete and click on the “Delete” tab.
4. Step 4: By clicking the “Delete” option, your redirect URL will be removed from your website.

Method 2: Editing the .htaccess File

You can alternatively eliminate redirect URLs by editing the .htaccess file. Below are the steps:

1. Step 1: Login into your website’s cPanel or FTP client.
2. Step 2: Locate the .htaccess file in the WordPress root directory.
3. Step 3: Download the backup copy of the file to your computer before editing the .htaccess file.
4. Step 4: Open the file in a text editor, then delete the redirect URL you want to remove.
5. Step 5: Save your new .htaccess file and upload it back to the root directory of your site.

Method 3: Using the Database

The unconventional method of removing redirect URLs is by using the database of your WordPress website. These are the steps to follow:

1. Step 1: Login to your website’s cPanel and go to phpMyAdmin.
2. Step 2: Choose the WordPress website database.
3. Step 3: Select the wp_options table, then the ooption_value column.
4. Step 4: Edit the permalink_structure value column and remove the redirect URL you want to delete.
5. Step 5: Save the modification, refresh your site to check if the redirect URL is removed or not.

Conclusion

Removing redirect URLs in WordPress is a crucial step that needs to be adhered to if you want to maintain the optimal performance of your site. We have covered three methods on how to remove these unwanted URLs; the plugin method, using the .htaccess method, and the database method. Be sure to backup your website and database beforehand to avoid unintentional consequences.