One of the biggest mistakes I see WordPress site owners make is changing URLs without setting up redirects.
I get it, you find a better way to structure your content or need to fix something, so you make the change and move on.
But here’s what happens next: every old link pointing to your content is now broken. Instead of seeing your great posts, visitors now see an ugly 404 error instead. Even worse, search engines like Google start penalizing your site for poor maintenance, so you lose even more traffic.
The simple fix is a 301 redirect. This tells the browser and the search engines, “Hey, this page moved permanently over here!”
That’s why I’ve put together this complete guide on setting up 301 redirects using simple, reliable methods that don’t require any coding knowledge.
By the time we’re done, you’ll be able to handle any redirect task, from fixing a single broken link right through to migrating an entire WordPress website.
How to Add 301 Redirects in WordPress: A Beginner’s Guide
If you run a WordPress website for any length of time, at some point you’ll almost certainly need to move content. For example, you might spot a typo in a popular post’s URL and need to fix it (I’ve definitely done that!)
Or, perhaps you decide to combine three similar posts into one amazing ‘ultimate guide.’ You might even need to delete a page completely, such as a landing page for a digital download you no longer offer.
When you permanently move content for any reason, you must set up a 301 redirect.
A 301 redirect is essentially like setting up a permanent forwarding address for your content. Every time someone tries to visit the original URL, the 301 redirect instantly and automatically sends them to the new, correct page behind-the-scenes.
Without a 301, these visitors would get a ‘Page Not Found’ or 404 error message instead, which is a terrible user experience.
Search engines also penalize sites that have lots of broken links, seeing it as a sign that your site isn’t properly maintained.
To make matters worse, any external sites that link to the original URL will now send visitors to a frustrating error page. As a result, you’ll miss out on valuable visitors and customers – and make a terrible first impression.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to quickly and easily set up a 301 redirect, step-by-step. This ensures you can seamlessly transfer visitors, search engines, and SEO authority to the new destination.
By following this guide, you can preserve your keyword rankings and keep your site running smoothly. Plus, I’ll show you how to monitor your site for 404 errors, so you can create redirects before they have a chance to damage your SEO and reputation.
Getting Started: Install a Redirection Plugin
When it comes to setting up 301 redirects, I’ve found that using a quality redirect plugin is the simplest and most reliable method. It means you don’t have to spend a ton of time writing or editing code – in my experience, that’s where things often go wrong!
I personally rely on All in One SEO (AIOSEO) to set up and manage all my 301 redirects, and I highly recommend it. Beyond simply creating redirects, AIOSEO monitors your site for 404 errors, so you can identify and resolve broken links with just a few clicks. This has saved me a ton of time.
You can get the lite version of AIOSEO from WordPress.org and use many of its essential SEO features for free. However, you’ll need to upgrade to a Pro license or higher to access AIOSEO’s Redirect Manager, which is the tool we’ll be using throughout this article.
First things first, you’ll need to install AIOSEO on your WordPress website. If you haven’t done this before, don’t worry. We have a complete step-by-step tutorial on how to install WordPress plugins.
After installing AIOSEO, go to All in One SEO » General Settings in your WordPress dashboard.
Here, enter your license into the ‘License Key’ field.
You can find this information by logging into your AIOSEO account, or checking the email you received when you bought AIOSEO.
After activating AIOSEO, you’ll need to choose how redirects will work on your WordPress blog or website.
In the left-hand menu, select All in One SEO » Redirects.
If you see a popup, click on ‘Activate Redirects.’
Then, click the ‘Settings’ tab.
Next to ‘Redirect Methods,’ you can select either ‘PHP’ or ‘Web Server.’
From my experience, PHP is the easiest and most reliable way to set up redirects since you don’t need to edit your server settings.
By contrast, I recommend avoiding ‘Web Server’ unless you’re an advanced user. That method requires you to configure your web server software, like Apache or NGINX.
With that said, make sure you select ’PHP.’
That’s all the setup out of the way. You can now create 301 redirects in a few different ways, depending on whether you want to redirect specific pages, move an entire site, or proactively monitor and fix 404 errors as they happen.
To help you out, I’m going to cover all these different methods in detail.
Method 1: Create Individual Redirects
Do you already know the link you want to redirect? For example, you might have audited your site and decided to combine two similar articles into one fantastic new guide (which can be really great for SEO).
In that case, AIOSEO lets you enter a Source URL and Target URL manually.
To get started, select the ‘Redirects’ tab.
In the ‘Source URL’ field, enter the original URL.
I always double-check this link because one small typo here means the redirect won’t work.
After that, enter the new destination into the ‘Target URL’ field. This is where your visitors will end up when they try to access the original URL.
Below those fields, open the Redirect Type dropdown and select ‘301 Moved Permanently.’
Once everything looks good, click the ‘Add Redirect’ button. That’s it!
Sometimes, you may want to redirect multiple URLs to the new location. For example, you might have several old landing pages that you want to redirect to a current promotional page.
To do this, just keep clicking the ‘Add URL’ button underneath the Source URLs field.
You can then add as many links as you want.
For me, the final step is always testing my redirect. Just open a new browser tab and visit the old, broken URL. If it immediately takes you to the new destination, then your 301 redirect is working perfectly.
Checking the Redirect Logs
After setting up a redirect, you can monitor how many people click on the redirected link. This helps you confirm the redirect is necessary and is successfully keeping traffic flowing from the original URL.
To see these numbers, select the ‘Redirects’ tab if it isn’t already selected. Then, scroll down to the table showing all the redirects you’ve created.
The ‘Hits’ column shows exactly how many people have clicked on the redirected link.
There’s also a toggle that you can use to quickly enable or disable the redirect. This is a lifesaver if you ever need to quickly pause a redirect while you’re troubleshooting an issue.
Method 2: Find and Fix 404 Errors
AIOSEO doesn’t just let you set up manual redirects. It can automatically log every time someone tries to reach a page that no longer exists on your site.
By monitoring these logs, you can quickly spot any outdated URLs that are getting lots of traffic. This usually suggests a major site is linking to your old content, or it’s still appearing in search results.
When I see repeated hits, I immediately create a permanent 301 redirect for that broken link to improve the user experience and save valuable traffic.
To enable this 404 monitoring, go to All in One SEO » Redirects, if you haven’t already. Here, select the ‘Settings’ tab.
Now, scroll to the ‘Logs’ section and click to enable the ‘404 Logs.’
This tells AIOSEO, “Yes, start watching for those broken pages!”
You can also specify how long AIOSEO should retain these logs.
I recommend keeping logs for a maximum of one month, so they don’t grow out of control. After all, deleting outdated data is important for keeping your site running smoothly.
After making this decision, open the dropdown menu that shows ‘1 Week’ by default and choose your duration.
With that done, scroll to the bottom of the screen.
Here, click ‘Save Changes’ to store your settings.
When you first enable 404 logging, you won’t see any data, as AIOSEO only records errors after activation.
After a while, you can check your site’s logs by selecting the ‘404 Logs’ tab.
Here, you’ll see all the broken links that visitors have tried to access, along with the ‘Hits’ for each URL. You can also see the last time someone tried to access each link.
To fix any URL in these logs, click its accompanying ‘Add Redirect’ link.
You can then enter your Target URL, which is the new, correct address you want to link to.
Simply go ahead and type in the new URL.
With that done, open the ‘Redirect Type’ dropdown and choose ‘301 Moved Permanently.’
Finally, click the ‘Add Redirect’ button.
AIOSEO will now create the 301 redirect for you.
Method 3: Adding 301 Redirects Directly From a Post or Page
AIOSEO also lets you create redirects directly in the WordPress editor.
If you’re already editing a page or post, then this is much faster than going into the AIOSEO Redirects menu, typing in the old URL, and then typing in the new URL. I love this feature as it saves me so much time.
To set up this kind of fast redirect, simply scroll to the ‘AIOSEO Settings’ section in the WordPress content editor. Here, click the ‘Redirects’ tab.
You’ll notice that AIOSEO has already added the Source URL for you. This is the post’s current address.
In ‘Target URL,’ just enter the new address that you want to use instead.
If it isn’t already selected, then open the ‘Redirect Type’ dropdown menu and select ‘301 Moved Permanently.’
When you’re happy with the information you’ve entered, click on ‘Add Redirect’ to save your changes.
Step 4: A Full Site Redirect
Sometimes you may need to move your entire site to a new domain name.
A full site redirect is the only reliable way to handle a complete move. It ensures all your site’s SEO value, backlinks, and authority get passed along to the new domain. Plus, it helps you avoid a ton of 404 errors.
Despite it affecting your entire site, this is simply another type of 301 redirect, and AIOSEO makes the setup process incredibly easy.
To start, head over to All in One SEO » Redirects and click the ‘Full Site Redirect’ tab.
Here, click to enable the ‘Relocate Site’ switch.
In the ‘Relocate to domain’ field, enter the new, complete URL that you want to use.
That done, click on the ‘Save Changes’ button. It’s as simple as that.
What I like about this process is that AIOSEO handles almost everything automatically. It redirects all your pages, posts, images, and files.
At the same time, it smartly excludes the WordPress login page and your admin area from the redirect. This is a crucial safety measure that ensures you can always log in and manage your site without getting stuck in a redirect loop.
Even when you use an advanced tool like AIOSEO, there’s still a risk that some links might break and cause 404 errors. That’s why I always use AIOSEO’s 404 logging feature to monitor my site for broken links.
I can then create 301 redirects to fix those links before they cause any long-term damage to my search rankings or the user experience.
If you want a detailed explanation of AIOSEO’s 404 logging, then refer to method 2 where I explain the entire process.
FAQs About 301 Redirects
To wrap things up, I’ll answer some of the most common redirect questions I get from WP101 readers.
My goal is to clear up any remaining points of confusion, so you can add 301 redirects in WordPress with ease.
What exactly is a redirect?
Simply put, a redirect automatically sends visitors from one web address to another.
Everything happens behind the scenes. That said, when a visitor clicks a link or types an address that no longer exists, the redirect instantly steps in and sends them to the new, correct page.
There’s a few different types of redirect you can use, and each one has a unique three-digit code such as 301, 302, or 307. These numbers tell browsers and search engines whether the move is permanent or just temporary.
What is a 301 redirect?
A 301 redirect tells browsers and search engines that the page has been permanently removed.
Crucially, a 301 redirect transfers almost all the original page’s valuable SEO rankings and authority to the new URL. When I move a popular post to a new URL, I always set up a 301 redirect to ensure I keep all my hard-earned search engine traffic and rankings.
When do I need to use a 301 redirect in WordPress?
In my experience, there’s several common scenarios where you’ll need to set up a 301 redirect:
- Moving or deleting pages: If you need to take a page down or move it to a new address, then a 301 redirect ensures visitors and search engines don’t encounter a 404 error. Instead, the 301 redirect seamlessly sends visitors and search engines to the replacement page.
- Changing your permalinks: If you decide to change a post’s URL by renaming it, then you’ll need to use a 301 redirect. It helps you maintain your search engine rankings and stop any external links from breaking.
- Combining similar content: This is a technique that’s worked really well for me in the past. If I have multiple articles on the same topic, then I’ll often merge them into one comprehensive ‘ultimate guide.’ I then redirect all the old URLs to the new, single piece of content.
What happens if I don’t set up a 301 redirect?
If you don’t set up a necessary 301 redirect, then visitors will encounter a 404 error page or a ‘Page Not Found’ message.
This is terrible for the user experience, but I’ve learned that this is only part of the problem.
404 errors can seriously damage your WordPress SEO because search engines see it as a sign that your site isn’t properly maintained. This can hurt your rankings, so you miss out on even more traffic and potential conversions.
Plus, you’ll lose all the valuable link authority from external websites that are pointing to the original page (since that page no longer exists).
For those reasons, you should always set up a 301 redirect when you permanently move or delete a page.
Bonus: My Essential Tools for Maintaining Site Health and SEO
Redirects are a crucial part of site maintenance, but they work best when combined with other powerful tools.
Based on my experience managing many websites, here’s a few other plugins I use to keep my sites running smoothly and ranking highly:
- MonsterInsights: This popular Google Analytics plugin shows you exactly what’s happening on your site. After moving a page, I use MonsterInsights to ensure my traffic hasn’t dipped, so I can immediately find and fix any problems.
- SeedProd: Even if you add 301 redirects in WordPress, there’s still a chance visitors may encounter 404 errors. For example, they might make a typo or spelling mistake when typing your URL. That’s why I use the SeedProd page builder to design beautiful 404 pages for all my sites. That way, I can show visitors a genuinely helpful, branded error page.
- WPForms: I use this form builder plugin alongside SeedProd, to place contact forms on my custom 404 error pages. That way, if visitors encounter an error then they can easily report the broken link. This feedback helps me find broken URLs and other errors I might have otherwise missed.
I hope you’re feeling confident about managing your WordPress website’s links now.
Ready to grow your business even more? Then check out our ultimate WordPress toolkit: everything you need for your website. It’s full of my favorite plugins, themes, and tools for building a successful website.
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