Question about URL structure

Royal96

Power Member

Mar 16, 2019

683

376

• Jun 2, 2022

• #1

I have a blog that was offline for a few months, and now I want to rebuild it. Most of the pages aren't indexed anymore.

The previous URL structure was:

domain.com/blog/article

Now, I want to use this URL structure:

domain.com/article

Is it enough to redirect them, or should I let the articles index with their previous URL structure before redirecting them?

A few pages had links pointing to them, and I'm curious what would be the best practice for keeping the link juice.

 

ju112

Registered Member

Feb 18, 2022

99

155

• Jun 2, 2022

• #2

.htaccess redirect should be fine I guess.

 

Royal96

Power Member

Mar 16, 2019

683

376

• Jun 2, 2022
• Thread Starter Thread Starter

• #3

ju112 said:

.htaccess redirect should be fine I guess.

Click to expand...

I usually do my redirects through RankMath. Is that the same?

 

baza707

Newbie

Sep 21, 2021

20

4

• Jun 2, 2022

• #4

some modules allow you to save both URLs - with an old one directing to the new one. this'd be the best option for you

 

ju112

Registered Member

Feb 18, 2022

99

155

• Jun 2, 2022

• #5

Royal96 said:

I usually do my redirects through RankMath. Is that the same?

Click to expand...

I would not do it, it might be a lot slower! You would multiply your page load by 2. A Rewrite Rule in htaccess is a better option I think.

 

SirLouen

Elite Member

Executive VIP

Jr. VIP

Jan 17, 2015

5,263

4,956

• Jun 2, 2022

• #6

403 and you are ready to go.

Royal96 said:

I usually do my redirects through RankMath. Is that the same?

Click to expand...

Yes it's exactly the same given the fact that it's a super easy redirect

If it was a little bit complicated I would also recommend htacess

Nice part of Rankmath is that you have a little "debugger" that lets you check if the redirects are working in admin mode and also you can see how many times they have been impacted.

 

Royal96

Power Member

Mar 16, 2019

683

376

• Jun 2, 2022
• Thread Starter Thread Starter

• #7

Thank you for your help guys!

So, it's not necessary to index the articles with their old URL structure first? That would be great, as it's a lot faster this way.

@SirLouen Why 403 and not 301? Isn't 403 an error like forbidden?

 

SirLouen

Elite Member

Executive VIP

Jr. VIP

Jan 17, 2015

5,263

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• Jun 3, 2022

• #8

Royal96 said:

@SirLouen Why 403 and not 301? Isn't 403 an error like forbidden?

Click to expand...

It's 301, I have started the weekend too early this week.

 

davidelzs

Power Member

Dec 18, 2021

583

124

• Jun 5, 2022

• #9

Use any redirect plugin for wordpress.

 

dandan594594

Elite Member

Jan 31, 2013

1,664

1,238

• Jun 5, 2022

• #10

Just to add, if you use the "Redirection" wp plugin by John Godley and change the settings to monitor changes in posts and pages. When you change the URL it will automatically create a 301 redirect. Could save time.