Also known as “URL forwarding”, URL Redirection is a technique used to literally redirect your site’s users from one domain or page to another. It’s possible to choose any web page on the internet to redirect your visitors to, but it’s usually used for redirecting them within the same website. There may be several instances when you’d want to redirect certain URLs of your WordPress blog. It may be because you want to delete a blog post, but instead of removing it, you can redirect it so you can make use of the search engine juice that it’s currently getting. It also saves you from showing that huge 404 not found error to your visitors coming from shared social media posts, which cannot be wiped overnight. Another example would be changing the URL structure or even migrating content from one domain to another. It may sound like a straightforward process, but it’s one of the most complicated things to undergo for someone who has never done anything like it. However, you don’t need to fret because there are several ways to go about it, and that’s what I am going to show you today. Without any further ado, let’s jump into the methods.
Plugin
Let’s start with the easy one. Redirection is the most popular choice, and it can manage 301 redirections, 404 errors, and other loose ends of your site. You won’t need any Apache or Nginx knowledge to create and manage redirects with this plugin. Just install and get going instantly in a few simple steps. Once you install and activate the plugin, you’ll see a screen like this.
Just enter your source URL and your target URL for the redirection to process. That’s all there is to make this work.
Through cPanel
If you don’t wish to use a plugin to redirect URLs and use cPanel hosting, this option will be appropriate. The process is super easy and simple. Step 1: Head over to your hosting’s cPanel and under “Domains”, click on “Redirects”. You should see a similar screen like this with several options to choose from.
Step 2: In the “Type” dropdown box, you need to select the kind of redirection you want to do, whether it’s permanent (301) or temporary (302). Depending upon the link you want to redirect to, it should be easy to choose between the two options. Step 3: In the second dropdown menu, you need to select your domain + current page address. Step 4: Once you’ve done that, in the last field, you have to type the web page address, which should replace your current page address. Click “Add” and you’re done.
Using .htaccess
Most of the shared hosting platforms offer this feature. This is another method that operates from the backend of your site. Altering your .htaccess file might seem like a sensitive matter, and it actually is, but with the right steps, you can easily do it successfully. I recommend doing a backup before going ahead with this method, just in case. Once you’ve done that, follow the below steps: Step 1: Head over to your hosting’s cPanel and scroll down until you see “Files” section. Under it, click on “File Manager”.
Step 2: From the new pop-up window, select “Document Root for” and choose your desired domain. Also, don’t forget to tick the “Show Hidden Files” box and hit “Go”.
Step 3: A new window will open containing all kinds of important files of your site. You need to look for the .htaccess file, right-click on it and select “Edit”.
If your file manager doesn’t have a .htaccess file, then you need to create one by clicking on “New File” on the top left and naming it .htaccess Step 4: Once you’re in the .htaccess editor, copy and paste this for permanent (301) redirect: You need to replace /oldpage with the URL path to which you want to be redirected and /newpage with the URL path, which should come in place of the old URL path. So, for example, you want to redirect your contact page to your blog post, you’d write this in the .htaccess editor: Keep in mind; you should not paste the entire URL when redirecting within the same domain. An entire URL would only be used when you’re redirecting from one domain to another. In that case, it would look like this: After you’re done editing the .htaccess file, hit “Save” and your old URL will successfully redirect your new URL. If you need help in generating redirection code, then you leverage this tool.
MyKinsta
Kinsta, a premium managed hosting, offers many great features, including redirection through the MyKinsta dashboard. Step 1: Log in to your Kinsta account and click on your site. Step 2: Click on “Redirects” and then “Add redirect rule”.
Step 3: Now, a popup will appear. You need to choose your domain, your old page, which needs to be redirected, and the new page, which should come in place. Here’s how you should do it.
Obviously, oldblogpost and newblogpost will replace your own URL paths to which you wish to redirect. You’ll also notice how I added ^/ before the first URL path and / before the second URL path. That’s because Kinsta uses regex automatically for the URLs, making it necessary to include these symbols, or else your redirect would break or land up in different pages on your website with a similar URL structure. Step 4: Choose the redirect type (301/302). Once you’ve done all of that, hit “Add redirect rule” and that’s it.
Cloudflare rules
If your website uses Cloudflare, then you can carry out the redirection from there as well. Just log in and follow the below easy steps: Step 1: From the homepage, click on the domain you wish to redirect links to.
Step 2: Click on one of the tabs on the top that says “Page Rules”.
Step 3: Hit the “Create Page Rule” button.
Step 4: You’ll see this dialog popup. Go ahead and enter your desired URL on the first field. After that, under the settings, choose “Forwarding URL,” and 301 or 302 redirect as per your requirement. Lastly, enter your destination URL.
Step 5: Once everything is filled, click “Save and Deploy” to get the job done.
SiteGround
SiteGround has introduced many new things recently. One of them is offering their custom-built control panel where you can perform redirection easily. This will obviously work when your site is hosted on SiteGround.
Go to SiteGround » Websites and select a site. Go to Site Tools and navigate to Domain » Redirects. Enter the path here and redirect type and Create
Conclusion
There you have it – the different methods to redirect your WordPress URLs easily. I hope you found this tutorial as simple as they really are. 🙂 Next, find out how to upgrade the PHP version of your WordPress sites.
