Changing a page URL or its domain name is much easier, yet forwarding users from the old page to the new one is far more challenging. Especially in terms of high web traffic, you don’t want to give up on it if your old page has yielded an impressive number.
However, it’s not worth worrying about these things anymore, thanks to the emergence of WordPress redirects. A WordPress redirect is well-known for its excellent functions in driving marvelous web traffic and SEO values. In fact, search engines’ crawlers find it easy to index a site as long as there’s a redirect.
Particularly, 301 redirects are frequently employed by most WordPress users when it comes to having their domain names switched.
Hence, this article will introduce about 301 redirects and how to implement them to WordPress via .htaccess files.
- What is A 301 Redirect in WordPress?
- What is A .htaccess File?
- Why Should Collaborate 301 Redirects and .htaccess Files?
- How to Implement 301 Redirect with .htaccess Files on WordPress
What is A 301 Redirect in WordPress?
A 301 redirect is an HTTP response status code. It refers to a permanent redirection, indicating the permanent moving of a webpage to a different page URL. In other words, when the old URL addresses are requested, the users will be automatically redirected to the new ones with the help of 301 redirects.
Besides, the 301 redirects also notify the search engines’ crawlers that your page area is persistently shifted to a new one. This way, they are more likely to recognize your brand-new URL and index it instead of the old one. As a result, you can maintain and position all your ever SEO values.
What is A .htaccess File?
Hypertext access, also known as a .htaccess file, is a configuration file located in the root of the central directory, usually under the management of Apache. It can be seen as a part of the webserver, allowing for redirecting or enabling and disabling other functions flexibly without editing server configuration directly.
An .htaccess file also allows you to control access to a specific directory in your web server. It can be added to or customized with multiple configuration settings for a high-level folder or site security.
That’s why this kind of file is usually hidden and has no folder name to prevent unauthorized users from accessing and adjusting it. If not, this can cause adverse effects on the website, such as inaccessible issues.
Why Should Collaborate 301 Redirects and .htaccess Files?
When users request a page URL, your servers will check for the .htaccess files as they are accountable for displaying your site’s permalinks. These files consist of special instructions for requests, redirects, and security when changing your permalink structure.
The collaboration of 301 redirects and .htaccess files is to help you redirect your visitors from the old site structure to the new one or your new domain name. This would be beneficial to better users’ experience so that they’ll not encounter any 404 errors when accessing your removed page.
How to Implement 301 Redirect with .htaccess Files on WordPress
There are only a few steps to add a 301 redirect to WordPress via .htaccess files.
Find and Download Your .htaccess Files on WordPress Site
To get the ball rolling, you’ll need to connect your web server via FTP in order to edit your .htaccess files. If you find it difficult to contact them, you should turn to your hosting provider for help.
Otherwise, you can also seek out the .htaccess files using cPanel’s built-in File Manager Tool.
As mentioned earlier, the .htaccess files will be stored in the root folder of your WordPress site. Thus, you can find and download them by name or in the File Manager tool appearing on your cPanel dashboard.
Back up Your .htaccess Files
At this stage, you should never forget to make a copy of your .htaccess file before making any changes to it. This file includes all of your server configurations and plays a crucial role in your site’s functionality. Backing up your .htaccess file is of the essence to protect the original file. That way, when there are any mistakes, you just need to re-upload the original one so as not to destroy your site and web server as well.
Add Essential 301 Redirect to Your .htaccess File
Once you successfully save the file to your computer, you need to right-click to open the file. Choose “Open with” and select “Notepad”. Then, there’s a table popping up on your screen like that if you’re using permalinks.
Here comes the most crucial stage, add some relevant code to the .htaccess file. Codes may sound a little bit technical to this extent. However, no worries, we’ll break it into the simplest steps so that it’s easier for you to follow.
- Redirect a single page to another page. You’ll need to add the following snippet to the page you want to redirect:
Redirect 301 /old-URL https://yourdomain.com/new-url - Turn your whole site to the new domain name. Add the following code snippet to send your visitors to the new site:
RewriteEngine on RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^olddomain.com [NC,OR] RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.olddomain.com [NC] RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://newdomain.com/$1 [L,R=301,NC] - Apply 301 redirects to a post:
If you want to redirect your visitors from this www.passwordprotectwp.com/301-post post to www.passwordprotectwp.com/how-to-redirect, you can add 301 redirects like the following example:
Redirect 301 /301-post https://passwordprotectwp.com/how-to-redirect
Please make sure that you replace the examples of “old-URL”, “new-URL”, or “yourdomain.com” with your actual original URL, new URL, and domain name as well.
Make Use of 301 WordPress Redirect
SEO health or users’ experience is absolutely not what you can give up. These elements matter when you want to change an entire site to a new domain name or move a page to another one.
It’s never easy to gain the same traffic, SEO efforts which are costly and have been building for a long time. Regarding these cases, 301 redirects would be helpful for you.
They not only help preserve your previous search volume but also tighten your site security by adding to .htaccess files.
Implementing 301 redirects to WordPress via .htaccess files is not a burdensome thing. Let’s get it started and bring the smooth experience ever to your visitors.
Apart from 301 redirects, you may also want to learn about other types of WordPress redirects as well as ways to redirect WordPress attachment pages.
