Redirects

Redirects send visitors from one web address on your website to another. They keep old links, bookmarks and search results working when you move or rename content. In Strengthen → Content → Redirects you can manage your redirects on the Redirects tab and review Redirect Misses, the addresses visitors tried to reach that don't exist.

Before you start

• Redirects is available to subscription administrators, and to users who have been given the redirect permissions directly. See Users, teams, groups and permissions.
• You may see only one of the two tabs, Redirects or Redirect Misses, depending on your permissions.

Redirects that are created for you

You don't need to add a redirect every time you rename something. When you change the URL of a page, post or blog category, Structurell automatically creates a permanent (301) redirect from the old address to the new one. It also updates links to the old address inside your other pages, posts and categories. If you later change the URL back, the old redirect is removed so visitors aren't sent round in a circle.

These automatic redirects appear in your Redirects list, where you can edit or remove them like any other.

Add a redirect

• Step 1: Go to Strengthen → Content → Redirects and open the Redirects tab.
• Step 2: Select New.
• Step 3: Leave Status as enabled so the redirect takes effect straight away. New redirects are enabled by default.
• Step 4: Enter the Source URL, which is the old address visitors arrive at, for example /old-page.
• Step 5: Choose the Site the redirect applies to.
• Step 6: Choose the Target URL. You can pick one of your pages or posts from the list, or type your own address, including one on another website.
• Step 7: Optionally, enter a Target Anchor to send visitors to a specific section of the target page. For example, entering "team" with a target of /about sends visitors to /about#team.
• Step 8: Choose a Redirect Status Code, then select Save.

Choosing a status code

• 301 Permanent and 308 Permanent: use these when content has moved for good. Search engines update their records to the new address.
• 302 Temporary and 307 Temporary: use these when the move is short-term and you plan to bring the original address back.

If you're not sure, 301 Permanent is the usual choice for renamed or moved pages.

Avoiding redirect loops and chains

Structurell won't let you save a redirect that would send visitors back and forth forever. For example, if an enabled redirect already goes from /b to /a, you can't add one from /a to /b.

Chains are allowed but slow visitors down. A chain is where one redirect points at an address that itself redirects somewhere else. The summary tiles above the list show how many redirects are Active and how many are in Chains/loops, so you can point the first redirect straight at the final destination.

Review redirect misses

When a visitor asks your website for an address that doesn't exist, it's recorded on the Redirect Misses tab, most recently seen first. For each miss you can see the site, the Source URL, its status, a suggested target where Structurell has found a likely match, how many times it's been hit and when it was last seen. Summary tiles show Unresolved 404s, New (7d) and Resolved (30d).

Once a day, Structurell tidies the list for you:

• Obvious noise, such as automated probes for files your website doesn't have, is marked as ignored.
• Addresses that now have live content are marked as ignored.
• Where there's a single, very likely match among your pages, posts and categories, a permanent (301) redirect is created and the miss is marked as resolved. If your package includes AI for Content, AI helps decide the less obvious cases.
• Subscription administrators get a notification when misses still need review.

To fix a miss yourself:

• Step 1: Open the Redirect Misses tab.
• Step 2: Open the Actions menu on the row and choose Create Redirect.
• Step 3: Check the pre-filled redirect form. The site, source address and any suggested target are filled in for you.
• Step 4: Adjust the Target URL and Redirect Status Code if needed, then select Save.

If a miss isn't worth fixing, for example a mistyped address, choose Ignore from the Actions menu. To ignore several at once, tick them in the list and choose Ignore from the Status options. Ignored misses are hidden from the list unless you filter by status. Misses that are already ignored or resolved have no Actions menu.

Troubleshooting

• The redirect doesn't work straight away: check its Status is enabled and that you chose the right Site. Your website may take a short time to pick up the change.
• You get an error about sending visitors back and forth: an enabled redirect already goes the other way. Edit or disable that redirect first.
• You can't see Redirects in the menu: ask a subscription administrator to give you access.

Related articles

• Creating and editing pages
• Writing blog posts