WordPress Redirects Made Easy: Plugin & Code Methods

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WordPress Redirects

WordPress redirects ensure your users (and Google) can find your content when you:

Using redirects avoids creating broken links (bad for user experience), or losing the authority of your backlinks (bad for your SEO).

In this guide, I’ll show you how to redirect your WordPress URLs with and without plugins.

When Should You Use WordPress Redirects?

You typically set up WordPress redirects any time you want visitors (and search engines) to end up at a different URL than the one they originally tried to access.

That might be because you changed an old link, or because you’re testing a new landing page.

Common Scenarios:

Use Case Example Why It Matters
Changing page URLs You updated your post slug from /old-page to /new-page A redirect ensures visitors who save, bookmark, or click the old link don’t land on a 404 error
Deleting or merging content You remove outdated pages or combine two posts into one Redirects in these cases ensure you don’t lose valuable backlinks
Rebranding or domain changes You switch from olddomain.com to newdomain.com A sitewide redirect preserves your site’s SEO and minimizes traffic lost during the migration
Temporary promotions You create a holiday sale page that’s active for one week A temporary (302) redirect lets you direct traffic to the special offer, then you can revert back to the original URL when it’s over

Types of WordPress Redirects

You’ll mostly rely on two key types of redirects: 301 and 302. (Even then, 301 is the type you’ll likely use most often.)
While there are others (like meta refresh), they don’t come up nearly as often in day-to-day site management (and they’re typically not best practice either).
So I won’t talk about them here.
There are also subtle variations of these standard redirects (like 307 and 308 redirects). But these have very specific use cases that most site owners don’t need to worry about.

301 Permanent Redirect

This is the go-to redirect for any page move that’s meant to last forever. You use it when you’ve changed your URL structure, merged content, or changed your domain.

Search engines treat this as a permanent change and usually transfer most of the old page’s authority to the new page.

302 Temporary Redirect

You use 302 redirects when you plan to send visitors to a new page for a limited time.

This could be when you’re running a seasonal promotion or an A/B test to see which version of your page performs best.

A 302 redirect tells search engines that the old URL is coming back eventually, so they shouldn’t transfer the SEO value to the new page just yet.

What to Do Before You Create WordPress Redirects

Redirecting pages, no matter why or how you do it, always comes with an inherent risk.

It’s easy to make mistakes, like creating redirect chains.

Understand What Kind of WordPress Site You Own

There are two flavors of WordPress:

Most sites you’ll see talking about WordPress redirects, and everything I’ll discuss below, only really applies to owners of sites running via WordPress.org.

Create a Backup

It’s always a good idea to back up your site before making any significant changes—redirects included.

Create a URL Map

Another good idea if you’re redirecting a lot of URLs or moving to a new domain is to map all of your current URLs to their new versions.

Consider Whether You Need a Redirect

Finally, consider whether you even need a redirect at all. I’ve covered a few common situations above, but sometimes you might be better off:

How to Redirect WordPress URLs with a Plugin

Using a plugin is by far the easiest way to handle redirects in WordPress. You don’t have to touch any code, and they’re usually pretty easy to set up.

Overview of Popular WordPress Plugins

Plugin Key Benefit Price
Redirection Handles 301 redirects with a simple interface Free
301 Redirects Quick setup for basic redirects Free (with optional paid plans)
Rank Math Offers advanced SEO tools plus auto-redirects when you change URL slugs Free (Premium available)
Yoast All-in-one SEO plugin Paid (annual license)
AIO SEO A range of SEO features and simple redirects Paid (annual plans)

How to Set Up a Redirect in WordPress via .htaccess

If you’re comfortable taking a more hands-on approach, you can skip plugins entirely and create redirects by editing your site’s .htaccess file.

How to Access .htaccess

The usual method to edit your .htaccess file involves an FTP client. This is a “file transfer protocol” program that lets you access your server’s files from your computer.

Before You Start

For some redirects, you’ll need to add a few lines of code like this:

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On

Here are the most common types of WordPress redirects you can add to your .htaccess file:

Redirecting a Single Page

To redirect a single page using your .htaccess file, add this line of code, replacing the /old-url and /new-url parts with your own URLs:

Redirect 301 /old-url https://yourdomain.com/new-url

Redirecting HTTP to HTTPS

You can also redirect your website from HTTP (unsecure) to HTTPS (secure) via .htaccess.

Redirecting WWW to Non-WWW

As with redirecting to HTTPS, you can usually redirect from the www. version of your website without touching your .htaccess file.

Pros and Cons of Using .htaccess for WordPress Redirects

Advantages

Disadvantages

How to Check Your WordPress Redirects Are Working

You can do this manually by checking the URLs if you didn’t create that many redirects.
But if you have lots of them, you can use a tool like Semrush’s Site Audit to check for issues across your entire site.