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WordPress Guide → Plugins → Redirects
Easily setting up redirects in WordPress using a plugin
This article will cover setting up redirects in WordPress and the related tasks. Managing redirection optimally is important for overall website design.
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How to find redirects in WordPress
Common redirects that would be needed can be found by looking in the Google Search Console tools, which will show the site URLs returning 404 results. For example, if you changed the post category structure on your site or the blog archive page slug, you would want to cover those in redirects.
The idea of setting up redirects would be to ensure that site users are landing on the expected correct pages, and if pages and posts have changed permalinks and slug names, then you would want to handle those.
HTTP URLs redirection to HTTPS URLs
Also, if your site used to be HTTP and then moved to HTTPS, then you would want to have .htaccess redirection in place so that any HTTP URL request would be automatically redirected to the HTTPS version of the site. Forcing the site to be HTTPS is easy to achieve in your site’s .htaccess file. Liquid Web still allows the use of a .htaccess file since NGNIX is used as a reverse proxy in front of the application stack, which uses Apache and MariaDB.
Major permalink or URL changes
Any major permalink changes or URL changes made on your site should be covered with the correct redirects. Since the last place you want to land site users on is a 404 not found result from a URL, they were used to going to all for a search result that was indexed in Google or Bing has changed. Still, if there is no redirect in the place to handle the correct landing page or URL, the customer should be visiting too.
How to check site redirects in WordPress
The Redirection plugin is a valuable asset for setting up redirects in WordPress that WordPress admins should leverage:
The Redirection plugin will add a new settings menu in wp-admin under the following navigational path:
Tools > Redirection
Safe Redirect Manager plugin
Likewise, the Safe Redirect Manager plugin is useful for setting up redirects in WordPress that WordPress admins take advantage of:
The Safe Redirect Manager plugin adds a settings menu in wp-admin under the following navigational path:
Tools > Safe Redirect Manager
About types of redirects 301 versus 302
There are two main types of redirects 301 for when the redirect is permanent or 302 for when the redirect is temporary.
Advanced features available via the Redirection plugin
The Redirection plugin also includes many other tools, such as redirection logging, 404 logging, and URL monitoring:
Redirection plugin: beta feature for redirect caching
If you use object caching on a site such as Redis, then the Redirection plugin now has a beta feature for redirect caching:
Redirection plugin: importing and exporting redirects
The Redirection plugin also supports the importing and exporting of redirects in CVS, JSON, and htaccess file formats. Logs being generated in the Redirection plugin can also be exported from wp-admin:
Suppose you already have existing redirects set up from any of the following plugins — in that case, would use the import feature:
- Safe Redirect Manager
- SEO Redirection
- Simple 301 Redirects
- WordPress Old Post Slugs
- Quick Post/Page Redirects
The Redirection plugin also supports importing from those plugin sources. If you have existing redirects set up on the site using other redirection plugins, then the data for those would still exist and be needed to be manually deleted from the site’s database. In addition, some plugins might remove redirect data when the plugin is uninstalled on a site.
The Redirection plugin includes WordPress Command Line Interface (WP-CLI) support, so you can make changes from WP-CLI command without using wp-admin. The Safe Redirect Manager plugin also does have WP-CLI support.
Getting started setting up redirects in WordPress using a plugin
Here are some helpful resources to help in setting up redirects in WordPress:
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/redirection/
- https://redirection.me/
- https://redirection.me/support/
- https://redirection.me/support/what-is-a-redirect/
- https://redirection.me/support/logs/
- https://redirection.me/support/tracking-404-errors/
- https://redirection.me/support/options/#monitor
- https://redirection.me/blog/how-long-to-keep-a-redirect/
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/safe-redirect-manager
- https://github.com/10up/safe-redirect-manager
- https://www.semrush.com/blog/redirects/
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Additional resources
What is a WordPress plugin? →
A complete beginner’s guide to WordPress plugins and how to manage them
How to set up redirects in WordPress
→
WordPress redirects are an inevitable part of the long process of improving your website.
How to check if a plugin is safe →
Simple steps to evaluating a plugin before you install and activate it
Luke Cavanagh, Strategic Support & Accelerant at Liquid Web, is one of the company’s most seasoned subject matter experts, focusing on web hosting, digital marketing, and ecommerce. He is dedicated to educating readers on the latest trends and advancements in technology and digital infrastructure.