When a page moves to a new address, visitors and search engines that use the old address hit a “page not found” error. A 301 redirect tells browsers and search engines that the page has moved permanently, and sends them to the new location.
When you need redirects
- Redesigning a site with a new page structure
- Moving from another platform to WordPress
- Changing your domain name
- Merging or renaming pages
- Switching from http to https
Why they matter for SEO
Pages build up value over time through links from other sites and their history in search results. A 301 redirect passes that value to the new page. Without it, the old page eventually drops out of the index, and its value goes with it.
301 vs. 302
A 301 means “moved permanently”. A 302 means “moved temporarily”. For redesigns and migrations, you almost always want 301s.
Common mistakes
- Redirecting everything to the homepage. Send each old page to its closest equivalent. Mass homepage redirects frustrate visitors.
- Redirect chains. Old page to newer page to newest page. Point old URLs straight to the final destination.
- Forgetting images and documents that other sites link to, such as PDFs.
- Not testing. Check a sample of old URLs after launch, and watch for 404 errors in Google Search Console.
Setting up redirects on WordPress
Redirects can be managed at the server level or with a well-maintained redirect plugin. For large migrations, server-level rules are more efficient. Either way, keep a spreadsheet of old and new URLs as your source of truth.
We handle redirect mapping on every website redesign and free hosting migration.
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