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301 redirect

This article will show you how to create a redirect using your .htaccess file.

If you’ve recently moved your website to a different URL, you can set up a 301 redirect to ensure that anyone going to your old site is automatically taken to your new one.

What is a 301 redirect?

Simply put, a 301 redirect is a HTTP status code that is sent to a browser from a web server, to indicate that a page has permanently moved. Any links that include your old URL will then redirect to the new URL that has been provided. You can also redirect a www version of your site to a non-www. version.

If you don’t have a 301 redirect in place, anyone visiting your old URL will be greeted with an error message, which will have a negative impact on your credibility as well as your SEO ranking.

To set up a 301 redirect, simply follow the instructions below:

  1. Open a text editor such as Notepad.

  2. Copy the following line of code into your text editor, replacing http://www.example.com/ with the URL you wish to forward your domain name to.

    
Redirect 301 / http://www.example.com/

    If, however, you want to redirect www to a non-www version of your site, then copy the following line of code into your text editor, replacing example.com and http://www.example.com/ with your new URL.

    
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} .
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^example.com
RewriteRule (.*) http://example.com/$1 [R=301,L]
  3. Save the file as .htaccess.
  4. Upload the file to your webspace by using an FTP client

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