Why Redirections Matter When Moving Pages or Redesigning Your Small Business Website

So, you’re giving your small business website a bit of a makeover? Or maybe you’re tidying up some old pages, moving stuff around, or even switching to a brand new domain? That’s brilliant – a fresh look can do wonders for your online presence. But before you get stuck into the fun bits like colours and fonts, there’s one not-so-glamorous thing you really need to think about: redirections.

Yep, it doesn’t sound super exciting, but setting up redirections properly is one of the most important things you can do during a redesign or restructure. Ignore them, and you could end up losing traffic, annoying your customers, and falling down the search engine rankings. Ouch.

But, before we start, a warning, the codes below are examples based on what works for our sites.  If you are planning on using them, check the meaning of the code (copy the code and search it in Google for example) and that it does what you want it to do.  Then back up any files you are changing and once the changes are made test the site, including pages that  you expect to redirect and pages that you don’t expect to.  With over 27 years of working on websites we know that sometimes website configurations are different and different methods are needed.

What’s a Redirection, Then?

A redirection (also called a “redirect”) is like putting up a signpost. Imagine someone turns up at your old shop, but you’ve moved to a new location. Without a sign, they’d shrug and walk off. But if there’s a clear sign saying, “Hey! We’ve moved, you can now find us just around the corner,” they’ll follow it and still end up where they need to be.

On the web, it’s the same idea. If someone tries to visit a page that no longer exists because you’ve moved or renamed it, a redirection will automatically send them to the new version. No confusion. No dead ends.

Why Redirections Are So Important

Alright, let’s break it down. Why should you even care about redirects?

1. Stop Losing Customers

Let’s say someone clicks on a link to a product you used to sell. Maybe they found it on Google or bookmarked it ages ago. If that link now leads to an error page (you know the ones – “404 Page Not Found”), they’ll probably give up and go somewhere else. That’s a missed sale. And if it happens enough times, that’s a lot of missed sales.

2. Keep Google (and Other Search Engines) Happy

Search engines like Google crawl your site and store links to your pages. If you suddenly delete or move loads of pages without telling them where they’ve gone, they’ll see lots of broken links. That’s bad news for your SEO (search engine optimisation). Basically, Google might think your site is a mess and drop you down the rankings. Not ideal if you rely on online traffic to get business.

3. Protect Your Reputation

If someone clicks on a link to your site and lands on an error page, it doesn’t look great. Even if it’s not your fault (maybe a blogger linked to the old URL), it still makes you look unprofessional. A redirect helps you keep things smooth and professional, even when things change behind the scenes.

4. Save Your Backlinks

If other websites have linked to your pages – maybe a blogger reviewed your product, or you were featured in a local directory – you don’t want to lose that traffic just because you changed a page URL. A redirect keeps those links working, which is good for your traffic and your SEO.

When Do You Need to Use Redirections?

There are loads of situations where redirects come in handy. Here are some of the most common:

• You’ve redesigned your website and changed the URL structure (e.g. from /services.html to /our-services/)
• You’ve deleted a page, but there’s still useful content somewhere else
• You’ve merged two pages into one
• You’ve changed your domain name (e.g. from myoldsite.co.uk to mynewbrand.com) after rebanding your business
• You’re switching to HTTPS (which you definitely should be doing)

Different Types of Redirection

There isn’t just one type of redirect. The main ones you need to know about are:

301 Redirect (Permanent)

This is the most common and the one you’ll probably use most of the time. A 301 redirect tells browsers and search engines, “This page has moved permanently.” So if you’ve changed a page’s URL for good, this is the one to use.

Why is it so important? Because a 301 redirect passes most (if not all) of the SEO value from the old page to the new one. So your Google rankings don’t take a massive hit. Handy, right?

302 Redirect (Temporary)

This tells browsers, “This page has moved, but just for a bit.” It’s useful if you’re doing maintenance or testing something. But be careful – if you use 302s when you mean 301s, search engines won’t update their records, and you might lose out on SEO benefits.

Meta Refresh

You’ve probably seen these before. You land on a page, and it says something like “You’ll be redirected in 5 seconds.” These aren’t great. They can be annoying for users, and search engines don’t love them either. Try to avoid them if you can.

JavaScript Redirects

These use code to send people to a new page. They work, but again, not always ideal for SEO. Search engines might not follow them properly, especially if the code is complicated. Stick to server-side redirects like 301s when possible.

How to Set Up Redirects

Right, let’s talk about the actual doing part. How you set up redirects depends on how your website is built. Here are a few of the most common methods – there are other more technical ways to do this, but those should probably be left to a website developer that is used to dealing with code and not just “how it looks” :

If You’re Using WordPress

The easiest way is to use a plugin. Some good ones include:

• Redirection – Free and easy to use
• Yoast SEO Premium – Has a redirect manager built in

With these, you just type in the old URL and the new one, and boom – job done.

If your website host uses CPanel

Some hosts (but not all) use a product like CPanel which gives owners lots of options.  If you have access to CPanel on your site you can use the Redirects section to set up different types of redirects.  This page https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/domains/redirects/ has more details of the options available.

If You’ve Got Access to .htaccess (on Apache Servers)

If your website runs on an Apache server (which many do), you can set up redirects in your .htaccess file. It might look like this:

Redirect 301 /old-page.html /new-page/ - this redirects the /old-page.html to the page at /new-page/

If you are changing from http to http you might need to use something like :

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !on
RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI}

The 2nd line about tests to see if the page address is not using https, the 3rd line redirects(rewrites) all page to the same page using https.

Just be careful – this file controls how your server behaves, so if you mess it up, your whole site can break. Always back it up first and check both the redirection and other pages that you’ve not redirected as soon as you have made the changes (even better if you make one change at a time and test it so you don’t have to worry which of the 20 lines you have added have broken the site).

If You’re Using Nginx

Nginx uses a different format. Your redirect might look like this in the config file:

rewrite ^/old-page$ /new-page permanent;

Again, be cautious and test things properly before pushing changes live.

If You’re Moving to a New Domain

This is a big one. If you’re switching to a new domain name, you’ll want to set up what’s called a “wildcard redirect.” This means every page from your old domain points to the same page on the new one.

In .htaccess, it might look something like this:

Redirect 301 / https://www.newdomain.com/

Of course, it’s a bit more technical than that, so you might want help from your hosting company or a web developer.

Don’t Forget to Update Your Links!

Redirects are great for catching old links, but it’s still a good idea to update things wherever you can. That means:

• Fixing internal links on your site so they go to the new pages directly
• Updating your sitemap and resubmitting it to Google Search Console
• Changing links in your email templates, social media bios, and anywhere else you’ve shared them

How to Test Your Redirects

Once you’ve set them up, don’t just assume they work – check! Here’s how:

• Type the old URL into your browser and see if it lands on the new one
• Type URLs that shouldn’t redirect into your browser and make sure that they don’t redirect to an unexpected page or error page
• Use free online tools like httpstatus.io or https://www.webfx.com/tools/http-status-tool/ to check the response codes (or search for http response code test in your favourite search engine)
• Use Google Search Console to monitor for crawl errors

What Happens If You Don’t Bother?

Honestly? A bit of a mess.

• Visitors will land on 404 error pages and probably bounce off
• You’ll lose any SEO ranking that those old pages had
• Backlinks from other sites will be wasted
• Your brand might come across as unprofessional or broken

It’s like leaving your front door locked while customers knock on it. If you don’t answer, they’ll leave – probably for your competitors.

Tips for a Smooth Website Redesign or Move

• Make a list of all your current URLs before you start
• Map out where each one will go (old to new)
• Set up 301 redirects for every changed or deleted page
• Test everything before launching the new version
• Keep monitoring after the move to catch any missed links or errors  Google may follow old links for months or even years once they are in its index.

In a Nutshell

Redirections might seem like a boring bit of behind-the-scenes website work, but they’re actually super important. They help your visitors find what they’re looking for, keep your SEO rankings healthy, and protect your reputation online.

Whether you’re just tweaking a few pages or doing a full redesign, taking the time to set up proper 301 redirects will save you a lot of stress – and potentially a lot of lost business – in the long run.

So next time you’re moving pages around, don’t just hit “delete” or change the link and hope for the best. Set up those redirects. Your website (and your customers) will thank you for it.