How to Set Up Clean Redirects After Moving a Site

Introduction

When you move a website, change domains, switch CMS platforms or restructure URLs, old links may stop working unless redirects are set up correctly. Clean redirects send users and search engines from old URLs to the most relevant new URLs.

A good redirect plan prevents broken pages, preserves traffic, reduces SEO loss and avoids confusing redirect chains. A bad redirect setup can create 404 errors, redirect loops, slow page loading, duplicate URLs and lost search visibility.

Quick answer

Clean redirects

Clean redirects are intentional URL forwarding rules that send visitors and search engines from an old URL to the correct new URL in one clear step.

A clean redirect should:

• use the correct redirect type
• point to the most relevant destination
• avoid unnecessary hops
• avoid loops
• preserve HTTPS
• respect www/non-www choice
• return a final 200 OK page
• avoid redirecting everything to the homepage

When redirects are needed

Redirects are usually needed when:

• moving to a new domain
• changing from HTTP to HTTPS
• changing www to non-www or the reverse
• rebuilding a site in a new CMS
• changing URL slugs
• removing .html or trailing slashes
• merging pages
• deleting old pages with replacements
• changing category structures
• moving blog posts or guides
• changing product/service URLs
• migrating from subdomain to root domain

Any URL that previously received users, backlinks or search traffic should be reviewed during migration.

301 vs 302

Redirect map

A redirect map is a list of old URLs and their new destinations.

Include:

• old URL
• new URL
• redirect type
• page type
• priority
• notes
• final status after testing

Old URL | New URL | Type | Priority | Status

Relevant destinations

Redirect relevance matters.

Why this matters

Redirects are especially important after domain changes, WordPress rebuilds, SEO migrations, HTTPS migrations and website redesigns.

How to check redirects

Use Website Status Checker to test old URLs and confirm where they end.

Check:

1. Old homepage — Confirm it redirects to the new homepage.
2. Important old pages — Test service pages, tools, products, guides and blog posts.
3. Final URL — Confirm the redirect lands on the correct final page.
4. Final status — Confirm the final page returns 200 OK.
5. Redirect chain — Confirm the redirect happens in one step where possible.
6. HTTPS — Confirm final URLs use HTTPS.
7. www/non-www — Confirm canonical host is consistent.
8. 404 pages — Confirm removed pages return 404/410 or relevant redirects.

Common problems

How to set up redirects

1. Step 1: Export old URLs

   Collect URLs from sitemap, analytics, search console, backlinks, crawl tools and server logs.

2. Step 2: List new URLs

   Create the final URL list for the new site.

3. Step 3: Map old to new

   Match each important old URL to the closest relevant new URL.

4. Step 4: Choose redirect type

   Use 301 for permanent moves and 302 only for temporary changes.

5. Step 5: Redirect to final canonical URL

   Point old URLs directly to HTTPS and the chosen www/non-www version.

6. Step 6: Avoid chains and loops

   Remove intermediate hops and conflicting redirect rules.

7. Step 7: Update internal links

   Change menus, buttons, content links, canonicals and sitemap to final URLs.

8. Step 8: Test before launch

   Check old URLs, new URLs, redirect chains and final statuses.

9. Step 9: Monitor after launch

   Review 404 logs, crawl errors, traffic changes and redirect failures.

Redirect examples

Good redirect:

Old:
http://oldsite.com/services/web-design

New:
https://newsite.com/services/web-design

Result:
301 → https://newsite.com/services/web-design
Final status: 200 OK

Bad redirect chain:

http://oldsite.com/services/web-design
→ 301 https://oldsite.com/services/web-design
→ 301 https://www.newsite.com/services/web-design
→ 301 https://newsite.com/services/web-design
→ 200 OK

Better:

http://oldsite.com/services/web-design
→ 301 https://newsite.com/services/web-design
→ 200 OK

Apache .htaccess example:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^oldsite\.com$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.oldsite\.com$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://newsite.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Nginx example:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name oldsite.com www.oldsite.com;
    return 301 https://newsite.com$request_uri;
}

WordPress redirects

WordPress redirects may be controlled by plugins, .htaccess, Nginx, hosting panel, CDN or WordPress settings.

• WordPress Address URL
• Site Address URL
• permalink structure
• redirect plugin rules
• .htaccess rules
• Nginx rules
• CDN redirect rules
• HTTPS settings
• www/non-www settings
• old slug redirects
• category/tag changes

Domain migration

When moving from one domain to another, redirect old-domain URLs to matching new-domain URLs.

oldsite.com/about → newsite.com/about
oldsite.com/contact → newsite.com/contact
oldsite.com/services/hosting → newsite.com/services/hosting

Check:

• old domain DNS still points to a server/CDN that can redirect
• SSL works on the old domain if HTTPS old URLs exist
• all important paths redirect
• final URLs are canonical
• old domain remains active long enough for users and search engines

Redirects help search engines understand where old content moved.

• use 301 for permanent moves
• redirect to relevant pages
• avoid redirect chains
• update canonical tags
• update XML sitemap
• update internal links
• keep old domain active
• monitor crawl errors
• check important backlinks
• avoid mass homepage redirects
• keep content intent similar

Frequently asked questions