Definition

What Is a Website Redirect?

An instruction that automatically sends users (and crawlers) from one URL to another. 301 redirects are permanent and pass SEO equity; 302 are temporary.

Related Terms

URL

SEO

Technical SEO

Hosting

Sitemap

Example

When Reload Mode migrates a client's WordPress site to Webflow, all old URLs get 301 redirects to the new URL structure, preserving SEO rankings.

Each unnecessary redirect adds 100–500ms of latency per hop — and a 5-step redirect chain (A→B→C→D→E) can add over 1.5 seconds of load time before the final page even begins loading, according to Google's PageSpeed guidance on redirect chains.

Synonyms:

URL redirect, Page redirect, 301 redirect

Acronyms:

301 / 302

What it applies to

URL changes during website migrations, redesigns, content consolidation, or any time a published URL needs to move or be retired.

How to implement redirects

  • In Webflow: Project Settings → Hosting → 301 Redirects. Add the old path (e.g., /old-page) in the "Old Path" field and the new destination (e.g., /new-page) in the "New Path" field. Webflow applies these server-side — they are fast and do not require JavaScript.
  • On Apache servers: Add redirect rules to the .htaccess file: Redirect 301 /old-page https://yourdomain.com/new-page
  • On Nginx: Add location blocks: location = /old-page { return 301 /new-page; }
  • Bulk redirects during migration: Export the old site's URL list from Screaming Frog, map old URLs to new URLs in a spreadsheet, import to Webflow's redirect manager or server config all at once.

Redirect audit after a site migration

  • Crawl all redirect chains using Screaming Frog — update any chain longer than one hop to go directly from origin to final destination.
  • Check Google Search Console for 404 errors after migration — add redirects for any previously indexed pages returning 404s.
  • Update any backlinks you control (social profiles, directory listings, partner pages) to point directly to the new URLs.

Redirect: Common Questions Answered

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