If your WordPress site is receiving a lot of 404 errors or you’ve changed page URLs, creating a 301 redirect is crucial for maintaining SEO and improving user experience. You can easily set up redirection using the .htaccess file. This tutorial covers manual redirection using .htaccess and using the Yoast SEO plugin.
Note: Before editing the .htaccess file, it’s recommended to take a backup of the original file. A small error in the code can break your site.
Method 1: Redirect WordPress URL Using .htaccess
Step 1: Log in to cPanel > Open File Manager
Step 2: Navigate to your website root directory and locate the .htaccess file
Step 3: Right-click on .htaccess > click Edit
Step 4: In the popup, confirm by clicking Edit
Step 5: Scroll to the bottom of the file and add the following line: Redirect 301 /page-one/ https://www.hextoid.com/page-two/
Step 6: Replace /page-one/ with the /old-404/ URL and replace https://www.hextoid.com/page-two/ with the new URL
Step 7: Click Save Changes
Method 2: Redirect URL Using Yoast SEO Plugin
Step 1: Go to WordPress Dashboard > Yoast SEO > Tools
Step 2: Click on File Editor
Step 3: In the .htaccess section, scroll down and add: Redirect 301 /page-one/ https://www.hextoid.com/page-two/
Step 4: Replace /page-one/ with the /old-404/ URL and replace https://www.hextoid.com/page-two/ with the new URL
Step 5: Save the file by clicking Save changes to .htaccess.
Wrap Up
That’s how you can easily set up 301 redirects in WordPress using the .htaccess file, either manually via cPanel or through Yoast SEO’s File Editor. This method is effective, especially when you want to avoid installing extra plugins for a simple task.
