What to do when you change a page address

When you change a page's address, add a redirect from the old address to the new one. Then fix your own links. That keeps visitors and outside links from landing on a dead page.

Why the old address still matters

You can change every link on your own site in a few minutes. You can't change the ones on other people's sites, in bookmarks or in emails people already sent. MDN's point is that updating your own links doesn't give you any say over the addresses outside sites use.¹

A redirect catches all of those. Without it, visitors land on a missing-page error. Not good.

The steps

First, make a list. Write the old address and the new address side by side. A spreadsheet works. Do this before you touch the server, so you've got a record.

Next, set up a permanent redirect. For each old address, add a 301 to the new one. Google's advice is to go permanent only when the redirect won't be reverted.² A renamed page isn't coming back, so that fits. The permanent versus temporary page explains the difference.²

Then redirect to the real destination. Point each old address straight at the final page. Don't point it at another address that redirects again. Google's crawlers follow up to 10 hops by default.³ Fewer hops is simpler.

After that, update your own links. MDN says to avoid internal redirects where you can, and to fix the internal links instead.¹ Check your menus, your footer, and the links tucked inside older pages and posts, because they're the ones people forget. Your sitemap, if you have one, should list the new address too. Easy to miss.

Test the old address. Paste it into a browser. You should land on the new page. Try a couple of others from your list.

Finally, leave the redirect running. Don't delete it after a week. The old links out there don't go away.

How to set the redirect

The method depends on your setup.

• Website builders and shops: Google notes that platforms like Blogger or Shopify may already have built-in redirect tools.² Search your platform's help for "redirects".
• Content management systems: Some can update links on their own when content moves within the same site.⁴ Check whether yours has a redirect setting, and whether it's set to permanent.
• Your own server: Redirects are made in the server's config file or a .htaccess file.¹ Follow your host's guide for your server type. If you're not comfortable with it, ask your host's support.

If you can, use a proper server redirect. MDN says to use HTTP redirects when possible and not to add meta element redirects.¹

Watch for loops

A redirect loop is when the redirects chase each other and never reach a page.¹ Browsers can detect this and show an error message instead of a page.¹

MDN says most redirect loops are a server problem, and the server may send a 500 error if it can detect the loop. So a 500 soon after changing server configuration is likely a loop.¹ If the server can't detect it, the browser shows a redirect-loop error instead.¹ Undo your latest change. Then check that no address redirects back to itself, directly or through a chain of other addresses.

Best of all, don't change it

Wikipedia calls creating addresses that won't change over time the fundamental way to prevent link rot.⁴ So before you rename a page, ask whether you need to. A tidy, simple address picked at the start saves you this whole job later.

If you do change a lot of addresses at once, run a check afterwards. How to find broken links shows how.