Are You Confused About URL Redirects in WordPress?

As a website administrator or owner, you might find yourself in a predicament where you need to redirect a URL to another URL. But why, you may ask? Well, there are numerous reasons such as outdated URLs, changing website structures or redirecting broken links to protect your website’s SEO authority. Whatever the reason may be, in this article, we’ll show you how to redirect a URL to another URL in WordPress.

What is a URL?

Before we delve into the mysteries of redirecting URLs in WordPress, let’s explore our understanding of what a URL is. A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a web address that denotes the location of a web page on the internet. Usually, a URL comprises a protocol (http or https), domain name, and path/filename. For instance, https://www.yoursite.com/contact signifies the contact page of the “yoursite” website. When you change your contact page to a different URL, visitors who try to access the old URL will encounter a frustrating 404-error (page not found), which can damage your site’s esteemed SEO authority.

Different Types of URL Redirects

Now that you seem to have a good grasp of URLs let’s venture into the different types of URL redirects:

• 301 redirect: A permanent redirect that informs search engines and visitors that the original URL has been permanently moved to a new URL.
• 302 redirect: A temporary redirect indicating that the original URL is temporarily unavailable.
• Meta refresh redirect: A redirect that automatically loads a new page after a specific duration. Note that this isn’t recommended for SEO.

Here we will focus on the 301 redirect method, which is the most commonly used redirect method and highly recommended for SEO.

How to Redirect a URL in WordPress

In WordPress, there are various methods available to redirect a URL to another URL, so let’s look at some of the most popular four methods:

Method 1: Using a plugin

You can easily redirect a URL in WordPress using a plugin. There are various redirect plugins available in the WordPress repository, but we’ll use the most popular plugin, Redirection, in this example.

1. Install and activate the Redirection plugin.
2. Go to the WordPress dashboard and click on the “Tools” section, then select “Redirection.”
3. Click on the “Add new redirection” button.
4. Enter the old URL in the “Source URL” field and the new URL in the “Target URL” field.
5. Choose the “301 Moved Permanently” option for the “Action” field.
6. Click on the “Add Redirection” button to save the changes.

Voila! You have now successfully redirected your old URL to the new URL in WordPress.

Method 2: Using the .htaccess file

Another popular method of redirecting a URL in WordPress is by modifying the .htaccess file. This file dictates the behavior of your server. Remember to back up your .htaccess file before modifying it in case of any mishaps.

1. Access your website’s .htaccess file situated in the root folder of your website.
2. Insert the following code at the beginning of your .htaccess file to activate URL rewriting:
   RewriteEngine On
3. To redirect a particular page, insert the following code:
   Redirect 301 /old-page.html http://www.yoursite.com/new-page.html
   Replace “/old-page.html” with the relative path of the old page and “http://www.yoursite.com/new-page.html” with the new URL.
4. To redirect an entire website or directory, insert the following code:
   RedirectMatch 301 ^/old-directory/(.*)$ http://www.yoursite.com/new-directory/$1
   Replace “/old-directory/” with the relative path of the old directory and “http://www.yoursite.com/new-directory/$1” with the new directory’s path.
5. Save the changes and upload the .htaccess file to the server.

Method 3: Using the Yoast SEO plugin

If you’re already using Yoast SEO plugin for your WordPress website, the built-in redirect feature can help you redirect URLs. Here’s a simple guideline:

1. Install and activate Yoast SEO plugin.
2. Go to the WordPress Dashboard and click on the “SEO” section, then select “Redirects.”
3. Click on the “Add New Redirect” button.
4. Enter the old URL in the “Source URL” field and the new URL in the “Target URL” field.
5. Choose the “301 Moved Permanently” option for the “Redirect type.”
6. Click on the “Add Redirect” button to save the changes.

Method 4: Using a PHP redirect

If you’re comfortable editing PHP code, the PHP redirect method is also an option for redirecting URLs.

1. Open your favorite code editor and create a new PHP file.
2. At the beginning of your PHP file, add the following code to activate URL rewriting:
   
3. To redirect a specific page, add the following code:
   
   Replace “http://www.yoursite.com/new-page.html” with the new URL.
4. To redirect an entire website or directory, add the following code:
   Replace “http://www.yoursite.com/new-directory/” with the new directory’s path.
5. Save the changes and upload the PHP file to your website’s root directory.

Conclusion

Redirecting URLs within WordPress is essential to maintaining your website’s SEO authority, avoiding broken links, and providing your visitors with a smooth user experience. The four most popular methods to redirect URLs in WordPress have been covered in this article, but remember always to test your redirects to ensure their proper functioning.