How to Set Up WordPress Redirects for Better SEO

Published on August 24, 2025 by

Introduction

Every website changes over time. You update pages, rewrite content, remove outdated posts, or restructure your categories. These changes are natural, but they create a problem: broken links. When visitors or search engines hit a deleted page, they land on the dreaded 404 error. Not only is it frustrating for users, but it also damages your SEO. Search engines interpret broken links as poor site maintenance, and rankings suffer.

That’s where redirects come in. A redirect points users and search engines from an old URL to a new one. It ensures that link equity, also known as SEO value, passes to the updated page. Without redirects, all the backlinks pointing to the old URL are wasted. With them, you preserve traffic, authority, and trust. I once ignored redirects after a redesign, and the traffic drop was so bad I thought Google had banned me. Don’t repeat my mistake.

What Are Redirects

A redirect is an instruction that tells browsers and search engines where to go when a page has moved. Instead of showing an error, the server sends them to the right place. There are different types of redirects, each serving a specific purpose.

For SEO, the most important are 301 and 302. A 301 redirect is permanent. It signals that the old URL is gone forever and all value should pass to the new page. A 302 redirect is temporary. It tells search engines that the old page might return, so they shouldn’t transfer full SEO value. Using the wrong one can confuse crawlers. Think of it as moving house. A 301 is like changing your address officially at the post office, while a 302 is like asking a neighbor to hold your mail for a week.

Why Redirects Matter for SEO

Redirects aren’t just about avoiding broken links. They protect your SEO foundation. When you delete or move a page, backlinks still point to the old URL. If you leave them broken, you lose authority. With a redirect, that authority transfers smoothly.

User experience also improves. A visitor who lands on a 404 might leave immediately, raising bounce rates. A visitor who gets redirected to the right page sticks around, reads, and maybe converts. Google notices these signals. Clean redirects demonstrate that you maintain your site carefully, which builds trust. And trust is currency in SEO.

Common Scenarios Where You Need Redirects

Redirects come into play more often than most beginners think. Here are common situations:

  • Changing your domain name

  • Migrating from HTTP to HTTPS

  • Deleting outdated blog posts

  • Merging duplicate content

  • Restructuring categories or permalinks

  • Updating product URLs in WooCommerce

  • Fixing typos in old URLs

In every scenario, redirects prevent errors and maintain your SEO momentum. Skipping them is like pulling the rug out from under your visitors. They fall flat, and you lose the audience you worked hard to attract.

Step 1: Install a Redirect Plugin

WordPress makes setting up redirects simple with plugins. You don’t need to touch server files or write Apache rules. Popular options include Redirection, Rank Math, and Yoast Premium.

  • Redirection is free, powerful, and user-friendly.

  • Rank Math includes redirect management as part of its SEO suite.

  • Yoast Premium offers automatic redirect suggestions when you delete a page.

Pick one based on your needs. I often use Redirection because it handles everything, including logging 404 errors. That way, I see where visitors hit broken pages and can fix them immediately.

Step 2: Create Your First Redirect

After installing your plugin, creating a redirect is easy. You enter the old URL and the new destination. Choose the type—301 for permanent, 302 for temporary—and save. The plugin handles the rest.

For example, if you changed example.com/old-page to example.com/new-page, set a 301 redirect. Visitors who click the old link automatically land on the new page. Search engines also update their index over time. This one small action preserves all the SEO juice you’ve built.

Step 3: Bulk Redirects for Larger Sites

What if you have dozens or even hundreds of pages to redirect? Manually adding each one is painful. Thankfully, many plugins allow bulk imports via CSV files. You map old URLs to new ones, upload the file, and the plugin processes them at once.

This feature is especially useful during site migrations or large redesigns. I once migrated a site with 250 blog posts. Manually setting each redirect would have taken hours. Instead, a simple spreadsheet upload finished the job in minutes. Efficiency matters, especially when your sanity is at stake.

Step 4: Redirect Chains and Loops

Redirects solve problems, but they can create new ones if misused. A redirect chain happens when Page A redirects to Page B, which redirects to Page C. Each hop slows down users and confuses crawlers. Ideally, A should go directly to C.

A redirect loop is worse. It happens when two pages redirect to each other endlessly. Visitors see errors, and search engines give up crawling. Plugins often flag these issues, but you should check regularly. A tangled web of redirects is like a maze with no exit. Nobody wants to wander in circles.

Step 5: Test and Monitor Redirects

After setting up redirects, testing is essential. Visit the old URLs and confirm they go to the right place. Use tools like Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or even free online checkers to audit your redirects.

Monitor performance in Google Search Console. Look for crawl errors or indexing issues. If you still see 404s, double-check your redirects. I learned the hard way that forgetting one old blog post can cost valuable traffic. Testing isn’t glamorous, but it’s necessary.

Redirects and Site Speed

Every redirect adds a slight delay because the browser makes an extra request. While a single redirect barely matters, chains or excessive redirects slow down sites noticeably. Since speed is a ranking factor, this can hurt SEO.

The solution is keeping redirects clean and minimal. Use them wisely, not recklessly. If you find yourself redirecting the same page multiple times, consolidate your strategy. Redirects are tools, not band-aids for sloppy site management.

Redirects vs Canonical Tags

Some beginners confuse redirects with canonical tags. They solve different problems. A redirect moves users from one URL to another. A canonical tag tells search engines which version of a page is the “official” one among duplicates.

For example, if example.com/product and example.com/product?ref=123 exist, you don’t want to redirect users. Instead, you set a canonical tag pointing to the clean version. That way, search engines consolidate ranking signals without affecting user experience. Redirects and canonicals complement each other but aren’t interchangeable.

When Not to Use Redirects

Redirects are powerful, but they’re not always the answer. Avoid redirecting users to irrelevant pages just to keep traffic. If an old article about “SEO in 2010” no longer exists, don’t redirect it to your homepage. Visitors expect relevance. Sending them somewhere unrelated feels deceptive.

In such cases, either update the content or let the page return a 410 status (gone). A 404 or 410 is sometimes better than a misleading redirect. Trust matters more than squeezing every drop of traffic.

Quick Checklist for Redirect Best Practices

Here’s a simple list to keep handy:

  • Use 301 redirects for permanent changes

  • Use 302 redirects for temporary changes

  • Avoid redirect chains and loops

  • Test redirects after setting them up

  • Don’t redirect unrelated content

  • Use bulk redirects for migrations

  • Monitor errors in Search Console

  • Keep redirects minimal to preserve speed

Follow these best practices, and you’ll avoid most common pitfalls.

My Rookie Redirect Disaster

Let me confess a mistake. During my first site migration, I redirected every deleted blog post to the homepage. I thought it was a clever way to “save traffic.” Instead, bounce rates skyrocketed because visitors couldn’t find what they expected. Google didn’t like it either. Rankings dropped. I had to redo everything, redirecting pages properly to relevant replacements. It was painful, but I never forgot the lesson: relevance matters.

Conclusion

Redirects are essential for maintaining SEO when URLs change. In WordPress, plugins make it easy to set them up without touching code. From simple one-to-one redirects to bulk migrations, the right approach preserves link equity, prevents errors, and improves user experience. Without redirects, you risk broken links, wasted backlinks, and frustrated visitors. With them, you keep your site strong during every update.

Think of redirects as part of your site’s long-term health. They don’t just fix issues; they protect the authority you’ve already built. Search engines trust sites that manage changes carefully. By learning to use redirects correctly, you stay ahead of problems before they hurt rankings.

So, set up redirects now before your visitors start bumping into 404 walls. And remember, a redirect done wrong is like sending someone to the wrong wedding—they’ll leave quickly, and probably never forgive you.