You need a WordPress 301 redirect in several situations, particularly when making changes to your website’s URL structure or shifting to a new domain. Here are some common scenarios where a 301 redirect may be necessary or at least be helpful:
URL Changes: If you modify the permalink structure or slug of a post or page on your WordPress website, you should set up a WordPress 301 redirect from the old URL to the new URL. That ensures the visitors who access the old URL are automatically redirected to the updated URL, preventing them from encountering a “404 Not Found” error.
Domain Migration: When migrating a website from one domain to another (e.g., from olddomain.com to newdomain.com), WordPress experts use 301 redirects. This way, visitors who access pages on the old domain will be redirected to the corresponding pages on the new domain. That will help preserve traffic and search engine rankings.
Merging Websites: Let’s say you want to merge two websites or consolidate content from multiple domains into one WordPress site. Then you can set up 301 redirects to direct visitors from the old URLs to the relevant pages on the new site.
Broken Links: When a WordPress development company finds broken links on your website, they set up WordPress 301 redirects. That will help guide users to functioning pages, improving their browsing experience.
Page Deletion or Archiving: If you decide to delete a page or post permanently from your website, redirect its URL to a related or appropriate page. Then the users won’t encounter a “404 Not Found” error.
Updating Website Structure: If you make significant changes to your website’s structure or navigation, use 301 redirections to point users and search engines to the new locations of the pages they are trying to access.
A WordPress 301 redirect is needed whenever there are changes to your website’s URL structure and domain. Or maybe there is content that could lead to broken links or changes in page locations. By using 301 redirects, you can provide a seamless user experience, retain SEO value, and maintain website integrity during transitions and updates.
