If you have a website that's been around for a while, chances are you've made some changes over time. You might have deleted pages, changed URLs, or even moved your site to a new domain. When you do this, it's important to make sure that your visitors can still find the content they're looking for. One way to do this is by using a 301 redirect with an .htaccess file.
Before we get into the details of how to do a 301 redirect with an .htaccess file, let’s take a look at what a 301 redirect and .htaccess files are.
A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect from one URL to another. When someone clicks on a link to a URL that has been changed, the browser will automatically take them to the new URL. This is important for SEO because search engines will recognize the new URL as the correct one and transfer any ranking or authority from the old URL to the new one.
An .htaccess file is a configuration file used on Apache web servers to control various operation aspects of the server. It’s typically used to set up redirects, block access to certain files or directories, and set up custom error pages.
There are several situations where you might want to use a 301 redirect with an .htaccess file. These include:
By using a 301 redirect in these situations, you’ll ensure that your visitors can still find the content they’re looking for, and also preserve any SEO authority that you’ve built up over time.
Now that you know when to use a 301 redirect with an .htaccess file, let’s take a look at how to do it.
If you’re running your site on an Apache web server, you can use an .htaccess file to set up your 301 redirects. Here are steps that you have to follow:
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
</IfModule>
To redirect a single URL, add the following code to your .htaccess file:
Redirect 301 /old-page.html https://www.yoursite.com/new-page.html
Replace /old-page.html with the old URL that you want to redirect, and replace https://www.yoursite.com/new-page.html with the new URL that you want to redirect to.
To redirect a single folder and all of its contents, add the following code to your .htaccess file:
RedirectMatch 301 ^/old-folder/(.*)$ https://www.yoursite.com/new-folder/$1
Replace /old-folder/ with the name of the old folder that you want to redirect, and replace https://www.yoursite.com/new-folder/ with the URL of the new folder that you want to redirect to.
Redirecting www to non-www with a 301 .htaccess redirect is a common practice in website management. It helps ensure that all traffic to your website is directed to a single, consistent domain.
To redirect www to non-www, you will need to modify your .htaccess file. Here’s how to do it:
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(.*)$ http://yourdomain.com/$1 [L,R=301]
Replace “yourdomain.com” with your actual domain name.
Once the redirect is in place, all traffic to the www version of your domain will be redirected to the non-www version. This can help improve your website’s search engine optimization and ensure that all of your website’s visitors are accessing the same content.
It’s important to note that it may take some time for search engines to recognize and update their indexes with the new redirect. So, be patient and monitor your website’s traffic and search engine rankings to ensure that everything is functioning as expected.
To change your .htaccess file, you must first connect to the server hosting your website. You have two ways to do this:
Log in to your cPanel dashboard and look for the built-in File Manager tool there. Once you’ve made a backup of your .htaccess file’s content, use the Edit feature to include the 301 redirect code. You’ll access the text editor after doing this, where you can add the necessary code.
The 301 redirect code that you require will certainly depend on your goals.
To redirect a single page, you need to add the following code to your .htaccess file:
Redirect 301 /old-page/ https://www.yourwebsite.com/newpage/
Replace /old-page/ with the old page URL and https://www.yourwebsite.com/new-page/ with the new page URL.
To redirect a domain name, you need to add the following code to your .htaccess file:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(?:www\.)oldsite\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^http://newsite.com%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
Replace oldsite with the old domain and newsite.com with the new one.
If you are using Windows, you can also create a 301 redirect using an .htaccess file. Here are some methods:
To redirect a single page, you need to add the following code to your .htaccess file:
Redirect 301 /old-page/https://www.yourwebsite.com/new-page/
Replace “/old-page/” with the old page URL and “https://www.yourwebsite.com/new-page/” with the new page URL.
To redirect an entire website, you need to add the following code to your .htaccess file:
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.newsite.com/$1 [R=301,L]
Replace http://www.newsite.com with the new domain name you want to redirect to.
Redirect issues can occur for a variety of reasons, including changes to URLs, website redesigns, and changes to domain names. These issues can negatively impact your website’s SEO and user experience, so it’s important to identify and fix them as soon as possible. Here are some steps you can take to identify and fix redirect issues:
By following these steps, you can identify and fix redirect issues on your website, which will improve your website’s SEO and user experience.
301 redirects can be a powerful tool for maintaining the SEO value of your website when making changes to your URL structure or domain name. By following the steps outlined above, you can easily create 301 redirects with .htaccess files on Apache, WordPress, and Windows. Remember to always test your redirects to ensure they are working properly and to monitor your website’s performance after making any changes.
On Digitals provide a variety of services that can help you build and maintain websites for your business. Contact On Digitals for reliable and complete web-related services.
