Redirect Manager
Powerful URL redirect management with 301/302 redirects, regex patterns, and 404 monitoring
Overview
ProRank SEO's Redirect Manager is a comprehensive solution for handling URL redirects, fixing broken links, and maintaining SEO value when restructuring your website. It includes automatic 404 detection, redirect chain prevention, and advanced pattern matching for complex redirect scenarios.
Whether you're migrating content, changing permalinks, or consolidating pages, the Redirect Manager ensures your visitors and search engines always find the right content while preserving your hard-earned SEO rankings.
Key Features
Core Features
- 301, 302, 307, 308 redirect types
- Automatic 404 error detection
- Bulk redirect management
- CSV import/export
- Redirect chain detection
- Hit tracking and analytics
Pro+ Features
- Regex pattern redirects
- Auto-redirect on URL changes
- Advanced redirect analytics
- Unlimited redirects
- Priority-based routing
- Redirect loops prevention
Redirect Types Explained
301 - Permanent Redirect
Use when content has permanently moved to a new location. Passes full SEO value to the new URL.
Example: Old product page → New product page, Domain migration
302 - Temporary Redirect
Use when content is temporarily moved. Original URL retains SEO value.
Example: Seasonal promotions, A/B testing, Maintenance pages
307 - Temporary (Strict)
Like 302 but guarantees the HTTP method won't change. Important for POST requests.
Example: Form submissions, API endpoints
308 - Permanent (Strict)
Like 301 but guarantees the HTTP method won't change. Rarely needed for typical websites.
Example: API versioning, RESTful service migrations
For most website redirects, use 301 (permanent) or 302 (temporary). The 307 and 308 codes are primarily for applications that need to preserve HTTP methods during redirects.
Quick Start Guide
- Access Redirect Manager:Navigate to ProRank SEO → Technical SEO → Redirect Manager
- Create Your First Redirect:Click "Add New Redirect" button in the top toolbar
- Configure Redirect:• Source URL: Enter the old URL path (e.g., /old-page)• Target URL: Enter the new URL (e.g., /new-page or https://example.com/page)• Type: Select 301 for permanent or 302 for temporary• Status: Set to Active to enable immediately
- Save and Test:Click "Save Redirect" and test by visiting the old URL
404 Error Monitoring
Automatic 404 Detection
ProRank SEO automatically tracks 404 errors on your site and suggests redirects to fix them:
- 1.Monitors all 404 errors in real-time
- 2.Tracks hit count and last accessed time
- 3.Suggests similar existing pages as redirect targets
- 4.One-click redirect creation from 404 list
- 5.Identifies referrer sources for broken links
Performance & Caching
Optimized for Speed
The Redirect Manager is built with performance in mind:
Caching System
- • In-memory redirect cache
- • Reduces database queries
- • Auto-cache warming
- • Smart cache invalidation
Early Processing
- • Hooks at template_redirect
- • Priority 5 execution
- • Minimal overhead
- • No theme loading for redirects
Common Use Cases
Site Restructuring
When reorganizing your site structure, create redirects from old URLs to new locations:
Content Consolidation
Merge similar content and redirect old pages to the consolidated version:
Seasonal Campaigns
Temporarily redirect traffic to promotional pages:
Domain Migration
Redirect all traffic from old domain to new domain (Pro+ regex feature):
Best Practices
Do's
- ✓ Use 301 for permanent moves
- ✓ Test redirects after creation
- ✓ Monitor 404 errors regularly
- ✓ Check for redirect chains
- ✓ Export backups before bulk changes
- ✓ Use relative paths when possible
- ✓ Document redirect purposes in notes
Don'ts
- ✗ Don't create redirect loops
- ✗ Don't chain multiple redirects
- ✗ Don't use 302 for permanent moves
- ✗ Don't redirect to 404 pages
- ✗ Don't ignore high-traffic 404s
- ✗ Don't forget to update internal links
- ✗ Don't redirect without testing
License Limitations
Feature Availability by License
Free License
- • Up to 50 redirects
- • Basic 301/302 redirects
- • Manual redirect creation
- • 404 monitoring (last 100 errors)
Core+ License
- • Unlimited redirects
- • All redirect types (301/302/307/308)
- • CSV import/export
- • Bulk operations
- • Full 404 monitoring
- • Redirect chain detection
Pro+ License
- • All Core+ features
- • Regex pattern redirects
- • Auto-redirect on URL changes
- • Advanced analytics & hit tracking
- • Priority-based routing
- • Redirect logs export
- • API access for redirects
Important Notes
Redirect Chains: Avoid creating chains where A → B → C. Instead, redirect A → C and B → C directly for better performance and SEO.
SEO Impact: 301 redirects pass 90-99% of link equity to the new URL. Multiple redirects in a chain can compound this loss.
Server Compatibility: The Redirect Manager works at the WordPress level. Server-level redirects in .htaccess or nginx.conf will execute before these redirects.