Redirect Best Practices
Moving pages without redirects means 404 errors, lost rankings, and angry users. Here's what every format means and where to use it.
Apache (.htaccess)
Standard for shared hosting (cPanel, SiteGround, Bluehost). Place code at the top of your .htaccess file in your site root.
Nginx
For VPS/dedicated servers. Add inside your server { } block, before the location / block. Reload Nginx after saving.
Cloudflare / Netlify / Vercel
Modern edge platforms. Create a _redirects file (Cloudflare/Netlify) or add to vercel.json in your project root. Deploy to activate.
WordPress
Add to your theme's functions.php or a site-specific plugin. Use a child theme so updates don't erase your redirects.
301 vs 302 vs 307 vs 308
301 — permanent, passes link equity (best for SEO). 302/307 — temporary, no link equity passed. 307/308 — preserve POST method (use for form endpoints).
Avoid Redirect Chains
A → B → C costs speed and dilutes SEO. Always redirect directly to the final destination. Use our chain checker above to catch these before deploying.