SEO Redirection Premium

Nobody dares to delete a redirect

A site with a few years behind it piles up redirects the way a drawer piles up cables: one for each permalink change, another for each redesign, dozens for each migration. None is ever deleted, because nobody knows whether anyone still uses it. And a list of a thousand rules with no order ends up being a problem in itself: rules that overlap, chains of hops and destinations that no longer exist either.

SEO Redirection Premium creates redirects, but what it really brings to a site with history is the ability to put them in order: each rule shows how many times it has been used and when it was last used, and rules can be grouped.

Folders, wildcards and a counter per rule

• 301, 302 and 307 redirects, for single pages or for whole folders with their content and subfolders.
• Wildcards to keep each file's name, regular expressions in the source and destination, plus contains, starts with, ends with and file-type rules.
• Groups to organise long lists, and a history of served redirects.
• Hit counter and last hit date on every redirect.
• Automatic 301 redirect when a post's URL changes, and a warning about posts moved to the trash or to draft.
• 404 error manager with a filter by views and general rules, for example an image that replaces any broken image.
• Redirect cache, import and export, WPML integration and multisite support.

How to clean up an inherited redirect list

First, measure. Let the counter work for a few weeks before touching anything. A rule that has gone months without a single hit is a candidate for review; one that gets traffic every day is the one not to touch.

Then, group. Separating by origin (the migration, the structure change, old campaigns) lets you understand where each rule comes from and review a whole block at once.

And replace single rules with patterns. A hundred redirects from an old folder to a new one become a single folder rule with a wildcard, which keeps each file's name. Fewer rules means less room for error.

Redirecting is not fixing: what stays outside

Its features centre on redirects and 404 errors. They do not include titles, descriptions or sitemaps; for those you need an SEO plugin.

A redirect does not fix your internal links either. If a menu or an article still points to the old address, every visit takes one extra hop. When you change an important URL, it is worth updating the links that point to it as well.

And if your SEO plugin already has its own redirect manager, decide which one is in charge. Two tools redirecting the same addresses make it very hard to know which of them responded.

Export what you already have before installing

It requires WordPress 6.0 or later and works with PHP 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3. It supports multisite installations.

1. Export the redirects you already have, as a backup, before installing anything.
2. Choose which content types it watches, because they are enabled and disabled one by one.
3. Turn on the automatic redirect when permalinks change.
4. Review the 404 error list sorted by views and start with the ones that repeat the most.
5. Create the groups before the list grows, not after.

Redirects inside the SEO plugin

If you want to handle it inside the SEO plugin, Yoast SEO Premium has a redirect manager that detects when you change or delete an address and offers to create the redirect right then. Rank Math SEO Pro imports with one click from the usual SEO plugins, redirects included.

Folders, changed URLs and PHP versions

Can it redirect a whole folder?

Yes, with its content and subfolders, and with a wildcard to keep each file's name.

How do I know whether a redirect is still being used?

Each one shows its total hits and the date of the last one.

Does it create the redirect by itself if I change a URL?

Yes, it adds an automatic 301 when a post's URL changes.

Does it accept regular expressions?

Yes, in the source and in the destination.

Does it work with WPML and on multisite?

Yes, it has WPML integration and supports multisite installations.

Which PHP version does it need?

PHP 7.4 or any of 8.0 to 8.3, with WordPress 6.0 or later.