How to Redirect a WordPress Page to Another URL (2026): 3 Methods

Move or delete a WordPress page and the old URL does not just vanish. People bookmarked it. Other sites link to it. Google still has it indexed.

Leave it to 404 and you throw away every bit of ranking that page earned.

A redirect fixes that. It sends anyone hitting the old URL straight to the new one, and tells Google to carry the page's value across with it.

I set these up on client sites all the time, in a plugin and by hand.

Three methods work. Only one decision actually moves your rankings: 301 or 302.

301 vs 302: pick this first

Before you touch anything, decide which redirect you need.

This is the one people get wrong, and it is the one that costs rankings.

The rule of thumb is simple. Permanent move? Always 301. A 301 tells Google to transfer the page's authority to the new URL, per Google's own redirect guidance.

Using a 302 for a permanent move is the most common redirect mistake I see. Google keeps the old URL in the index, the new one struggles to rank, and the equity sits in limbo.

When in doubt, it is a 301.

The three methods at a glance

Method 1

01

The Redirection plugin (easiest)

Best for: Almost every site. Free, no code, and it logs hits so you can confirm the redirect works.

This is what I reach for first. Redirection by John Godley is the most-used WordPress redirect tool, free, with over 2 million active installations. It handles 301s and 302s, tracks 404s, and needs no knowledge of Apache or Nginx.

4.4/52,000,000+ installsFreeTested to 7.0on WordPress.org

How to set up a redirect

1. Go to Plugins → Add New, search Redirection, then install and activate it.
2. Open Tools → Redirection and run the quick setup wizard once.
3. On the Redirects screen, enter the old path in Source URL and the new one in Target URL.
4. Click Show advanced options, set HTTP code to 301 - Moved Permanently (or 302 for a temporary move), and click Add Redirect.

That is it, the redirect is live. The plugin logs every hit, so you can prove it is firing instead of hoping.

Tip

Already running Rank Math or Yoast?

You may not need a separate plugin. Rank Math has a built-in redirect manager at Rank Math → Redirections, and Yoast SEO Premium includes one too. Same 301/302 setup, one less plugin to install.

Get the Redirection plugin →

Redirect 301 /old-page/ https://yoursite.com/new-page/

Redirect 301 /articles/ /blog/

add_action( 'template_redirect', function () {
    if ( is_page( 'old-page-slug' ) ) {
        wp_redirect( 'https://yoursite.com/new-page/', 301 );
        exit;
    }
} );

Which method should you choose?

For almost everyone, the Redirection plugin wins. It is free, it logs hits, and you never touch a server file.

Reach for .htaccess only if you are avoiding plugins and you are comfortable editing server files with a backup ready. Use wp_redirect() when you are a developer handling a redirect or two in code you already maintain.

Redirecting a whole site or your homepage

Two related jobs come up a lot.

Moving the whole domain. Send every old path to the same path on the new domain in one rule, so /about lands on /about, not the homepage. In .htaccess:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://newsite.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Redirecting the homepage. Use the Redirection plugin with a source of / and your target URL, set to 301.

Either way, keep it to one hop, point each redirect straight at the final URL, not through another redirect, and update your internal links to match. The same rules apply when you are moving a blog between a subdomain and a subdirectory: map every URL one to one.

Common mistakes that cost rankings

Redirects are simple, but a few habits quietly leak SEO value. Treat this as a technical SEO job, not a one-click fix.

• Using a 302 for a permanent move. The old URL stays indexed and the new one never fully ranks. Use a 301.
• Redirect chains. Old → middle → new bleeds equity at every hop. Always redirect straight to the final URL.
• Redirecting everything to the homepage. Sending unrelated dead pages to your homepage reads as a soft 404 to Google, which passes nothing. Redirect to the closest matching page, or let it 404 honestly.
• Forgetting internal links. After a redirect, update the links inside your own site so they point to the new URL directly. If you are cleaning these up, our guide to fixing broken links walks through finding them.

Final take

A redirect is the difference between a moved page keeping its rankings and losing them.

The mechanics are easy. The decision is what matters.

For most sites, install the Redirection plugin, enter the old and new URLs, and pick 301. Reach for .htaccess or code only when you have a specific reason. And whatever you do: use a 301 for permanent moves, keep it one hop, and fix your internal links.